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Universities can increase entrepreneurship boon

Cape Town - A spirit of entrepreneurship is needed at universities to provide the spark necessary to create innovation, according to Prof. Wim de Villiers, new rector of Stellenbosch University.

All eyes are on universities these days as questions are raised about their relevance, the high cost of tuition and the merits of online options, he said at a business breakfast hosted by Kaapstad Sakekamer (Cape Town Business Chamber) at the FNB Portside building in Cape Town on Tuesday.

On top of that the question is frequently asked whether a university degree guarantees getting a job.

Therefore, consistent transformation is needed if a university is to remain relevant.

"Society looks to universities for solutions to problems by means of research and what we now need is innovation - new ways of thinking and doing. The bigger the problem, the more innovative we have to think," said De Villiers.

"The idea of universities being an ivory tower is becoming increasingly outdated."

In his view it is very important to do things differently, more effectively and with greater impact.

"An entrepreneurial spirit can, therefore, help universities to think in a more innovative manner and to find solutions for so-called 'wicked problems'," said De Villiers.

At the same time it is no good for universities just to gather knowledge which "merely gathers dust on shelves". It should be about how to use universities' intellectual property, for instance, to empowering entrepreneurs.

Online technology can be used to reach more students, for instance, and connect them with top academics.

At the same time he cautioned that a university cannot be all things to all people. It must decide in which areas it can be the strongest.

"At Stellenbosch University we have to be relevant locally, while at the same time competitive internationally," he concluded.

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