Industrial innovation continues to change the world at an amazing pace. Yet, most universities do not change their curricula to keep up with this radical shift. Consequently, instructors lag behind current practices and students do not receive needed instruction for their industry.
Curricula Need to Adapt Quickly
The adaptation of artificial intelligence and machine learning has already touched most businesses. As a result, every university graduate needs to be familiar with these technologies. Regrettably, this is not the case.
University training does not align with employer requirements. Despite years of higher learning, students may be ignored rather than hired due to their outdated education.
Innovation Must Be Visionary & Policy-Driven
Institutional change must start at the top and filter down through all departments, policies, and practices. Consequently, it begins with a commitment to innovation.
To become a leader in pedagogical innovation, universities and colleges must offer courses and programs that make students relevant in the world. They need current knowledge and experiential learning opportunities to be effective.
Curricular innovation is not a simple process. Educators may need to reconceptualize, modernize, and optimize their current curricula. This includes reorganizing content and changing methodologies. The institution must be open to innovative experiences, and instructors must be open to change.
Continuous Curricula Improvement Vital
Inopportunely, many of the most advanced countries in the world are also the slowest to innovate. For instance, only one university in Australia and Canada and two in the UK ranked in the top 20 of the World University Rankings for Industrial Innovation in 2023. The US dominated the rankings.
Furthermore, the most innovative universities for fourth generation industrial innovation lie in Asia, not the US, Canada, Australia, or the UK. Clearly, the need for pedagogical innovation is immediate if students and nations are to remain significant. Curricula must evolve continuously as industries change.
Partnering for Industrial Innovation
Besides the obvious stumbling blocks that may occur when introducing innovative change, many institutions do not have the resources to research and experiment effectively. They may also struggle without support since they are breaking new ground.
Additionally, the complexity of higher education and the number of involved parties may make it difficult to clarify objectives. Fortunately, partnering with a seasoned leader in educational innovation can provide support and resources, simplify processes, and crystalize goals.
EarlyBirds is highly-experienced in the integration of industrial innovation into college and university curricula. Industry insights and collaborations also ensure technological advancements remain up-to-date. This helps institutions improve student engagement, employability, and job placements.
We offer four pathways towards industrial innovation and the following benefits:
- Reduced cost of innovation
- Quick increases in innovation capability, when required
- Connections to the best Subject Matter Experts and innovators available
- Simple process
EarlyBirds Innovation Ecosystem
Our award-winning Innovation Ecosystem earned us the title of Global Open Innovation Platform of the Year 2023 and 2024. It allows both innovation and strategic thinking in all areas of an organisation, whatever the technical or business challenge or potential opportunity your institution wants to explore.
We unite Innovators, Early Adopters, and Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to fuel rapid innovative adoption and organisational evolution. Early Adopters are leaders eager to identify new and disruptive technologies. They want to seize opportunities, solve business challenges, or create new products and services.
Our Ecosystem has a data pool of over 5.0 million global innovations across many industries with solutions that may already address your institution’s challenges. Alternatively, colleges and universities can list their challenges and request solutions from innovators.
EarlyBirds Ecosystem Maps
EarlyBirds’ offers Ecosystem Maps to help institutions address pressing issues. It contains startups, scaleups, and mature companies involved in industrial innovation themes and sub-themes. This can accelerate innovation and pinpoint potential innovative partners. Maps also track the latest industry information from numerous daily and historical news and media articles from across the world.
EarlyBirds Explorer Program
The Explorer Program is tailored towards those who need innovation as a service to supplement existing innovation programs, or to conduct innovation projects when required. It is designed to speed up the process of technological innovation for the institution as a service.
The Explorer program includes several features including quarterly and monthly innovation days; regular webinars to help stimulate innovation in the organisation; a focus on types of innovations; a platform enterprise license; and a nominated SME for the institution.
EarlyBirds Challenger Program
The Challenger Program focuses on a single organisational or technical challenge. It looks for the most relevant innovators that meet your organisational, technical, and risk requirements.
The program is run by an EarlyBirds Subject Matter Expert who identifies your key issues. The SME then searches the data pool to identify and curate options for further evaluation. The most suitable option is chosen and the SME drafts a roadmap of next steps, POC, trial, or implementation.
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EarlyBirds can help your organisation access global innovation resources. We’ve helped those in the Education, Public Sector, Food Industry, Retail, Healthcare, Operations & Maintenance, Manufacturing, Finance & Insurance, Energy, Cybersecurity, and many other industries. Let us guide you towards appropriate partnerships that can reduce risk, amplify resources, solve problems, and spur innovation.
Faculty members and education leaders interested in collaborating with EarlyBirds to enhance their curriculum can can register independently at https://earlybirds.io/. Alternatively, those unsure of which option is best suited to their needs are asked to schedule a consultation. We offer an individualized approach to ensure you find the best possible solutions.