The launch of the College of Business Education
(CBE) and University of East Finland (UEF) HUB for SADC member states in
Dar es Salaam recently.
Speaking during the launching ceremony of the program, which was organized jointly by the College of Business Education (CBE) and University of East Finland, Chairman of the CBE Governing Board, Prof Mathew Luhanga, said, that already five College lecturers have started doctoral training on-site at CBE.
“The project will last four years, during which the first batch of five faculty members is expected to graduate from UEF. The studies emphasize both local and international academic and business co-operation and the faculty members are expected to form a computer science research group as one of their outcomes”, he said.
According to him the combination of expertise from diverse fields, distribution of content over the Internet and intensive periods of interactive work between students and their supervisors mediated largely over the Internet constitute pillars of the programme which make it unique in Tanzania, the East African Community (EAC) and the SADC regions “Already an expert from Finland, Dr Mikko Apiola, is on post at CBE main campus for capacity building and competency development in CBE academic staff as initial activities of the Hub,’’ he adds The catchment area of the IMPDET-LE programme will be the entire EAC and SADC regions, according to Prof Luhanga.
“Thus the ICT tools developed by doctoral candidates as part of their research are expected to have a practical regional impact on development challenges facing countries in the two regions,’’ he notes
He further admits that the programme would not have been possible without the central facilitation role played by the governments of Tanzania and that of Finland.
“We express our deep gratitude and appreciation to both governments for assisting CBE and UEF achieve this milestone,’’ he appreciates
The gratitude is also extended to The Information Society and ICT Sector Development Project (TANZICT)—an NGO funded by Finland, which according to the Professor provided funding for the initial collaboration activities between CBE and UEF.
Achieving technological development requires developing countries, among other things, to mobilise and organise internal and external resources, and to formulate supportive policies and strategies for coordination and implementation.
Apart from the mobilisation of national resources, there is equal emphasis on international resources and the role of higher education, which means that the internationalisation of higher education is a key aspect in achieving technological development.
Partnerships between universities, already an important aspect of internationalisation, are recognised as being crucial, leading to new forms of collaboration in research, knowledge generation, and institutional strengthening, among other things.
This ICT based education is strongly supported by the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry for Industries and Trade, Uledi Musa who officiated the event on behalf of the Ministry’s Minister, Dr Abdallah Kigoda, promising that the government will provide all support needed for its development.
According to Uledi, the country’s investment in information technology allows fore reduction of youth unemployment and he is optimistic that at this pace Tanzania will lead and become in ICT consultant for countries in the region.
“ICT is recognised as a necessary condition for development and for creating positive change in societies. It is the engine that drives economic growth, fuels innovations and creates jobs,’’ says Uledi adding that “ICT also equips people and countries with the skills they need to escape the pull of poverty, build shared prosperity, secure livelihoods and build better health systems’’.
As a part of utilizing ICT, the government is in process of establishing an online program called National Business Portal (NBP), which will allow for on line registration of businesses without the need of a physical visit to Business Registrations and Licensing Agency (BRELA) offices, according to Musa
“Currently we are a in process to establish the system and soon all business persons in the country will be able to use it…instead of moving physically to the BRELA offices for registering their businesses, through the system they will be able to accomplish the tasks while they are in their residences,’’ he said.
According to him, Tanzania is the second country in the world in terms of applying electronic system in money transactions.
“Hence there is a need for youths to look for more opportunities resulted from the sector,’’ he said.
The Permanent Secretary also challenged academicians in the country to write inspiring articles which bring hope to the citizens and they should aim to encourage policy makers to arrive at constructive and positive decisions.
The event was attended by Ambassador of Finland to Tanzania, Sinikka Antila, Professor Professor Erkki Sutinen and Doctors Jarkko Suhonen and Mikko Apiola, from University of East Finland who supervise the five PhD candidates in the country, while their lectures are conducted from Finland via Skype.
During her remarks, Ambassador Antila said that as a country of about five million people, Finland stands to be an innovative nation which also imparts their knowledge to Tanzania in various development projects involving health, agriculture and ICT for the past 25 years.
“Tanzania has got a young population that becomes better educated every day. However, this changing society has got an important responsibility of transforming the country’s economic structure as well as helping the majority Tanzanians to capture the potential of the country’s growing economy,’’ she says
She commented CBE for financing the project saying, “…this type of co-creation is the best type of development co-operation we can have.”
Commenting on the studies and their importance to the community, Rector of CBE, Professor Emanuel Mjema said the launching of the programme is a seminal academic achievement and it is especially opportune as it is occurring when CBE is just about to celebrate its golden jubilee on January 21th , next year.
SOURCE:
THE GUARDIAN
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