That knowledge is power is no longer disputable. Just look at the world economy, which is increasingly knowledge-driven.
Businesses that wield powerful knowledge assets are more prosperous. Knowledge about market, technology, customer, competition and business trends makes such companies stand out from the competition.
This explains why businesses worldwide invest significantly in strengthening knowledge assets. In the developed economies, the budgetary provision for the acquisition of knowledge assets is substantial.
Such knowledge assets include robust facilities for research and development, the recruitment and retention of knowledge-rich talent and a vibrant ecosystem for knowledge management.
Innovation is naturally the ultimate destiny for such knowledge-intensive companies. Knowledge is also the de-facto business of universities.
In fact, knowledge is the currency of truly great universities. It is how universities are assessed in terms of the equivalent business ROI (return on investment).
Some refer to that as the return of value to the nation. The value includes the production of knowledge talent, and the generation of knowledge that leads to the development of technology and know-how that the nation and society can benefit from, including innovative ideas that businesses can tap into profitably.
Not to mention ideas that can shape robust development policies for the nation.
At the end of the day, policies are what drive the nation forward. Not just the formulation of the right policies, but even more critical is the implementation of such policies.
If knowledge is so central to the functioning of universities, how do they create the right ecosystem to make knowledge flourish?
How do universities build a vibrant culture of pursuing knowledge? Since new knowledge develops mostly from research, great universities work hard to perfect their R&D ecosystem.
Studies from research build the repository of knowledge of universities. But great universities do not just do research and limit their sharing among peers.
They venture beyond the academic journals, where the findings of research are suitably curated for credibility.
Great universities invest more in communicating the curated research outputs to the other stakeholders, including businesses, the lawmakers and society at large.
Building the right R&D ecosystem is a major challenge. Universities that can claim to have achieved greatness have done so in a number of ways. Intellectual discourses on knowledge are common in such universities.
In order to attract participation from industry, society and government, such exchange of ideas would address current issues of the nation and the world. Deliberations on social media can be a good reference for topics.
In Malaysia, the issues that commonly populate social media include those on political stability, social harmony, rising costs of living, natural calamities and affordable housing.
Universities that are seen to give attention to national issues in their research will be viewed as delivering a high return of value to the nation. And effectively disseminating such research would add more value to the work of the university.
There is no doubt that all universities strive to achieve greatness. Many create roadmaps and blueprints to serve as guidance. Executing the promises made in such plans has been the biggest challenge. This is where a system of governance would come in useful. A robust regime of monitoring and evaluating the deliverables is definitely a big help.
Roadmaps should not be seen as rigid. Instead, they should be flexible and lend well to adjustments based on the feedback from the monitoring process.
A roadmap also performs the important function of continuously improving the system of governance. Universities that take the execution of their roadmaps seriously will become great universities.
Making universities great should be seen as a critical national agenda. The strengthening of knowledge is an important national agenda.
It, therefore, follows that the government must create the right ecosystem and support for the development of great universities. These can include some forms of incentives and other motivation tools.
In fact, great universities do not have to submit to be ranked. They are the benchmark for university ranking. Time to revisit our policy of making universities great!
The writer is a professor at Tan Sri Omar Centre for Policy, UCSI University
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times