Ranking games

Global university rankings have become a crucial part of the higher education landscape. Yet some countries are shifting their focus from catching up to the West, potentially signaling a new era in higher education in these countries.

Australian universities play the long game in Indonesia

Now that the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) has been signed, Australia’s training sector has an opportunity to build on a small base. Indonesia’s young and expanding population, its geographic proximity and its steady economic trajectory towards the top 10 global economies by 2030 make it a key market for Australia. Indonesia’s need for…

How outbound student mobility is changing in Australia

Within a couple of years, the Australian Government has transformed outbound student mobility with its ambitious New Colombo Plan, supplemented by a range of scholarships and loans. With an investment of over $100 million over 5 years, the New Colombo Plan itself has influenced the way universities approach overseas study experience.

India’s dismal innovation performance

India has one of the most hostile environments in the world for driving innovation according to a recent report by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), a technology policy think tank.

Botswana’s innovation ambitions

This week Botswana announced that the building of the country’s first science and technology park, Botswana Business Innovation Hub, is expected to open soon.

Universities are smart investments – new report

Australian universities play a critical role in supporting economic growth. From preparing graduates for the labour force by training scientists, professionals, technicians, teachers, civil service and business leaders. Conducting research that leads to new knowledge, supports innovation, entrepreneurship and even spin-off technologies and companies. To generating more than $16 billion a year in export income…

Malaysia’s ambitious plan for education

The 11th Malaysia Plan with the theme “Anchoring Growth on People” is the last leg of its journey towards being a high-income nation in 2020. The plan definitely reaffirms the commitment to achieve inclusiveness and sustainable growth which is the necessary hallmarks of an advanced nation.

Defence, science and technology to lead in US-India relations

The Indian Economic Times reports the spectacular success of the incredibly frugal Mars Orbiter Mission that put India straight into an elite club and opened up an array of business opportunities has created the right atmospherics for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US during which he would engage with the civil society, policy makers and the business community. And in almost all of these, one subject that would be the talking point would be technology.

US – India higher education relations

Even before he came to office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called India and the U.S. “natural allies”. In September, Prime Minister Modi and President Obama will meet in Washington. The Brookings Institute recently released a briefing paper “The Modi-Obama Summit – A leadership moment for India and the United States” in preparation of the visit. The paper covers a range of issues from internet governance, nuclear cooperation to counter-terrorism and Asia broadly. A section of particular interest is the US-India higher education relations. In a short chapter, Shamika Ravi, a Fellow with Brookings India in New Delhi offers some suggestions on how US and India could strengthen their bilateral relationship in higher education.

Japan’s universities can’t win

By Takamitsu Sawa In January last year, shortly after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe returned to power, the government created the Industrial Competitiveness Council to study concrete steps to strengthen Japanese industry’s international competitiveness, which has weakened in recent years. Indeed, many Japanese manufacturers were forced to retreat from the market of fast-selling smartphones and tablets…