The Barriers to Research and Innovation in Disaster Resilience in Higher Education Institutions in Asia

This paper reports the findings of a research study investigating the barriers to Research and Innovation (R&I) in Disaster Resilience (DR) in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Asia. The scope of the study is limited to three Asian countries, i.e. Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Thailand, due to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Procedia engineering 2018, Vol.212, p.1225-1232
Main Authors: Liyanage, Champika, Thakore, Renuka, Amartunga, Dilanthi, Mustapha, Amina, Haigh, Richard
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Barriers
Disaster Resilience
Higher Education Institutions
Innvoation
Skills enhancement
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Summary:This paper reports the findings of a research study investigating the barriers to Research and Innovation (R&I) in Disaster Resilience (DR) in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Asia. The scope of the study is limited to three Asian countries, i.e. Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Thailand, due to their role in the international collaboration entitled ASCENT (Advancing Skills Creation to Enhance Transformation), which contributes to the development of research capacity building in disaster resilience ensuring sustainable and inclusive socio-economic growth in these Partner Country HEIs. Responses received from 213 semi-structured interviews and 530 survey questionnaires are used to examine and prioritize the aforementioned barriers in R&I in HEIs in Asia. Findings reveal, amongst others, that there is a crucial need for R&I skills enhancement through implementation of clear and adequate policies. Having a strong policy support, in turn, could play an important role in providing incentives to staff (academic and research staff), increasing awareness on R&I initiatives, and motivation to carry out R&I activities. Lack of training and development on R&I was surprisingly one of the lowest ranked barriers from the survey analysis, although it was the most frequently mentioned barrier during the interviews. Although this is a mixed result, training and development should be considered a priority for promoting and improving R&I in HEIs as such initiatives could help overcome many other barriers such as lack of staff R&I skills, motivation, awareness, and lack of research related performance.
ISSN:1877-7058
1877-7058
DOI:10.1016/j.proeng.2018.01.158