Industry Partnership as a Predictor of Innovative Sustainable Economy in Rivers State

Abstract

The study investigated industry partnership as a predictor of innovative sustainable economy in Rivers State. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted correlation design. The population of the study was two thousand, five hundred and four Teaching staff in the three Public Universities in Rivers State. The sample size was 376 Teaching staff through proportionate sampling technique. The instruments used for data collection were University-Industry Partnership Questionnaire and Innovative Sustainable Economy Scale. The reliability of the instruments stood at 0.86 and 0.83 for University-Industry Partnership and Innovative Sustainable Economy using Cronbach Method. Research questions were answered using simple regression while hypotheses were tested using t-test associated with simple regression at 0.05 level of significance. The findings among others was initiatives of economic growth predicted innovative sustainable economy by 15.2% while it was concluded that there is need for bold, visionary partnerships between industry and university that will accelerate innovation and help deliver solutions to pressing economic and social challenges. The study recommended that university in the twenty-first century should be viewed not just as a generator of ideas but also as a source of knowledge and competence that can benefit society