Under the title “Industry-Academia Partnerships: Bridging the Skills Gap”, the first session of the innovation and training sector at Ain Shams University was held within the activities of the 12th Ain Shams University Scientific Conference, “Partnerships and Alliance” which was held under the patronage of Prof. Mohamed Diaa Zain El-Abedeen, President of the University, and Prof. Ghada Farouk, Vice President of the University for Community Service and Environmental Development Affairs and Acting Vice President of the University for Graduate Studies and Research.

The session was chaired by Prof. Neven Assem, CEO of the Innovation and Training Sector, and Prof. Farid Muharram, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Business for Education and Student Affairs, in the presence of Dr. Ahmed Abdel Aziz, Director of the Career Center, and in the presence of a distinguished group of distinguished speakers from various companies and institutions, namely Dr. Engineer Ahmed Saad, Director General of Planning and Investment, Mining Sector, Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Engineer Ahmed Al-Sakhawy from the Ministry of Petroleum, Mr. Ahmed Aziz, Director of Financial Inclusion, ABC Bank Egypt, and Engineer Ahmed Hamada, Executive Vice President of Yas Holding Group, Dr. Heidi Al-Masry, Director of Human Resources at Connect Holding Company, and Dr. Ahmed Imam, CEO of Credit Company.

The session came up with a number of recommendations, the most important of which are:

Establish regular communication channels such as quarterly meetings, joint advisory councils, and collaborative platforms between academia and industry to discuss and continuously update skills requirements.

Involving industry experts in the curriculum development process to ensure that academic programs reflect current industry needs and emerging trends, along with implementing internships to provide students with practical and applied experience and focusing on soft skills training such as communication, teamwork and problem solving in the academic curriculum.

The session also recommended promoting lifelong learning and professional development among students and developing mechanisms to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of initiatives aimed at bridging the skills gap.