Page - 174 - in Radical Solutions and Open Science - An Open Approach to Boost Higher Education

182 R.Y.Hamzah TheFutureofJobsandSkillsintheMiddleEastandNorthAfricaanalysis(World EconomicForum,2017) found that, by2020, 21%ofcore skills in thecountriesof theGCCwill be different compared to skills thatwere needed in 2015.The report listed the top tenskillsneeded for2020andbeyond.Heading this list are skills that universities do not typically prioritize, such as: problem-solving, creativity, team- work,andpeoplemanagement.Therefore,anewwayofdeliveringhighereducation is required, aparadigmshift. Digital and related skills are predominately required by employers. TheTrans- formationPlanadopts thepremise that all students and teachers shouldhavedigital literacyasaminimumrequirement.Teachingandlearningshouldberepositionedto encourageinquiry-basedlearningandtoencourageprojectparticipation.Assessment ofstudentsshouldfocusonapplicationofknowledgeandskilldevelopment,not just passing exams. TheUniversity has responded by investing in upgrading teaching andcurriculumdevelopment, inadditiontore-designingstudentassessment,putting moreemphasisoninternshipsandindustryengagementtoshapelearningexperiences for students. Assomeeconomicsectors shrink,otherswill grow,especially thosepoweredby technology.Theriseofdigital labormarketswillmean thatgraduatesmustnotonly have core digital skills but alsomust have entrepreneurial skills to become social marketers andhavea rangeofcommunicationandsofts skills that sets themapart. Universities are required tomove toamulti-disciplinaryapproachoreven trans- disciplinary to allow students to explore creativity and nonlinear learning patterns that represent the digital age. Science, Technology, Engineering, andMathematics (STEM)education isvital. In aworldpopulatedwith super-fast and smart comput- ers,however,STEMcoupledwithcreativitycanbeconsideredasevenmorecritical, STEAM(STEM+ARTS), thefusionofscienceandtechnologywithcreativityand liberal thinking. Innovationledbytechnologycanaidtheregioninaddressingmanyofthesustain- abilitychallengescurrentlyfaced.Itcanenablecountriestoensurethatinfrastructure meets thedemandsofsocietyandconsumers. It canpotentially tightenstandardson consumption, especially energy. It can help tomake it easier setting up businesses andtoincubatestartups.Universitiesmustnotonlyembracetechnologybutalsouse it effectively tohelp create innovative solutions thatwill help to solvemanyof our sustainability issues.Here the role of technology transfer is vital. Taking academic researchandusing technologytocommercialize isonewaytodeploysolutionsona widerand faster scale. The impact of this is reflected in the 2017–18 InnovationPillar from theWorld EconomicForum’sGlobalCompetitiveness IndexwhichshowsBahrain’s improve- mentin7outof8indicators,anddrivingthiscultureofinnovationaretheuniversities, significant improvements in innovation, capacity, qualityof research institutes, and university/industry collaboration, as shownby theWorldEconomicForumInnova- tion pillar (World Economic Forum, 2018). As a result, Bahrain is emerging as a hub forFintechentrepreneurship,poweredby its skilled, labormarket readygradu- ates,with large corporations suchasAmazonWebServices andHuawei settingup