Ontology Based Education/Industry Collaboration Modeling: Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract

One of the main suppliers of the workforce for the engineering industry and the economy in general is the higher education sector. The higher education sector is consistently being challenged by the fast evolving industry and hence it is under constant pressure to fulfill the industry's ever-changing needs. It needs to adapt its academic curricula to supply the industry with students who have up-to-date and relevant competencies. Therefore, it is crucial to find an efficient solution to bridge the gap between the two worlds. Bridging the gap helps the industry to cut the costs of training university graduates and assists in higher education advancement. This paper describes how ontologies could be a relevant tool for an initial analysis and assessment of the competencies needed by the industry.