Page 23 - DUT Annual Report 2020

Entrepreneurship Training
DURBAN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY ANNUAL REPORT 2020
with SEDA
In 2020
1500 1908
Students
cemented its leadership, influence and impact, not only in South Africa but globally. In the field of innovation and entrepreneurship, we have been consulted to participate in important conversations such as African Technology through Entrepreneurship and the UNESCO-UNEVOC network on themes such as inclusion, creativity and sustainable development.
Further, at international level, a number of entities have also been established by DUT itself, and some in partnership with other international universities and organisations. This includes the Luban Workshop established in partnership with Tianjin Vocational Institute in China. With its 3D-printing technology this workshop continues to assist in the production of PPE. In the course of 2021, an Innovation Hub will be established through a generous contribution from the Chinese International Education Foundation and the Confucius Institute.
Innovation and Entrepreneurship
This Strategic Objective demonstrates the inter- connectedness of our Strategic objectives, running from the first Perspective to this one. There is a thread of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship that comes from our DNA and the DUT Way, through our Innovative Curricula and Research, for example, and to this particular strategic objective. In short, the intrinsic character that our DNA imbues in us and the choices we make in our curricula and research must bequeath value to and transform our societies and their economies, through deep and meaningful engagement with our quad-helix partners. In this regard, our propensity for creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship would be the bedrock of these engagements.
90 1500
SMMEs supported
jobs
Created
12
trademarks registered soon
±
out of
170
Community members
Full-time
25
Part-time
This Strategic Objective is thus about what outcomes and impacts could demonstrably be realised and observed in the lives and livelihoods of the broader society. Above, we refer to many of our initiatives by our people – students, staff and alumni – in this regard. If all our being and approaches to our work were aligned accordingly, national and international recognition, as referred to above, become natural outcomes of our efforts.
As pointed out several times earlier, we have incontrovertible evidence now of what we call ‘transient impacts’ that we can point to even before we have reached our 2030 destination. If we focus on doing things not just for their own sake, but for outcomes and impact, we will certainly be the great University we hope to be in 2030 and beyond.
Adaptive Graduates
As noted above, everything we do at DUT must ultimately contribute towards improving the lives and livelihoods of the broader society. Our DNA, the DUT Way and the values and principles these are predicated on will help us to bequeath unique cohorts of graduates to the broader society. Our Innovative Curricula and Research and our Distinctive Education which are undergirded by our State-of-the- art Infrastructure, will bequeath graduates imbued with creativity, innovation and an entrepreneurial flair that will be the basis of their contributions to society. They will have the acumen to respond to, and initiate, change for the greater public good, which will make them the Adaptive Graduates we plan to produce. References to accolades and achievements made above are replete with our students’ hand- and footprints. Their lifelong journey will be sustained as equal partners in society, with society and for society.
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