BICO is a consultancy initiative for the public and private sector based on a model for providing professional training and applying knowledge to develop the country's industrial sector. Its activity lies in the field of university extension and has arisen from the demand found in both the public and private sectors.
In 1990, BICO was formed as a special unit within the Faculty of Engineering with the objective of forging closer ties between the Faculty and the industrial sector. The Bureau's main activities are consultancy for businesses and public bodies, contracts for research into and development of machinery for the industrial sector, and the continuing education of currently active engineers.
The university provided the funds needed to create BICO, although it is now self-funded. BICO is a not-for-profit organisation whose fees are established by the government according to social criteria. BICO's annual budget is approximately US$70,000.
The lecturers at the Faculty of Engineering are responsible for the programmes and projects. Private consultancy bodies also collaborate, alongside other universities and bodies within the University, on a number of projects and programmes. The objective is to optimise the resources and knowledge of each sector of society in Tanzania.
Two of the major problems in state-funded universities in Tanzania are the lack of public funding and the emigration of academics to countries where they receive higher salaries for their work ( “brain drain”).
Tanzania has an underdeveloped industrial sector and businesses invest very little in technology and business management. However, over the past few decades, the spreading of micro loans and the financing of private initiatives have given rise to the creation of new small and medium-sized enterprises, which provide potential for growth in the country. Small enterprises require skill-building to improve their business management processes and to make changes both by incorporating more competitive technologies and adapting their market strategies.
The Bureau for Industrial Cooperation (BICO) aims to meet the needs identified at the Faculty of Engineering and among its lecturers, as well as in the country’s small and medium-sized enterprises.
BICO is a consultancy initiative for the public and private sector based on a model for providing professional training and applying knowledge to develop the country’s industrial sector. Its activity lies in the field of university extension and has arisen from the demand found in both the public and private sector.
In 1990, BICO was formed as a special unit within the Faculty of Engineering with the objective of forging closer ties between the Faculty and the industrial sector. The Bureau’s main activities are consultancy for businesses and public bodies, contracts for research into and development of machinery for the industrial sector, and the continuing education of currently active engineers.
The University provided the funds needed to create BICO, although it is now self-funded. BICO is a not-for-profit organisation whose fees are established by the government according to social criteria. BICO’s annual budget is approximately US$70,000.
The lecturers at the Faculty of Engineering are responsible for the programmes and projects. Private consultancy bodies also collaborate, alongside other universities and bodies within the University, on a number of projects and programmes. The objective is to optimise the resources and knowledge of each sector of society in Tanzania.
BICO was initially set up as a mechanism to keep staff at the Faculty of Engineering and to allow them to:
Obtain additional income to complement their low salaries
Acquire professional recognition and experience
Contribute to solving social problems
BICO was also designed to provide funding for maintaining the Faculty's laboratories, equipment and machinery.
As defined in BICO's action plan, its objectives are:
To strengthen the Faculty's capacity to contribute to industrial development.
To optimise the use of faculty resources and provide solutions to the challenges posed by society in the field of engineering.
To set up a platform to facilitate knowledge and skills transfer from the faculty to the industrial sector.
To enable lecturers to gain professional experience in their respective disciplines, thus improving the academic quality of the teaching and the faculty's results.
To generate additional funding for the Faculty of Engineering.
To retain professional staff by allowing university lecturers to earn additional income to their salaries as civil servants.
BICO has three main areas of activity: consultancy service, technical service and professional development courses.
The consultancy service includes project development in the field of engineering, with two paths: partnership contracts between BICO and the public administration in which BICO acts as a permanent consultant; and sporadic demands it receives from the private sector.
When a consultancy project is initiated, BICO and the client establish a collaboration agreement that sets the general criteria for the service. BICO's coordinators then appoint the appropriate consultancy team from among the members of the Faculty of Engineering, who carry out the project independently.
Technical services: These are services provided for industries in the faculty's laboratories and workshops or at the clients' facilities. These services include chemical analysis of water, soil analysis for construction, testing materials, repairs to machinery and the engines of industrial vehicles, and the development of new machinery. The activities contribute towards the development of practical skills among lecturers and training in technical innovations.
Professional development programmes: These are courses specially designed for the education and training of active professionals in the industrial sector. However, occasionally general courses are also held with a view to strengthening knowledge, skills and capacity in specific areas of social interest, such as computer literacy.
The courses generally last two weeks and include theory and practical sessions. The training programmes are proposed by the units in the Faculty, and these are then approved by BICO on the basis of their relevance to the country's industrial sectors. In some cases the local institutions themselves request courses adapted to their needs. When this occurs, the programme is designed jointly with the client.
Among BICO’s main results are the fact it has obtained extraordinary income for the Faculty and the lecturers, the reform of academic programmes and the impact of skill-building in the public and private industrial sector. We should also highlight the improvement in the planning and implementation of BICO activities.
The Faculty has created a process to improve the quality of its academic programmes thanks to BICO’s experience and the results obtained from an academic audit. Curricular reform is especially based on the relevance of the courses provided by the Faculty, taking into account the country’s development plans and technological advances. The financing of the Faculty has improved, since 20 per cent of BICO’s net income is returned to the institution. This income is allocated to improvements to infrastructure, particularly maintaining and repairing equipment and machinery. Around 5,000 people have taken BICO’s training courses, including employees of small companies and professionals in the public and private sector, as well as the general public. Among BICO’s results we should highlight its own programmes for improvements to operations and to the efficiency in the development of its activities. An example of this improvement process can be seen in the improvements made to information channels and the dissemination of its activities.
Although the participation of students in BICO’s programmes has to date been limited, it is looking to provide students with work placement opportunities in the future.
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