The School of Business at Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU) officially inked a new Industry-Academia Collaboration (IAC) with a technology hardware supplier in Malaysia to enable its students to be trained as green entrepreneurs whilst understanding better what sustainability strategy is. This will add to their competitive edge in the market once they graduate.
The tech firm, with its portal, is a subsidiary of one of Malaysia’s largest refurbished and reconditioned laptop companies, which allows corporate businesses (B2B) and online consumers (B2C) to trade with competitive pricing through a single platform.
This collaboration was formalised by the Vice Chancellor of APU, and the Chief Executive Officer of the tech firm witnessed by APU’s Senior Head of the School of Business, and Vice President of Strategy Recommerce, GOATS Bukalapak. The event was attended by the President of APU, the ceremony took place at its campus located at Technology Park Malaysia, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, and was attended by academicians, business partners, and students from the School of Business.
Based on the strong teamwork foundation in place, both parties have further intensified their commitment to nurturing graduates with future-proof entrepreneurial skills. It was noted that under the newly signed memorandum of understanding, the company is rolling out a Green Entrepreneurial Project with the School of Business at APU, to train students to be upcoming green entrepreneurs by marketing the products the firm provides, fully leveraging what they have learned from the lecture hall and applying knowledge in the real world.
In addition to earning a sustainable income from the reseller margin, students will also bring value to society, especially to those who can’t afford to buy new IT equipment to aid their learning.
Commenting on the green initiative and the newly established collaboration, Assoc. Prof. Dr Jason Turner further elaborated that a key aspect of our School of Business strategy is ‘sustainability’ and addressing Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
While APU already has visibility in the sustainability space with a research centre, student society and themes in academic programmes, engaging with the company will further develop students’ awareness of social responsibility apart from practising in real-life business scenarios.
Further engagement with a successful business in this space that is already underpinning APU’s E-Commerce programme will shape the programme and external activities in the area of sustainability to present a compelling argument to choose APU as a destination for sustainable themed programmes which infuse technology and practical application for future-facing graduates, he concluded.
The global green technology and sustainability market size was valued at US$10.32 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach US$74.64 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 21.9% from 2021 to 2030. Green technologies include eco-friendly solutions that result in economic and social sustainability.
The main aim of green technology is to protect the environment while also repairing previous damage done to it. In addition, governments across the globe are investing heavily in green technology to conserve nature and reduce the negative impact on the environment, which is boosting the growth of the market.
The unprecedented COVID-19 health crisis, the artificial intelligence and analytics segment is expected to witness a significant growth rate during the forecast period, owing to the growing adoption of artificial intelligence and analytics among manufacturing and other industries to resume their supply chain operations.
