In November 2021, the first Round-table had been organized in Kigali, Rwanda, where project partners from Germany and Rwanda participated. The purpose of this meeting was to establish a common ground, a “Round-table”, for universities and companies so that both parties could enhance their connection and benefit from each other.

There were several topics of discussion such as knowledge and technology transfer, the skill gap between business and universities, personal growth and development of students, organization of internships and expectations and feedback towards the KC4P project coordination. While universities stated that they need more data for their research from industry, companies are expecting the identification and sharing of the latest scientific developments. Despite the fact that the skill gap between higher education and business is still an unresolved issue, having access to the right talent pool is a good starting point for companies. As the project lead, KC4P would be in the middle of this transition with the activities, like internship programs, and organization of the information transfer between the two sides of the table. Conducting workshops that target Key Competences is one way of helping individuals to improve their skills, which will affect their business life. An internship program is another way of closing the skill gap. Networking and exchange was the other important topic of the gathering. The connection between the partners has a crucial impact on the project process. Besides yearly roundtable meetings in Rwanda, the KC4P-project team has launched a virtual platform for the project partners. 

In the end, both the science part and the business part of this equation have their own outputs/targets which could be met at a mutual point and benefit one other. With this project, our aim is to provide a platform to enhance this relationship and help our partners to meet in that point.