Exploring University-Industry Collaboration for Technological Innovation in Nigeria

University-industry collaboration (UIC) is a key driver of technological innovation and economic development. However, there are many challenges and barriers that hinder effective and sustainable UIC in developing countries, such as lack of trust due to skill gap, policies, finance/incentives and infrastructure. This paper aims to explore the existence of UIC that promotes technological innovations in Nigeria. A mixed-methods approach that combines quantitative and qualitative data from both university and industry was applied via online Google form questionnaires. Obtained results were analyzed using SPSS software. Results show that out of 185 respondents, 79.5% indicate that UIC exists in their establishments. Only 4.1% of the observed data was based on technological innovation while 38.4% was based on undergraduate students’ industrial training (IT) attachments. There is no strong evidence of significant linkage between universities and industries that promotes research that would lead to technological innovation and solve existing industrial problems. Among other recommendations, a good working policy should be instituted and enforced to ensure proper and effective UIC to promote the Nation's technologically innovative research and development. Keywords: University-Industry Collaboration (UIC), technological innovation, developing countries, R&D, Nigeria