{"id":2500,"date":"2025-11-27T12:07:53","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T13:07:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/armotto.com\/?p=2500"},"modified":"2025-12-01T15:52:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T15:52:27","slug":"from-stuttgarts-first-industrial-revolution-to-dubais-fifth-the-need-for-research-to-connect-outside-the-academy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/armotto.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/27\/from-stuttgarts-first-industrial-revolution-to-dubais-fifth-the-need-for-research-to-connect-outside-the-academy\/","title":{"rendered":"From Stuttgart\u2019s first industrial revolution to Dubai\u2019s fifth \u2013 the need for research to connect outside the academy"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the late 19th century, Stuttgart was booming. The southern German city was famously the cradle of an emerging automobile sector and had already established itself as an industrial powerhouse and centre for toolmaking, mechanical engineering and textiles. Rail connections in the Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg region accelerated development, transported workers and spread wealth.<\/p>\n

One might think, then, that an obvious place for the nascent railways to reached out to would have been the historic university town of T\u00fcbingen, about 20 miles from Stuttgart. No so, Tilman W\u00f6rtz of the university\u2019s communications department informed me, on a recent visit. In fact, explained W\u00f6rtz, an accomplished journalist, the story goes that the academic grandees of the era resisted a connection with the emerging financial and industrial powerhouse, perhaps regarding it as somewhat uncouth and vulgar to distract from deep cultural and scientific considerations to engage with the forces of commerce. So for a long time, the proposed railroad hit the buffers. <\/p>\n

Fortunately today, thanks to the efforts of university leaders, the institution strives to connect, both with industry and the wider community. There is<\/em> now a railway station, and I was thrilled to speak with a number of academics about relaying their research and knowledge to non-academic readers. Indeed, this fascinating read on rapper Haftbefehl, who is the subject of a Netflix documentary<\/a> gripping Germany has already come out of the sessions, and do stay tuned in the coming weeks and months for more from the University of T\u00fcbingen<\/a>, which was founded in 1477 and is now the first German member institution of The Conversation.<\/p>\n

Fast forward a week, and I found myself in the eye of what some cast as a fourth or even fifth industrial revolution<\/a>, in Dubai, incorporating AI, nanobiology, and bioengineering. The city is pitching itself as being at the heart of, and a driving force in, this new era of change, which sees civic government enabling human and technological collaboration tackling societal issues and powering growth. <\/p>\n

For more than a decade, what is now called Protoypes For Humanity has been an exhibition at the heart of this city\u2019s dash for development, powering projects that bring the prospect of solutions to challenges in the environment, energy, health, technology and other spheres. <\/p>\n

When I attended Prototypes a year ago<\/a>, it was still largely a showcase for PhD candidates\u2019 projects from some of the world\u2019s leading universities, many of which are members of The Conversation. In the last 12 months, however, a new element has been developed, under the guidance of Naren Barfield, former Provost and Deputy Vice Chancellor of the UK\u2019s Royal College of Art. This sees senior academics come to the city to deliver papers drawing on key aspects of their research. <\/p>\n

Full transparency, I served on the selection panel Professor Barfield designed to finalise the programme and The Conversation was a media partner for the 2025 Prototypes event.<\/em><\/p>\n

The themes for the year were as follows:<\/p>\n