THE world’s most pressing problems do not fit neatly into university departments. Climate change demands more than environmental expertise. Artificial intelligence raises questions that computer scientists alone cannot answer. Economic uncertainty reaches beyond business and economics into classrooms, government offices and family homes.
These challenges overlap. Yet the research meant to address them often remains within disciplinary boundaries.
Universities organize knowledge into departments, researchers specialize in particular fields, and scholarly journals frequently speak to narrow audiences. Specialization gives research depth and rigor.
But when a problem crosses several fields, the search for answers must do the same. The question is not simply how much research we produce, but what that research helps us accomplish.
Academic productivity has traditionally been measured through publications, citations and conference presentations. These measures matter, but they tell only part of the story. A widely cited paper does not necessarily improve lives, strengthen institutions or help government make better decisions.
Consider renewable energy. Engineers can develop more efficient technologies, but getting people and businesses to use them also depends on cost, public acceptance, government rules and commercial viability. An innovation may work perfectly in a laboratory and still struggle to find a place in everyday life.
The same is true of AI. It can help organizations work faster, but using it responsibly requires an understanding of ethics, human behavior, education and governance. Technical capability alone cannot settle questions about fairness, accountability or the effects on workers.
No single discipline has all the answers.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, in 2020, emphasized the importance of research that brings together different disciplines and participants outside academia to address complex social challenges.
Unesco’s 2021 “Recommendation on Open Science” likewise promotes greater scientific collaboration and public engagement.
Urgency
For the Philippines, this approach has practical urgency. Digital transformation, energy security, economic resilience, education and environmental protection are closely connected. Progress in one area often depends on decisions made in another.
Helping a small business go digital, for example, involves more than setting up an online store. The owner needs the skills to manage it, the money to sustain it, and an understanding of how customers shop. Workers may need training, while public policies must support the transition.
A technology solution that overlooks these realities may leave the business with new tools but little capacity to use them.
This is where colleges and universities can make a greater contribution. Alongside encouraging publication, they can create opportunities for researchers to exchange ideas, question assumptions and work with people who understand how problems unfold outside the campus.
Businesses can explain what makes an innovation affordable and workable. Policymakers can identify gaps in existing rules. Communities can show researchers whether the questions they are asking reflect people’s actual needs.
Academic conferences can help make these exchanges happen, provided they become more than a succession of paper presentations.
A researcher working on AI may find a useful application through a conversation with a teacher or health professional.
An energy specialist may discover that an economist’s or policymaker’s perspective can help turn a promising technology into a viable project.
Such encounters can lead to better research questions, institutional partnerships and joint projects. Their value lies in what participants pursue after the presentations end.
Bringing academia, industry and government together can help close the distance between discovering something and putting it to use. Research gains public value when its findings inform decisions, improve services or offer workable responses to shared problems.
That ambition will be at the heart of iAAA Asia 2026, an international multidisciplinary research conference scheduled for Nov. 12 at De La Salle University Manila.
Hosted by the Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business in partnership with the iAAA Association of New York and the State University of New York at New Paltz, the conference will bring together participants from academia, industry and government.
Discussions will cover AI, analytics, alternative energy, sustainability, business, education and public policy.
Beyond presenting papers, the gathering aims to encourage dialogue, build partnerships and explore solutions across these fields.
The opportunity is to turn those exchanges into work that continues beyond the conference: a shared research project, a policy proposal, or an innovation shaped by the needs of the people who will use it.
The future of research depends both on deep expertise and on the willingness to learn from others. Society’s problems do not exist in silos. Our research should not either.
Dr. Nelson Guillen Jr. is an associate professor and assistant dean for external affairs and Lasallian Mission at De La Salle University’s Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business.
