The 3rd Kenya National Science Technology and Innovation week held from 19th to 23rd May, 2014 focused on the theme “Science, Technology and Innovation as a catalyst for Industrial Growth in Kenya.” This was befitting considering that Kenya’s development blueprint – The Kenya Vision 2030 – envisages a phenomenal transformation of Kenya into a newly industrialized middle income country that will offer better quality life to all its citizens. One of the ways to achieve this is through supporting and encouraging innovations that will improve lives, create jobs and fast-track our economic growth. In the past, Kenyan researchers have conducted numerous interesting and ground-breaking studies but unfortunately, the findings have rarely been translated to products of commercial or social value. Unarguably, it is time to shift from a paradigm that emphasizes research (whose outputs may never be used) to one that emphasizes the application of knowledge, whether generated through research or experience i.e. innovation
In a joint presentation, Dr. Maurice Bolo (Director The Scinnovent Centre) and Dr. Ellie Osir (Senior Programme Specialist IDRC) emphasized the need to shift the thinking in our universities from research to innovation. In their presentation, knowledge was singled out as the new motor in economic development in the emerging knowledge societies.
They further acknowledged that the context for science, technology and innovation (STI) is fast-changing from the traditional policy of just being concerned with creation of new knowledge to emphasizing more on application and exploitation of knowledge for economic and social development. Consequently, STI needs both methodological and organizational change to appropriately respond to the changing context. This shift calls for participatory problem identification and priority setting as well as flexible learning organizations as opposed to the bureaucratic organizations we have had in the past.
In light of this shift, it is prudent and highly imperative to have a labor force with extreme expertise to promote STI for development. Hence, the NACOSTI/IDRC University Research Chairs Programme. This programme is focused on enhancing Kenya’s competitiveness in innovation by ensuring the Research Chairs will:
- Improve the institutional environment in our universities towards attaining research excellence and fostering creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship
- Improve the research infrastructure through investment in laboratory equipment and machines
- Provide skilled and highly trained manpower into the labor market through postgraduate training
- Leverage financial support to research from private sector and other financial institutions to support university research and training
- Create active linkages with private sector to ensure that knowledge created in the universities respond to the needs of the productive sectors
In reference to the book ‘Re-thinking Science’ the speakers emphasized the need to re-think our approaches to STI by shifting from linear to systemic science in order to achieve industrial transformation in Kenya.
You can download the presentation here
This post was contributed by Vivian Otieno from The Scinnovent Centre.
As countries transition into the knowledge-based economy, the role of knowledge is becoming ever more imperative. Consequently, its generation, sharing, application and translation into economic or social use has become a key determinant in the competitiveness of firms, organizations and nations. Policymakers and development practitioners are now paying a keen attention into the processes of knowledge production and their linkages with the productive sectors.
In Africa, numerous studies have shown however, that there exist minimal linkages between the public sector research organizations , and the knowledge users (mainly the private sector). This weak linkage undermines the ability of the public sector research to create insights of direct relevance to society through engagement with communities in which they are located.
A new study by The Scinnovent Centre with support from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) seeks to explore the factors that enable or constrain the translation of public sector research outputs into commercial products, and share lessons and best practices that can be adapted and adopted within African contexts. This study will interrogate the impediments facing commercialization structures (competencies and skills); the role of governance (institutional policies, habits, culture, practices and power relations) as well as the role of intellectual property rights regimes on the appropriateness of public sector research.
By comparing cases from Kenya and Rwanda, the study will elucidate the important role of policy, institutional and governance contexts on the uptake of research outputs. In the overall, the study seeks to provide a framework that can be adapted by the universities/public research institutes in developing strategies and action plans to enhance uptake of research outputs and strengthen their linkages with the private sector. More specifically, the information generated will provide research managers with a better understanding of the challenges facing commercialization structures; researchers will be better appraised on the various International Property (IP) appropriation strategies and which IP forms better meets the needs of the private sector and finally, policymakers will have a better understanding of the influence of the country’s IP laws on innovation, commercialization and competitiveness.
The study will be carried out in partnership with the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI) in Kenya, and the Rwanda Commission for Science Technology and Innovation.
Download the project brochure here
