Mr Emmanuel Sackey, International Intellectual Property (IP) expert, has urged researchers and potential inventors in the country to commercialise their intellectual property to boost their economic earnings.
He urged them against the hasty publication of ideas and inventions and underscored the need for them to seek advice from IP experts on the value of their products before publication.
Mr Sackey gave the advice during the opening ceremony of the Ghana Jobs and Skills Project Training on the Framework for Technology Transfer, in Accra.
The two-day event organised by Ministry of Environment Science Technology and Innovation (MESTI) brought together representatives of University and Research Institutions, Start Ups and Industry representatives of Ministries, Departments and Agencies to receive training on technology and innovation.
The Ghana Jobs and Skills project is a US$ 200million World Bank funded project signed in 2020.
It is expected to run for five years and will support skills development and job creation in Ghana.
Mr Sackey said there was the need to set up a framework to facilitate technology transfers in the country.
Technology transfer is the movement of data, designs, inventions, materials, software, technical knowledge or trade secrets from one organisation to another or from one purpose to another.
The process is guided by the policies, procedures and values of organisations involved.
He urged the participants to develop innovations that would provide solutions to the world’s problems, saying: “Without innovation, there would never be any change; we would be living in a static world with a stagnating economy.”
Mr Kwamena Essilfie Quaison, Director of science, Technology and Innovation at the MESTI, noted that technology, brands, IPs and designs had shaped the global market competitiveness.
He expressed worry that Ghana with all its potentials had not been able to record a significant number of IPs as compared to countries like South Africa and Kenya.
“There has been some significant investment in Research and Development in Ghana since independence, but this is yet to be properly traced to products and services in the real sector except in the areas of crop varieties or improved seedlings associated with agriculture,” he noted.
Source: Ghana News Agency