CSIR invites private sector for collaboration

By Lydia Asamoah/ Mercy Boateng, GNA
Accra, June 23, GNA - The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has called for stronger collaborations with industry and the private sector as a way of making itself attractive to the business community and beyond.

Dr Victor Agyemang, the CSIR Director General, said over the years, the Council and its research institutes like the Science and Technology Policy Research Institute (STEPRI) had contributed significantly to the socio-economic development of the country.

'We have conducted many research into various socio-economic happenings and have come out with credible reports that had helped with solutions to national development,' Dr Agyemang said at an open-day forum organised by the CSIR-STEPRI, in Accra.

The forum aimed at promoting the impact of science, technology and innovation is on the theme: 'Enhancing Sustainable Development and Economic Growth through Research and Industry Partnership.'

It will help examine practical ways by which stronger ties could be established and sustained between research institutions including CSIR-STEPRI and the private sector.

The open-day will also help promote partnerships between research and the private sector through awareness creation on opportunities for investment and collaborations as well as research output of interest to the private sector.

Dr Agyemang said it was not true that most of the research findings of the Council 'had gathered dust,' saying; 'CSIR has shared and made findings open to the public. What is needed now is to bridge the linkages between industry and CSIR'.

He said events like the open-day was so important to help bring industry closer to researchers in order for them to be responsive to the needs of industry and churn out useable technologies to help address some of the country's development challenges.

'As consumers world-wide continues to grow in sophistication in the taste, it requires of enterprises, research institutions and other actors to keep with the pace to remain competitive and relevant.

'Therefore, there is the need for stronger collaborations among industry, researchers and society to support the innovative processes of arriving at the desired goals,' he said.

He said scientific research results had brought about increased sales and higher research productivity and patenting activity for many firms worldwide, and that research institutions could not be separated from industries and private sector.

Mr Mahama Ayariga, the Minister of Environment, Science, Innovation and Technology, in a speech read on his behalf, said technology and innovation would remain within the corridors of CSIR if they did not showcase them to the public.

He said scientific research results had brought about increased sale and higher research productivity and patenting activity for many firms worldwide, saying, research institutions could, therefore, not be separated from industries and the private sector who were the users of research outputs.

Mr Ayariga commended CSIR and its affiliates for the many research carried out including the biogas technology, Pazzolana cement and burnt bricks, as well as research in promoting and improving safety of processed foods.

He said government would continue to support such initiatives and invest in the establishment of technology parks and incubation centres to facilitate co-creation of technologies and innovation by research institutions and the private sector.

'The crucial determinants of the success and sustainability of the bridges built between research and the private sector are the policies, legislations and institutions created to hold the bridges,' he said.

Professor Stephen K. Adjepong, the Principal of the Methodist University College, said since science, technology and innovation added value to raw materials and acted as economic drivers, it was important the Government attached importance to it.

He expressed the hope that the forum would be a catalyst for the development of a framework for the linkages between research and industry.

GNA