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Harmonisation of systems in innovation ecosystem needed - Ayariga

By GNA
Science Harmonisation of systems in innovation ecosystem needed - Ayariga
SEP 27, 2016 LISTEN

By Christabel Addo / Doris Ablordey, GNA
Accra, Sept. 27, GNA - Mr Mahama Ayariga, the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), has said there is the need to harmonise existing development systems and structures to help build an innovative ecosystem.

He said the failure to link and harmonise the work of existing systems including institutions of education, research and policy development, together was a major challenge to achieving effective innovation.

Mr Ayariga said the country has all the systems, policies, structures, programmes, institutions as well as the facilities for ensuring enhanced technology and innovation, however the existence of these systems in isolation has become a major bottleneck for building an effective innovation ecosystem.

Mr Ayariga, who was addressing participants at the opening of the first ever International Innovation Conference in Accra, said the expected change could never be achieved in isolation, that was why Ghana being part of the global innovation ecosystem, must work hard in order to survive.

He said the giant leap would be possible through the linking and harmonisation of all the pieces together to achieve the expected development outcome.

Innovation would also be required for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as issues involving the environment, food security, improved livelihoods, housing as well as reducing extreme poverty, would only improve if the country deepens its innovative capabilities, he said.

He called for support as well as enhanced investment to build a strong and vibrant private sector which was considered as the driving agent of growth, saying Government has already initiated various steps to this end, with the aim of strengthening and building a venture capital financing base for assisting exporters.

Mr Ayariga commended STEPRI and the CSIR for the initiative, and expressed the hope that the conference would do more and provide the Ministry with conclusive policy ideas that could be pursued to enhance innovation and technology for national development.

The two-day conference was organised by the Science and Technology Policy Research Institute (STEPRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), on the theme: 'Development Innovation-Putting the Pieces Together'.

It aims at creating a network of innovation practitioners, including scholars in order to drive innovative research in Ghana and West Africa as a whole.

It is also to mobilise leaders including policy makers, private sector actors and Civil Society Organisations to drive the expected innovation using enhanced technology.

Dr Victor Agyeman, the Director General of CSIR, who chaired the opening, said funding committed to science, technology and innovation as well as research, was very inadequate and the drivers of change are not able to appropriately and adequately make the leap that was expected.

He said there was also a challenge with how to communicate with policy makers to understand the need to focus and commit more resources to technology and innovation development, as the anticipated changes could only result from changes in policy direction.

Dr Godfred K. Frempong, the Deputy Director of CSIR-STEPRI, said the conference provides a platform for discussions on 40 thematic issues including the CAAST-Net Plus and Horizon 2020, the role of multinational enterprises and private sector in development innovation, as well as bridging the gap between research and private sector for development innovation.

GNA

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