Addis Ababa hosts African Innovation Framework workshop

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Addis Ababa hosts African Innovation Framework Workshop

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 29 June 2009 (ECA) - A two-day consultative workshop on developing an African Innovation Framework opened in Addis Ababa, today to chart the way towards developing a concrete and “implementable” framework to guide Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) development in the continent. The second objective of the workshop is to focus on the opportunities and challenges for the development of African innovation strategy to complement national, sub-regional and sectoral ICT, Science and Technology policies and strategies.

Opening the workshop, Ms. Aida Opoku-Mensah, Director of the ICT, Science and Technology Division (ISTD) of the ECA stressed on the pivotal role that this initiative plays in supporting ECA’s STI programme. She recalled that ECA, through the African Information Society Initiative (AISI), has been engaged in addressing the continent’s technological development challenges since 1996.

Following the restructuring of ECA that resulted in the creation of the ISTD Division, ECA has continued to lay greater emphasis on STI development on the continent. One of the major outcomes of this process was the organization of the “Science With Africa” conference in March 2008, which resulted in the development of about 20 innovative ideas to promote STI in Africa.

Ms. Opoku- Mensah also highlighted ECA’s work in addressing African Union priorities, one of which is STI development. She said that ECA and its partners would be soliciting help and guidance from participants of the present workshop on the shape and form of the debate that would precede the establishment of the African Innovation Framework that would guide ECA’s work programme in this area.

Mr. Harry De Backer from the European Union Delegation to the African Union also made a brief opening remark, in which he suggested that Africa should focus on the modification of existing products and innovation and on the adaptation needed to address local African development problems – STI applicable solutions for African local context.

Mr. Esam Abulkhirat, ICT Senior Policy Officer, African Union Commission, said that although Africa has recorded good economic growth in the last five years (with average of 5% GDP growth), investments in STI are still very low. He pointed out that the AUC has laid a lot of emphasis on STI development in Africa, as critical aspect for the transformation of national economies, poverty reduction, attainment of the MDGs as well as for the integration of the continent into the global knowledge economy.

He said that this interest was again demonstrated in 2007 when African Heads of State dedicated the theme of their annual Summit to STI, and revealed that theme of the 2010 Summit shall also on ICTs. Mr. Abulkhirat stressed that technology-based innovation policy frameworks are likely to have greater effect if they were integrated and properly aligned explicitly with African development and growth plans.

In an earlier remark, Prof. Edward S. Ayensu, former Chairperson of the Ghana Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, who is working with ECA and leading the process of developing the African Innovation Framework, reminded participants that a lot has been done and written about these issues; but that over the years no concrete and explicit actions had been taken. He said it was now time for more action and fewer words. In this regard, he called on Africa to focus on the main foundations upon which the Innovation Framework can be built, and essentially its continuing success.

He counted (i) developing a critical mass of skilled workforce that meets the needs of an ever-changing economy through better science and technology education; (ii) strengthening and enhancing the innovation infrastructure that encourages the creation and flow of new ideas, technology transfer, joint learning, collaboration, global market intelligence and skills development; (iii) creating/promoting effective governance system; and, (iv) creating policy environment for innovation to flourish as key areas of that focus.

The organization of the workshop was financially supported by the Government of Finland through its second phase Cooperation Programme with ECA on ICT Development in Africa. Over 25 participants drawn from Congo, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Ghana, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Swaziland, and Zambia are participating in the workshop.

Participants are expected to come up with concrete and “implementable” proposal on charting the way forward for developing the African Innovation Framework in particular and the African STI development agenda in general.

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Addis Ababa Ethiopia

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4/8/2014 Article - Addis Ababa hosts African Innovation Framework Workshop

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