© 2012 Economic Commission for Africa
African scientists review a Regional Science, Technology and Innovation framework
Addis Ababa, 15 February 2010 (ECA) - A three-day consultative workshop on African Innovation Framework opened today to review the draft framework document prepared by an ECA consultant to guide Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) development in the continent.
The specific objectives of the workshop is to critically review the contents of the proposed framework document entitled “Unlocking Africa’s Future: Towards An African Innovation Framework” and provide comments and inputs to enrich the document leading to a comprehensive African Innovation Strategy.
Opening the workshop, Ms. Aida Opoku-Mensah, Director of the ICT, Science and Technology Division (ISTD) of the ECA stressed on the importance and relevance of the framework in as much as served as the bedrock to ECA’s STI programme. She reminded participants that the development of the framework is one of the activities derived from the outputs of the “Science With Africa”
Conference organized by ECA in March 2008. Ms. Opoku-Mensah also highlighted on the key areas identified by the draft document including strategic vision, planning and governance; education: primary, secondary, tertiary, technical, vocational;
specific policies and enablers; and media and public awareness. She noted that “these areas are important guiding frameworks for the growth of innovation in the continent”. She further noted that “African countries need to respond with policies, programmes, institutions and partnerships, which maximize on their economic opportunities”. Ms. Opoku-Mensah invited the distinguished scientists to closely analyze these priority areas and provide expert advice on developing the building blocks of the African Innovation Framework, which would form the basis for ECA’s continued advice and support to member States in developing national STI strategies.
Mr. Matti Sinko, Technical Adviser of the ECA-Finland Cooperation on ICT Development in Africa, shared the Finnish experience on developing innovation framework. He advised that there was a need to adopt a “systematic approach towards innovation policies and frameworks with education and learning as the basis to catalyse and foster innovation”. Mr. Sinko also shared with participants definitions related to innovation, innovation systems and innovation policy as used in Finland’s Innovation Strategy. He also noted that visions or policies alone were not enough as there was a need to induce interactivity and inter-linkages among the identified priority areas. Mr. Matti also shared with participants some of the new trends in the area of innovation frameworks including; the shift towards innovation systems and networks as opposed to individual innovators, narrow technology-based to broad-based concepts and from supply to consumer/user oriented interventions.
Over 21 scientists drawn from the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) of Nigeria, the International Council for Science (ICSU) - Regional Office for Africa, the Accra Institute of Technology (AIT), the Science and Technology Policy Research Institute of Ghana, the National Centre of Scientific Research and Technologies of Mali, the National Polytechnic of Cameroon, the African Research Center for Technology (Senegal), and a number of STI consultants and experts are in attendance.
The workshop is being organised with support from the Government of Finland through its second phase Cooperation Programme with ECA on ICT Development in Africa.
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