…Moves to strengthen implementation of NITTF scheme
By Mohammed Mohammed
The National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) has urged Nigerian researchers to concentrate more on researches that have the potentials and capacity to translate into commercializable goods and services for economic sustainability of the country.
Speaking at a one-day Patentees Forum with the theme “After Patent what next” organized by NOTAP in Uyo, Akwa-Ibom State recently, the Director General of NOTAP, Dr. DanAzumi Ibrahim, said there was a weak Intellectual Property (IP) Culture in the country occasioned by poor knowledge of its importance to the economy of the nation.
Ibrahim, decried the quality of Research and Development (R&D) results coming from the Nigerian knowledge institutions which according to him was largely caused by poor funding as well as misplacement of priority. He added that it was expensive to undertake critical research that will metamorphous into tangible products and service, hence the need to increase research funding.
He said that what makes the developed countries tick was the quality of R&D results emanating from their knowledge establishments. He stated that in developed Countries, Universities and Polytechnics are self-sustaining because of the huge resources accruing to them as royalties from licensing of R&D results.
He said that the Office was established to regulate the inflow of foreign technologies into the Country through the registration of technology transfer agreement and at the same time, encourage the development of indigenous technologies.
The DG further stated that in carrying out the responsibilities of the Office, it noticed that over 90% of the technologies that power the Nigerian economy were foreign and for a country that aspires to be economically self-sustainable, the situation was unacceptable.
He said that technologies were products of research and researches were undertaken by the knowledge institutions therefore, Nigerian Universities and Polytechnics needed an orientation towards problem solving research.
He stated that in order to sensitize Nigerians and bridge the knowledge gap in the field of Intellectual Property Right (IPR), the Office in 2006 in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) initiated the establishment of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Offices (IPTTOs) in some knowledge institutions across the Country.
The Director General said that the reason for the initiative was to tailor the minds of Nigerian researchers towards problem solving research instead of engaging in convention research for the purposes of career progression. He encouraged researchers to patent their R&D results before publishing for according to him, any research work that is published before patenting is already in the public domain and can be exploited by anybody.
He reiterated that patenting of inventions and innovations was a major step towards Commercialization of research results, adding that it was important for researchers to ensure they commercialize their inventions or license it to venture capitalists for according to him, patents are liabilities to the owners when they are not commercialized.
The DG encouraged the participants to write bankable research proposals to donor agencies to ensure that they engage in researches that will translate into goods and services as government funding was inadequate.
Meanwhile, NOTAP has commenced a regional stakeholder’s forum to strengthen the implementation of the NOTAP-Industry Technology Transfer Fellowship (NITTF) scheme for efficient and speedy technology development of the Country.
The process of strengthening includes review of Bond (agreement) with the stakeholders and implementation guidelines.
Speaking at a one-day interactive meeting with key stakeholders of the scheme made up of the beneficiaries, their supervisors as well as the sponsoring companies at Kano for the Northern region, the Director General of NOTAP, Dr DanAzumi Ibrahim, said there was need to look into the existing agreements signed between the Office and beneficiaries of the NITTF program with the view to making some amendments to reflect the experiences gained from the inception of the scheme in 2015.
The DG noted that in carrying out one of its statutory mandates, NOTAP discovered a huge gap between the academia and the industry especially in linking Research and Development (R&D) results to the manufacturing sector of the economy.
He stated that in order to bridge the gap in the process of acquiring and adopting foreign technologies in the country, NOTAP initiated a programme known as NOTAP-Industry Technology Transfer Fellowship (NITTF).
Ibrahim, stated that based on some noticeable lapses in the agreement as well as the implementation guidelines, there was need to review the documents to address the challenges and reflect current realities, all the stakeholders will adhere strictly.
He added that the beneficiaries of the NITTF scheme under the agreements were to furnish the Office with quarterly reports of their progress and challenges but in most cases, they wait for the Office to demand for that before they send their report.
He also noted that as part of the agreement, the sponsoring companies are supposed to allow the beneficiaries to undertake industrial visit to their facilities for practical experience.
The NOTAP boss further stated that the scheme was for a maximum of 4 years sponsorship, adding however that some candidates were able to graduate within the stipulated time while others have spent over seven years, hence the need for the interactive meeting to ascertain what the challenges are and proffer solution where applicable.
Also, while declaring open the Southern region NITTF stakeholder’s forum held in Lagos recently, the DG who was represented by the Director Consultancy Services of NOTAP, Dr. Adamu Tandama, noted that the Office was established to regulate the inflow of foreign technology into the country through the registration of technology transfer agreements and at the same time promote the development of indigenous technologies.
He added that the Office carries out the registration of technology transfer agreements after evaluating the agreements under three major perspectives; economic, legal and technical perspectives.
The DG stated that sometimes agreements are drafted abroad by the foreign technical partners without recourse to the laws of our Country and when such infractions are noticed during evaluations, such agreements are usually not registered. He further noted that some agreements are drafted without taking cognisance of the need for capacity building in the technology transfer components to ensure the development of skilled critical mass for socio-economic development of the Country.
He said that the NITTF scheme was an initiative designed to develop the technical competencies of young and talented Nigerians with master’s degree but have unwavering interest in academia to pursue their doctorate degrees in any field of choice by the sponsoring company. He added that multinational companies usually embark on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by building schools and digging boreholes for their host Communities which according to him is good but could be better by building capacity of the citizens, hence the introduction of NITTF for manpower development.
The DG encouraged the beneficiaries and other Nigerian researchers to first file for patenting of their inventions before publishing their R&D results in any international journal as according to him, any research finding that is published before filing for patent is already in the public domain and can be exploited by anybody.
He encouraged more companies to show interest in the scheme so that some of their challenges which hitherto were referred to their mother companies abroad can be solved within the country at quicker and cheaper rates.
The NITTF stakeholder’s fora for North and South achieved the set-out objectives as areas for improvement have been identified.
Mr. Raymond Onyenezi Ogbu, Public Relations and Protocol Unit, NOTAP sent in the news piece on behalf of the Office.
