STEPRI showcases research innovations at exhibition in Accra
The Science and Technology Policy Research Institute (STEPRI) of the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) yesterday organised an open day to showcase its research outputs and innovations of interest to the private sector, particularly those in the industrial sector.
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The institute exhibited research findings it had conducted in various sectors of the economy, including agriculture, housing, industry, health and herbal medicine.
Held on the theme “Enhancing sustainable development and economic growth through research and industry partnership,” the open day also sought to promote partnership between researchers and the private sector through creating awareness of investment and collaboration opportunities.
The occasion brought together stakeholders including players in the industry sector, processing sector, researchers and government officials.
Open Day
Addressing participants in the event, the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Mr Mahama Ayariga, challenged other institutes, under the CSIR, to showcase their technologies and innovations to stakeholders to enhance their contribution to national development.
He said showcasing such technologies and innovations would offer stakeholders the opportunity to access and benefit from such technologies and innovations to stimulate the needed national development.
The government, he said, acknowledged that the centre had developed many technologies and innovations necessary for national and industrial development, but pointed out that they would remain less useful as long as they remained in the closet of the centre.
Public-Private-Partnership
Describing the open day as a laudable initiative, Mr Ayariga commended the institute and called on other institutes of the centre to follow suit.
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“Technology and innovation are drivers of sustainable national development and the recognition of this universal truth in Ghana was established in Ghana even before independence with the establishment of the West African Cocoa Research Institute in 1938,” Mr Ayariga said.
He called for public private partnership (PPP) to enhance collaboration between researchers and the industrial sector to propel the needed national development.
Mr Ayariga said the country was currently grappling with numerous socio-economic issues such as poverty, poor sanitation, high prevalence of communicable diseases, low agricultural productivity, excessive importation of products that could be produced locally and inadequate power supply, all of which required science, technology and innovation to address.
He acknowledged that in the housing sector, the Building and Road Research Institute of the CSIR had developed two key technologies namely the Pozzolana cement and burnt brick.
Development priorities
For his part, the Director-General of the CSIR, Dr Victor K. Agyeman, assured stakeholders that the centre would continue to conduct research that were aligned with the development priorities of the government and development partners.
“We would do that by putting research in the context of socio-economic development and sustainable resource utilisation,” he added.
Dr Agyeman expressed the centre’s desire to become more visible while improving inter-personal or organisational relationships with all stakeholders to underscore the relevance of the centre in modern times.
Writer’s email doreen.andoh@graphic.com.gh