04 Aug 2016

Botswana has been selected as the first pilot country for the development of Intellectual Property (IP) policies in the universities.

Speaking during the national workshop on the framework Intellectual Property Policy for Universities and Public Research Institutions in Gaborone, senior counsellor for IP policies for Universities of World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Ms Lien Verbauwhede said WIPO fully supports the use of intellectual property for economic, social and cultural development and encourages creativity and innovation.

For that reason, she said Botswana was the first country to be chosen out of 188 membership countries to be assisted in IP policies.

Ms Verbauwhede said IP policy was the first and most important step towards fostering innovation within universities and research centres and stimulating technology transfer and knowledge dissemination.

She said they had started a project to assist institutions in Botswana in finding the most adapted ways to improve and stimulate the further development of universities and institutions research output and utilisation of their knowledge.

“In short, we want to get those discoveries out of the lab into the people’s hands,” she stated.

Ms Verbauwhede stated that the main goal of the initiative was to assist institutions in Botswana in setting up adequate frameworks for the dissemination of knowledge that generate and promote further development and optimal use of its potential.

She mentioned that academic and research institutions develop valuable IP, both through their teaching activities.

She said institutions were the birthplaces of groundbreaking discoveries and inventions that had enhanced the lives of millions of people.

She revealed that institutions produce inventions, scholarly publications, database, new plant varieties, confidential information, computer programmes, saying such IP created could be used, managed and commercialised to provide economic, environment and social benefits to Botswana business and the broader community.

Ms Verbauwhede mentioned that an efficient IP policy would open new ways for the universities and research institutions of encouraging research and innovation, helping them to materialise the research results into real products and services.

That, she said would allow putting into use the new technologies, especially in the sectors of diamond mining, livestock and agriculture which are the driving wheels of Botswana’s economy.

She however stated that the formal management of an IP portfolio was a relatively new phenomenon for many universities and research institutions, saying therefore they face a great deal of uncertainty regarding optimal organisational practices relating to inventor incentives, IP protection strategies, legal issues, ownership of IP rights, benefit sharing, valuation, strategic objectives and monitoring mechanisms.

For his part, Ministry of Infrastructure, Science and Technology deputy permanent secretary, Dr Keoagile Molapong said Botswana research and technology institutions were expected to make Botswana a strategic player in research and development, and as such their understanding of the complexities of intellectual property could not be down played.

Dr Molapong stated that Botswana was at the point where they desire to see institutions operating technology transfer offices and building active links with industry in matters of innovation and intellectual property.

He called on the Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Botswana Innovation Hub) to be the leading example as they had been selected to pilot the model IP policy for Universities and Public Research Organisations in Botswana

He said the institutions would serve as archetypes that would trigger interest for other institutions through sharing of their knowledge, practices and experiences.

The workshop was attended by WIPO expects, from Malaysia, South Africa and Botswana. ENDS