BIH foster innovative entrepreneurship
Pauline Dikuelo | Wednesday March 22, 2017 14:56
The MoU serves as an extension of the collaboration established in June last year and will focus on four areas aimed at developing an effective national competition and robust BIH process for vetting innovations and mobilising Innovation Prize Awards (IPA) applicants.
In addition, it serves to support the national systems of innovation, build capacity of local innovators thus broadening existing networks as well as mobilise resources to implement selected activities.
In an interview with Mmegi Business, IPA director, Pauline Koelbl said through the MOU, they wanted to officialise their partnership with BIH as well as set up a framework, which allows for collaboration.
“The MoU has been signed with one key objective of strengthening ecosystems and commercialising innovations in Botswana, as well as promoting a culture of entrepreneurship across the country,” she said.
Koelbl said the foundation looks forward to supporting BIH in its efforts to strengthen the innovation landscape in Botswana and to develop mechanisms that enable local inventors to achieve scale and commercial viability.
Moreover, she said the MOU will expand and deepen cooperation in technology and innovation with the view of facilitating through joint projects, the exchange of institutional experience collaboration with other innovation enablers including researchers for the purpose of promoting sustainable growth.
“It was great that the signing of this MoU coincided with the official opening of the inaugural ABM University College Entrepreneurship Conference and the launch of the University’s new Entrepreneurship Development Centre in Gaphatswa.
Clearly, the ABM College will be instrumental in unlocking potential of Botswana’s young entrepreneurs,” she said.
For his part, BIH CEO Allan Boshwaen said the long-term goal of the MoU is to help BIH draw on the experience and networks of the AIF to build and strengthen the national innovation ecosystem.
“The anticipated outcome of the MoU is a robust and standardised process for mobilising and vetting innovative market oriented solutions for local and African challenges,” he said.
Further, he noted that the MoU will help build capacity of local innovators, broaden existing networks and mobilise grassroots innovators, vet submissions and source resources to implement selected activities.
In addition, Boshwaen said the MoU enables BIH to strengthen the national innovation ecosystem through development of a robust, widely accepted international criteria for mobilisation and selection of viable local innovations for prototyping and commercialisation.
“BIH continues to raise the innovation and entrepreneurship spirit in Botswana through its core business of innovation support through programmes that include a technology entrepreneurship development programme, First Steps Venture Centre (FSVC), National Technology Transfer Office, Microsoft Innovation Centre, Clean-Tech Centre and the ICT developer community programme called Cyber City Kgotla,” he said.