NOTAP, UI collaborate on intellectual property • As UI inaugurates business circle

An Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer (IPTT) office, an initiative of the National office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), has been opened at the University of Ibadan, which will be coordinated by the Centre for Entrepreneurship (CEI) of the university.

Speaking at the commissioning of the IPTT office, the Director-General of NOTAP, Mr. Umar Bindir,  said that the office would serve as the central facility through which NOTAP would link up with the university.
He said that it was expected that products of scientific and technological research, together with works from the creative arts would be showcased through the office with a view to commercialising such works and providing them with patents.

A database  would be created for products that reach the office to facilitate the process.

The Federal Ministry of Science and Technology in 2006, through NOTAP, set up IPTT offices in 15 institutions across the country. The IPTT office opened in UI brings the total number to 32. According to Bindir, “the offices are centres to unleash the innovative energies found within the academia.”

In his key note address, the NOTAP DG stressed the need for scientists, technologists and business owners to work together and create a “sweet spot” in which wealth would be created.

The Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Isaac Adewole, said the opening of the office was a proof of FG’s commitment to the promotion of innovation and advancement in research, adding that “management of intellectual property has been recognised globally as the pillar on which innovation and technology transfer rests.”

He informed the audience at the event that the university was aware of the importance of intellectual property to research, and had subsequently set up a committee to fashion out an intellectual property policy for the operations of IPTT at the University of Ibadan, which are to be coordinated by the U.I Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI) so as to promote university-private sector collaboration as well as teaching and conducting research in entrepreneurship and innovation in the university.

The day’s events also witnessed the unveiling of a slogan by the university: “U.I makes it happen,” meant to herald the higher institution’s new drive to promote creativity and innovation that would provide real societal development.

In a related development, the University of Ibadan (U.I) has  inaugurated the U.I Business Circle, created to provide a forum for successful business owners to provide mentorship and support for business start-ups in a bid to encourage the Nigerian youth, essentially students of the university, to be entrepreneurs, and bridge the gap between “town and gown.” Activities of the UI business circle will be coordinated by the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI) of the University of Ibadan.

Speaking at the occasion which took place last Thursday at the U & I Restaurant, the Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Professor Isaac Adewole, recalled a meeting between vice-chancellors of all Nigerian universities  and the Minister of Education, Professor Rukayyat Rufai, in which she charged all institutions to commence entrepreneurial study centres.

The vice chancellor noted that although the UI had begun its programme as far back as 2002,  adding that “as a citadel of learning and research, the university is in a position to offer learning only in the theoretical realm.”

Source : Tribune

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