The initiative of the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) in establishing Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Offices (IPTTOs) in Nigerian knowledge institutions has triggered market and demand-driven research.
Dr. DanAzumi Ibrahim, Director General of NOTAP, made this disclosure while commissioning the IPTTO in Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) recently.
Dr. Ibrahim who was represented by the Director, Consultancy Services department in NOTAP, Mr. Adamu Tandama said the establishment of IPTTO in the Nigerian Universities, Polytechnic and Research Institutions was to create awareness on the importance of Intellectual Property (IP).
He said that Intellectual Property culture in Nigeria was low and for a country that aspires to be one of the leading economies in the world, Nigeria should be an exporter of technology and not depend on foreign technologies.
He further noted that in order to encourage the development of indigenous technologies, NOTAP in partnership with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), established IPTTOs in some selected Nigerian knowledge Institutions in 2006.
He further stated that there are a lot of inventive and innovative activities going on in Nigerian knowledge Institutions but not properly directed towards demand and market-driven research.
He added that the establishment of IPPTO in Nigerian Universities, Polytechnics and Research Institutions will expose the researchers to over 6 million research results which serve as a guide to researchers in carrying out their work.
The DG further stated that while Universities and Research Institutions in the developed countries generate enough revenue from licensing and Commercialization of their research results, Nigerian knowledge Institutions waits for budgetary allocations.
He challenged the University Community to maximize the opportunity offered by IPTTO to ensure that Patents are generated for licensing and for eventual generation of funds for the institution.
Earlier in his address, the Vice Chancellor of ESUT, Prof. Luke Anike said the Commissioning of IPTTO in the Institution was a dream come true. He said a lot of research activities have been carried out in the Institution but have not been presented for patenting due to inadequate knowledge on patent.
Prof. Anike was delighted that the IPTTO which was established in the Institute a long time ago but was not commissioned due to some logistics problems is now established during his tenure.
He said though the University had been engaged in a lot of research works, the issue of Patenting which IPTTO seeks to facilitate was wonderful would leverage on the opportunity to generate income for the institution.
He said with the Commissioning of IPTTO in the University, it will be better positioned to generate revenue and encouraged researchers to explore the technical training being rendered by NOTAP to ensure that their research works are patented for onward licensing and commercialization.