Technical Universities across the country are being urged to be more innovative by going beyond publishing academic papers for promotion but rather direct their focus on commercializing research output.

Coordinator of the Industry and Innovation Unit of the Directorate of Research, Innovation and Consultancy at the University of Cape Coast, Mr. Isaac Nketsiah indicated that this was the only way the technical universities can remain relevant and be more agile and responsive to the challenges in 21st-century universities.

Speaking on the management of Intellectual Property (IP) in Contemporary Research at Green Building Research Conference hosted by the Cape Coast Technical University, Mr. Nketsiah underscored the need for the Technical Universities to develop the intellectual property framework to guide their research and scholarly works and enable them to generate income from the commercialization of their works.

He further expressed concern about how most universities in Africa still engage in teaching and basic research activities whilst missing out on opportunities for breakthroughs in groundbreaking discoveries and solutions for most of the continent’s challenges.

He cited the water bicycle by the Takoradi Technical University student, the Water Bill App developed by some students of KNUST, the solar handwashing prompting machine by Cape Coast Technical University as examples of innovations and IP assets that can be exploited.

He recommended that “technical universities (TUs) should develop and operationalize effective institutional IP policy that provides guidelines on creation, protection and commercialization of IP assets.”

He further stressed the need for TUs to put in place appropriate support structures such as the establishment of Technology Transfer Office and Business Incubation Services and also to include IP as part of the reward system for academic promotion.

The theme for the conference was, “The Role of Built Environment Professionals in Prioritizing Net Zero Buildings’’.
Present were the Vice-Chancellor as well as the Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Cape Coast Technical University, the MP of Cape Coast North, Hon. Dr. Kwamena Minta Nyarku among a host of others.