Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — In a bid to create a platform for stakeholders to share ideas, explore opportunities for collaboration and commercialization of research outputs in the country, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB in partnership with Triple Helix Nigeria, has announced its planned SciBiz Annual Conference 2024.
The Conference, which is the maiden edition, is slated to hold in Abuja between 23rd and 25th October 2024 with the theme, Integrating Research, Innovation, and Policy: Triple Helix Pathway to Research Commercialisation.
The Conference, which is being sponsored by NCDMB, would bring together the academia, industry, and government, for the purpose of formulating strategies to bridge the gap between scientific discoveries and their practical applications in solving societal challenges.
The Conference is touted as a strategic response to the urgent need to strengthen innovations that convert research findings into marketable products and services, generate employment, and stimulate economic growth.
Key programs at the event would include plenary sessions, featuring expert keynote speakers; panel discussions in which leaders from the academia, industry, and government, would explore how to overcome barriers to research commercialization and innovation in Nigeria, and innovation pitching competition, which will feature presentation of projects undertaken by startups and innovators to potential investors and partners.
Other key elements are workshops and breakout sessions, involving discussion groups focusing on research funding, intellectual property management, and fostering entrepreneurial mindset of universities.
Others are, exhibitions for innovators, startups, research institutions, and industries to showcase their products, services, and technologies; diaspora engagement to facilitate collaborations with Nigerian professionals to leverage global expertise for local challenges.
Target audience for the Conference includes academics and researchers from Nigerian and international universities, representatives from industries, small and medium-scale enterprises, government officials and policymakers in science, technology, and innovation sectors, investors and venture capitalists, international organizations and development partners, entrepreneurs, and students.
