Government unveils youth innovation programme to foster innovation and entrepreneurship
By Nuru Soud(KNA)
The Government through the State Department for Higher Education and Research has unveiled a research program to foster innovation and entrepreneurship among youth in institution of higher learning institutions.
The initiative funded by the UK government, dubbed the “Research to Commercialization (R2C) “Program is geared towards transforming innovative research into viable enterprises that generate significant employment opportunities for the youth and drive wealth creation.
Speaking at a Mombasa hotel during the Kenya National Innovation Agency (KENIA)Commercialization and Entrepreneurial Institutions Leaders(CEIL) Summit 2024, themed “Youth, Jobs and wealth creation through Innovation and Entrepreneurship”, the Principal Secretary for Higher Education and Research Dr. Beatrice Inyangala revealed that the program enhances the innovation ecosystem within learning institutions through reviewing commercialization policies, setting up institutional funding frameworks and training various university vice chancellors on entrepreneurship and commercialization.
“The matter of well-prepared graduates for the job market is ever evolving, as educationists, we are well aware that the market for which we prepare our graduates is constantly changing,” Dr Inyangala said.
The PS added that new trends such as Artificial Intelligence(AI) and machine learning define a future that we entirely have no control over, hence the emphasis on the importance of teaching and learning which is cognizant of 21st-century skills including communication, creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration.
According to the PS, 30 institutions have benefited through the program’s various initiatives, and 30 innovators have been supported to raise funding and to take their innovations to the market raising over Sh 50 million for their innovations from various partners.
Additionally, 60 faculty members have been trained and further cascaded the program to their institutions where at least 1,300 participants have been sensitized to the research to commercialization process and 14 Vice Chancellors have been trained on fostering a culture of innovation and leading entrepreneurial universities.
At the forum, the Principal Secretary for Youth Affairs and Creative Economy, Ishmail Maalim Madey announced a new initiative in collaboration with KENIA dubbed ‘Who's Next’ to enhance creativity among the youth.
“This program will specifically focus on supporting creativity across the 47 counties and we have decided to start with six genres including dance and music, fashion and trajectory, Comedy and Content Creation”
Madey noted that Kenya National Innovation Agency is working closely with the government to enhance innovation and entrepreneurship through various initiatives including the development of the Kenya National IP policy which plays a crucial role in helping the youth to create enterprises out of their innovations.
“By protecting innovations and creative output we enable young innovators to transform their ideas into sustainable businesses hence creating jobs and generating wealth,” noted Madey.
Among other initiatives include the “Presidential Innovation Challenge and Award” an initiative that has been instrumental in identifying and nurturing innovative ideas among our youth, intertwining job creation, wealth generation, and entrepreneurship.
“Through this initiative, Kenia calls for innovative ideas across the 47 counties where eventually those with the best ideas receive Government support.
Another initiative is “Creative Economy” which focuses on harnessing and monetizing the talents of the youth.
The Chief Executive Officer of Kenia, Tonny Omwansa, noted that to promote funding towards innovation, the organization is embarking on various strategies to build a framework that enables donors to support innovators via funding.
The strategies include attracting private sectors and donors into Kenia’s various forums citing an amount totaling Ksh 78 Million that has been generated by innovators who were supported through Kenia’s past programs funded by investors.
“An innovator creates a solution which can scale and give return hence an investor looks at it as an opportunity to generate revenue in the future by injecting resources,” noted Tonny.
The Commercialization and Entrepreneurial Institutions Leaders (CEIL) Summit 2024 aims to catalyze a shift in Kenya’s research and entrepreneurial ecosystems while highlighting existing efforts and opportunities for Institutions, Industry, and innovators.
Ends/Mutiso