National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) has expressed optimism that setting up Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Office (IPTTO) would lead to fast tracked technological advancement of the country.
Dr. DanAzumi Ibrahim, director general of NOTAP, disclosed this during the commissioning ceremony 42nd Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Office (IPTTO) at the Umaru Musa Yar’adua University, Katsina (UMYU).
Represented by Mr. Adamu Tandama, director Consultancy Services of the agency; Ibrahim said NOTAP in 2006 initiated the programme in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) but became fully operational in 2007 with the establishment of five Offices as pilot Institutions.
He pointed out that the establishment of IPTTO in some Nigerian knowledge institutions was to create awareness on the importance of intellectual property, its protection as well as fast-track the technological advancement of the nation.
He added that in the cause of registration of technology transfer agreements which is one of the major functions of the Office, NOTAP realized that over 90 percent of the technology that powers the Nigerian economy was foreign and for a country that strives to be among the twenty richest nations of the world in 2020, the situation was unacceptable.
He further stated that what differentiates developed and developing countries are the number of inventions and innovations emanating from their knowledge institutions, stressing that whereas the knowledge institutions of the developed countries are carrying out researches that will provide solutions to human problems, researchers in the developing countries carry out researches as mere academic works and for career progression.
Dr. Ibrahim reiterated that while some of the IPTTO’s established have started turning out patents and some commercialisable inventions, others are struggling to build their inventive and innovative culture which was apparently very weak.
Prof. Idris Isa Funtua, Vice Chancellor of UMYU, in his address, thanked NOTAP for counting the institution worthy of benefiting from the IPTTO programme.
He said the University was established eleven years ago to promote academic excellence and that the establishment of IPTTO will boost their research and development drive to attain the desired technological development.
He said no country can develop without giving science and technology the pride of place, adding that the establishment of IPTTO in the Institution will refocus their research attention to a more demand and market driven research rather than just for academic purposes.
