NCDMB to sustain innovation collaboration with Triple Helix
Sopuruchi Onwuka
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has signaled plans to sustain collaboration with Triple Helix on research and development projects to maintain a steady stream of new knowledge in the Nigeria’s hydrocarbon industry.
The local content regulator of the petroleum industry stated that sustainable collaboration on innovation forms part of its Technology Innovation and Incubation Strategy towards enduring commitment to excellence in the industry and linkage sectors.
Executive Secretary, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, said supporting new R&D projects would add to the 14 applied research projects the agency NCDMB has currently primed to various stages of technological readiness.
He pointed at the shining example of Amal Technology, which manufactures gas leak detection devices and printed circuit board in Abuja.
Engr. Ogbe hinted in the keynote address he delivered at the 2024 edition of the Triple Helix Nigeria SciBiz Conference in Abuja that NCDMB has consistently applied local content development to enhance research and commercialize innovative solutions for the petroleum sector.
The conference was attended by industry representatives, researchers from knowledge institutions and policymakers. The conference theme is: “Integrating Research, Innovation, and Policy: Triple Helix Pathway to Research Commercialisation.”
Group picture of some participants at the Triple Helix SciBiz conference held in Abuja
Engr. Ogbe the NCDMB hopes “to accelerate the circle of innovation and wealth creation by fostering partnerships between universities, research institutions, and industry players.”
Represented by the General Manager Research and Statistics, Mr. Silas Ajimajaye, the Executive Secretary charged Nigerians to embrace the spirit of innovation and worktogether to build a future where research and development are at the forefront of the national agenda.
According to him, “Creating an ecosystem where research, innovation and policy can interact has never been more critical as we steer through the complexitiesof the 21st Century,” noting that “the Triple Helix Model of academia, industry, and government collaboration is an appropriate international business framework thatadds to our strength of innovation and ensures that all efforts go into fuelling the grand old aim – National Development.”
He further disclosed that “the $50 million Nigerian Content Research and Development Fund was created by the Board in 2020 from the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF), and was designed to provide much-needed research funds in the oil and gas R&Dspace.”
The President, Triple Helix Nigeria, Alhaji Abdulmalik Halilu, in his presentation, said the THN, whose membership has grown from an initial 12 founding members to 240,realizes the fact that research and innovation have fuelled human and societal development and that the body seeks to catalyze enterprises so oriented.
According to him, THN is committed to foster value creation in the Nigerian economy in line with local content philosophy of looking inwards, promote the development of technology skillsets required to solve African problems by Africans, promote strong advocacy platform for building research capabilities in knowledge institutions, and foster structured partnerships between industry and research community, to attract research-based funding in the direction of Africa-based researchers.
On the organization’s vision, Halilu who is Director, Monitoring and Evaluation at the NCDMB, revealed that “Triple Helix Nigeria seeks to inspire at least 10 knowledge institutions to accelerate innovation and have at least 10% equity in 10 listed companies in the next 10 years.”
Speaking further, Halilu canvassed that the role of universities in this era was no longer confined to the education of minds or the advancement of theoretical knowledge, instead, they must play a central role in the commercialization of research, turning knowledge into tangible products that drive economic growth. He added that “the transition from education through research to commercialization heralded an evolving frontier where academia, industry, and government collaborate under the Triple Helix model to ensure research transcends the boundaries of laboratories and classrooms, to solving real-world problems and fostering economic prosperity.”
Earlier in a welcome address, the Chairman of the Planning Committee of the Conference, Professor Eucharia Oluchi Nwaichi, said her members were “so joyous to witness 156 authors submitting 47 high-quality papers on various subjects that directly contribute to the theme of this Conference – “Integrating Research, Innovation, and Policy: Triple Helix Pathway to Research Commercialization.”
She expressed her confidence that “together, we can build a robust ecosystem where research meets industry, innovation drives policy, and Nigeria rises as a global leader in science, technology, and innovation.”
The 2024 Triple Helix Nigeria SciBiz Conference 2024, held from October 23 to 25.
