Polytech aims to boost innovation

AS rich in resources as Namibia is, the country’s slow progress towards Vision 2030 indicates a need for more knowledge and innovation rather than just resources.

This was the suggestion of Polytechnic of Namibia Rector Tjama Tjivikua as the institution last week took a crucial step towards establishing Namibia’s own innovation centre or science park. At the same time, the Polytechnic signed an agreement with the Embassy of Finland on a grant of N$325 600 to fund a feasibility study on the envisioned centre.”It is time for Namibia to focus its thinking and policies more on knowledge creation, the right education and training,” Tjivikua said, saying that a science park would enable the country to move in a new direction of thinking and growth by expanding creativity and innovation.”There is too much focus on certain areas of the economy … the primary sectors of the economy, and the same type of businesses, for example shebeens,” he said.Adapting the international definition of a science park, Namibia’s envisioned innovation centre would help students to establish innovative companies through incubators and spin-off processes, the Polytechnic says.”Technology centres offer their clients services that produce added value and make operations more efficient while boosting their ability to innovate and be more competitive,” Finnish embassy Charge d’Affairs Seija Kinni-Huttunen said.”Technology centres also house various testing and development environments.The centres aim to improve the wellbeing of their whole communities through their operation,” she said.Sixteen years of independence had not necessarily produced economic prosperity for the majority of Namibians due to the quality and focus of education, workforce efficiency and the size and type of the country’s economy, she said.The feasibility study agreed on yesterday will gather information on the Windhoek innovation society and development system, its development potential, as well as the core organisations operative in the city and their potential for science and technology park operations.The study will be conducted by Finnish company Technopolis, which Tjivikua says has extensive global experience in the field.It will be carried out between October and December.At the same time, the Polytechnic signed an agreement with the Embassy of Finland on a grant of N$325 600 to fund a feasibility study on the envisioned centre.”It is time for Namibia to focus its thinking and policies more on knowledge creation, the right education and training,” Tjivikua said, saying that a science park would enable the country to move in a new direction of thinking and growth by expanding creativity and innovation.”There is too much focus on certain areas of the economy … the primary sectors of the economy, and the same type of businesses, for example shebeens,” he said.Adapting the international definition of a science park, Namibia’s envisioned innovation centre would help students to establish innovative companies through incubators and spin-off processes, the Polytechnic says.”Technology centres offer their clients services that produce added value and make operations more efficient while boosting their ability to innovate and be more competitive,” Finnish embassy Charge d’Affairs Seija Kinni-Huttunen said.”Technology centres also house various testing and development environments.The centres aim to improve the wellbeing of their whole communities through their operation,” she said.Sixteen years of independence had not necessarily produced economic prosperity for the majority of Namibians due to the quality and focus of education, workforce efficiency and the size and type of the country’s economy, she said.The feasibility study agreed on yesterday will gather information on the Windhoek innovation society and development system, its development potential, as well as the core organisations operative in the city and their potential for science and technology park operations.The study will be conducted by Finnish company Technopolis, which Tjivikua says has extensive global experience in the field.It will be carried out between October and December.