National Technology Business Centre (NTBC) Director Chitundu Kasase has urged women and youths to participate in the National innovational fair.
The fair is aimed at identifying the innovations that will promote technologies transfer and bring technology seekers and users together to improve quality production of goods and services.
Mr Kasase said the initiative fair will address the challenges faced by innovators across the country that of using the local grown solutions to manage their inventions .
Mr Kasase disclosed that the fair has drawn participates from 6 provinces and are competing in different technologies that will enable them get recognition through appreciation of their innovative initiatives.
Among the 6 Provinces identified include Southern, Copperbelt, Luapula, Northern, Western and Lusaka.
he was speaking to ZANIS in an interview at the two 2 days inventors initiative fair organized by the UNITED Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Ministry of Higher Education , National Technology Business and Zambia Information Technology Communication Authority (ZICTA ) held at Mulungushi international Conference Centre in Lusaka .
“We want to turn the innovators who have these innovations initiatives to compete and identify the innovation that have been innovated and turn them into a business services,” Mr Kasase said .
He said the innovation initiatives has 6 categories with the major ones being women and youths categories.
“We want to encourage the youths and women who feel are left out and riding on the His Excellency the President Edgar Lungu, has indicated about leaving no one behind and we want to make sure that we leave no one behind,” he noted
And Zambia Information Technology Communication Authority (ZICTA) ICT Innovation officer Vanessa Menshi said more than 300 innovators had applied from 6 Provinces only 50 were selected. Applied.
Ms Menshi stated that only the top fifty were picked to compete and that 20 participates will be awarded in various categories.
We still hv a significant number of our people leading a peasant life. It’s all they hv known all their lives and hv no skills to survive outside the village. They use draft animals to farm while others use their hands. The tools they use hv not changed for years. Peasants farming where soils are heavy and those where soils are light hv the same tools. Those working in heavy soils need suitable tools and there’s need for local engineers to respond to this need. Saro Agric’s engineers hv never been known to visit peasant farmers to see hw the implements they supply are performing on heavy and light soils. This has to change.
It all starts and ends at policy. Govt is comfortable with buying substandard products from abroad and our engineers and technicians boast about fixing broken broken pieces as a great achievement. There must be a deliberate policy to encourage all sectors of the economy to plough back at least 5% of their turnover to support research and reward innovation. Most Scandinavian countries don’t have the natural resources that we have but are far developed than ourselves due to skilled manpower. We have botanists that can name tree species and wood types but don’t know their value! In the meantime whatever we want to do about it we have to wait for a foreign sponsor. We can’t move our nation forward
Mr. Kasase don’t just hold fairs but start registering inventors and innovators and move on from the data base to engage. i am an inventor/innovator and you guys don’t know how to engage and manage the inventors.