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By Sunday Ani
The National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) has commissioned the 69th Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Office (IPTTO) at the Imo State University (IMSU), Owerri.
This was contained in a statement by the head of public relations and protocol unit, Raymond Ogbu.
Speaking at the event the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of NOTAP, Dr. Obiageli Amadiobi, expressed delight at the opportunity to contribute to the development of the university. She noted that as an IMSU alumna, it was a thing of joy to visit the university and also to use her office to establish a critical learning center as IPTTO, which is capable of changing the academic rating/status of the institution.
She said NOTAP, which was established in the 1970s to regulate the inflow of foreign technologies into the country through the registration of technology transfer agreements, equally has the responsibility to encourage efficient development and domestication of locally motivated technologies.
She noted that in carrying out its responsibilities, the office noticed a weak intellectual property (IP) culture in Nigerian knowledge institutions and because no country can achieve a meaningful intellectual property regime without critical research facilities, the office, in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), initiated the establishment of IPTTOs in Nigerian knowledge institutions in 2006 to create awareness of the importance of IPR to the economic sustenance of the country.
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“Today, we are establishing the 69th Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Office in selected knowledge institutions across the geopolitical zones of the country to improve technology development through the carriage of critical research,” she said.
She called on researchers in the institution to strategically utilise the facility to ensure the reduction of the nation’s dependency on imported technologies through their inventions and innovations.
Dr Amadiobi encouraged female researchers to be more resilient in their research undertakings, as the office is initiating a reward system for young females who distinguish themselves in the science and technology ecosystem.
In his welcome remarks, the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Uchefula Chukwumaeze, expressed appreciation to Dr Amadiobi for considering the institution worthy of hosting such a critical research facility, adding that the facility would be protected and fully utilised to increase credible research undertakings in the university. He said although the school had been reputable among other universities for its impressive performances in national university innovation competitions, the establishment of IPTTO in the institution would increase their carriage of demand-driven research.
He called on researchers in the university to write their names in gold by engaging in market and demand-driven research that could translate into goods and services for human utilisation.
