Described as a support system for building a sustainable innovation ecosystem in Nigeria, UNILAG Vice-Chancellor, Folasade Ogunsola, said I2M is aimed at addressing the challenges of innovations and translation of research works in Nigeria.
Despite ranking 50th in the world among countries with research paper publications, Nigeria is said to have ranked poorly in the number of innovations derived from these research papers.
According to the Acting Director of the Innovation and Technology Management Office (ITMO) at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, Abiodun Gbenga-Ilori, a total of 13,282 research papers were published in Nigeria in 2020, ranking 50th globally based on the figure.
However, Mrs Gbenga-Ilori said only 300 of the 13,282 research papers led to successful innovations.
She said in Ghana, Nigeria’s neighbouring West African country, where only 4,189 research papers were published within the same period, more than 300 innovations were recorded.
Mrs Gbenga-Ilori made the revelations in UNILAG on Thursday at the launch of an initiative tagged: Project Innovation to Market (I2M).
About I2M
Described as a support system for building a sustainable innovation ecosystem in Nigeria, the project, according to the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Folasade Ogunsola, is aimed at addressing the challenges of innovations and translation of research works in Nigeria.
She said: “Despite the abundance of brilliant ideas, many innovators face significant hurdles when it comes to turning their concepts into viable commercial ventures. And that is where Project Innovation to Market steps in. This initiative recognises the challenges that exist and also recognises the immense potential of groundbreaking ideas and we seek to bridge that gap between innovation and commercialisation.”
Mrs Ogunsola, a Professor of Medical Microbiology, said the primary objective of I2M is to provide innovators and researchers with the necessary resources, mentorship, and support to transform their ideas into market trading products and services, “and will help them early to identify buyers.”
She said the project is a pioneering initiative funded by the UKAID’s Research and Innovation Systems for Africa (RISA) to bridge the knowledge gap in Nigeria by providing resources on how to innovate and translate research outputs into the market.
Speaking on the project’s goal, Mrs Gbenga-Ilori, who doubles as the Team Lead, highlighted the factors identified to be militating against the conversion of research to innovation in Nigeria including “lack of proper know-how on how to innovate; limited access to capital for prototyping; inadequate access to machinery and laboratory equipment; slow intellectual property protection, and limited access to market and industry linkages.”
She said the project aims to nurture innovations at various stages, by providing training, incubation, mentorship, advisory, funding, patenting, and company and tax registrations.
“I2M is an initiative for all Nigerian innovators, not limited to the UNILAG community, and we will be collaborating with research institutions nationwide. We also have industry experts we plan to collaborate with to serve as mentors to our participants across the country,” she said.
