Innovation Technology Entrepreneurship Centers (ITECs) Alistair M Brett Senior Consultant, The World Bank Technology Commercialization Advisor, T2 Venture Capital

Innovation Technology Entrepreneurship Centers (ITECs) Problem The majority of technologies required to reduce poverty, add value to natural resources, and upgrade the technological proficiency of local industry have already been invented, used elsewhere – but not widely used in many developing countries Proposed solution Build eco-systems to improve a developing country’s capacity to use existing technologies: Requires structures to develop engineering, technical, and vocational skills Requires a balance with conducting R&D and technology commercialization Building R&D capacity, by itself, will not solve many of the most pressing development challenges facing these countries.

Import, adapt, and adopt knowledge produced outside the country Produce and use new knowledge by commercializing R&D eco- system It’s not the ingredients – it’s the recipe Education, vocational training, and R&D Institutes Enterprise capacity to use knowledge –> produce higher value added products/services Mentoring, legal advice, networking Early stage grant, debt, equity finance Government capacity to use knowledge to produce higher value added ITECs help eco-system components work together Technologically skilled workforce Adapted from: World Bank STI Action Plan

Build STI institutions that, in collaboration with each other and other public and private sector organizations, can : 1.Locate, identify, and evaluate relevant technology that exists outside the home country 2.Spin-in this technology and bring it into the country 3.Pass it along to scientists and businesses who can perform “translational” research to adapt this technology for local use 4.Spin-out this technology to local entrepreneurs who can start new businesses on the basis of this “new-to-the-country” technology

What can the AfDB do to promote ITECs? Focus capacity building initially on one or two strategic subsectors – e.g. clean energy, clean water, food processing – rather than broad omnibus capacity. Affiliate ITECs with existing institutions – e.g., research institutes, university engineering schools, infoDev incubators, etc. Make us of technical assistance available from WIPO and related organizations. Aleck Ncube, Intellectual Property Educator at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Zimbabwe, Stanley Kowalski, University of New Hampshire Law School, USA 5