UR, RP, Agriculture Board Develop Technology Transfer Strategies

New strategies aim to enhance research and innovation ecosystems in Rwanda.

Three technology transfer and commercialization strategies have been developed for the University of Rwanda (UR), Rwanda Polytechnic (RP), and the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB). These strategies were designed under the project “Strengthening Rwanda’s Research and Innovation Ecosystem through Training, Coordination, and Collaboration.”

The project was funded through the Research and Innovation Systems for Africa (RISA) programme, supported by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). The initiative aims to enhance research and innovation ecosystems across Africa.

The project seeks to build national capacity through Training of Trainers (ToT) programmes to boost research, entrepreneurship, and innovation skills. It promotes collaboration between academia and industry to drive market-relevant innovations.

Strengthened systems will enable effective technology development and knowledge transfer. The initiative is reinforcing research and innovation partnerships between entrepreneurs from industry and researchers from academic and research institutions.

Additionally, the project will develop a national online centralized repository and database to enhance evidence-based decision-making and policy formulation for research and innovation, promoting product commercialization.

The University of Rwanda (UR), in collaboration with the National Council for Science and Technology (NCST), organized a validation workshop for the three institutions’ strategies at the University of Rwanda Headquarters on October 28.

Prof. Damien Hanyurwimfura, Ag. Director of ACEIoT and the Principal Investigator of the project, stated that the three strategies for UR, RP, and RAB align with the national strategy developed last year with support from the RISA fund. He emphasized, “The project aims to enhance research and facilitate the translation of research outputs into commercial products — in other words, to commercialize research conducted at universities.”

Currently, much of the research conducted at UR, RP, RAB, and other laboratories remains within institutions and is not taken to market for commercialization. Hanyurwimfura noted, “That is why we decided to see how we could change that. We need to support the transfer of research from universities to industry for practical application and to make an impact on society.”

Implementation of the Strategies

Each strategy will have a national office to monitor implementation. Hanyurwimfura mentioned that UR has the Centre for Entrepreneurship, which will be responsible for implementing the strategy, while RAB and RP will also have similar offices. Each institution will thus have an office dedicated to facilitating the transfer of research to industry for application.

Funding for these initiatives will ideally come from various sources. “We are also looking for grants and internal funding. As this particular initiative was funded externally, we hope to secure similar support to implement it fully,” he added.

Research at RAB, UR, and RP is conducted by scientists, lecturers, and students, often as joint efforts. Hanyurwimfura explained that there are various models for transferring university research to industry for application. The technology transfer process will help researchers register their intellectual property (IP) with the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) for patenting and connect them with industries interested in adopting their innovations.

Francoise Tengera Kayitare, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Finance at UR, remarked that these strategies are critical to transforming research and innovation into tangible economic and social impact. “UR, RP, and RAB have demonstrated a shared commitment to transforming Rwanda into a knowledge-based and innovation-driven economy,” she noted.

Esperance Munganyinka, Head of the Department of the National Research and Innovation Fund (NRIF) at NCST, emphasized the need to strengthen the research and innovation ecosystem to sustain Rwanda’s social and economic growth agenda and achieve the Vision 2050 targets. She stated, “This includes establishing institutional policies, strategies, and frameworks that promote technology transfer and commercialization of research outputs.”

So far, 60 researchers and innovators have been trained as trainers in technology transfer, entrepreneurship, and research commercialization. A national research and innovation repository has also been developed.

Daniel Niyibizi, Research Fellow at RAB, expressed that RAB’s technology transfer and commercialization strategy aims to turn research into real impact. “We have to connect innovations from labs to Rwandan farms, boost innovation adoption, and promote value addition,” he said.

Parfait Yongabo, a researcher at RP, noted that institutional capacity and funding schemes for technology transfer and commercialization will be developed under the strategy. This includes establishing technology transfer offices and enhancing business incubation centers.

Participants in the workshop included representatives from UR, NCST, RP, RAB, and various other organizations, highlighting the collaborative effort to enhance Rwanda’s research and innovation landscape.

Source: The New Times