The Ghana Technology University College (GTUC), is undertaking a $500,000‘market-driven’ research to support students, faculty members and industrialists to translate local ideas into products to meet consumer preference. The research project is being supported by the World Bank.

It is in this direction that the University organised a three-day technology transfer training to sharpen the skills of raft of teams to demonstrate how they could effectively transfer their technologies to the private sector for adoption and marketing.

Dr Yahuza Gomda, Director at the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, said the world’s dynamics of innovations demand the nation move away from what he called “supply-driven to demand-driven research”.

He said successful economies are being driven by computer technology, and so it is time academic research findings being wasted in shelves are brought to market players to identify those ideas that are needed for the market and develop them into products.

Dr Gomda suggested academic institutions set up technology transfer centres to facilitate the transfer of research works to the private sector for implementation. The World Bank gave Ghana $2.5 million grant for the support of demand-driven research aimed at converting local ideas into products that would satisfy market demands.

The university won the grant of $500,000 for implementation of the project, which falls under the Skills and Technical Development Project of Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET).

Dr Robert Awuah Baffour, Vice President of the University College urged national leaders to see the need to create knowledge within the frontiers of Ghana for faster economic transformation. “What we need to do as country is to see the need to create knowledge within the boundary of Ghana for people to see the value of education,” he said.

Dr Baffour expressed regret that education infrastructure is weak while the nation depend on the importation of almost every product required for national life at the expense of developing indigenous knowledge that can create such products.

Early this year, GTUC facilitated similar workshops in Tamale, Kumasi and Accra. The Technology Research and Innovation Centre of the University College COTVET and MESTI are implementing the project.

Each team is initiating a product and work with product developers to help transfer their technology onto the market, but the product should be market-oriented and meet the market target.