As Kenyan university scholars strive in scaling innovations to new heights in a bid to beat the unemployment dragon, big companies have devised new trickery techniques aimed at defrauding the young innovators in what can be described as intellectual innovations theft.
Zetech University Vice Chancellor Professor Dr. Njenga Munene raised the red flag during the University’s 4th Sustainable Innovations Conference Program that attracted over 70 exhibitors.
Addressing the participants, Professor Munene revealed that his University and other Universities in the country had invested heavily on Innovations, research and technology but Multinationals are making a fortune out of the young innovators who lack financial support and knowledge on how to protect their inventions.
The Vice Chancellor now want the government to formulate water tight policies to protect the young innovators from the exploitation.
“These companies that sponsor the youths enter into partnership with the innovators and once the products are improvised and fully developed, they register them then introduce them to the market”. Said professor Munene.
He decried that the trend has discouraged many some of them being poor bright young innovators who hope to make a livelihood out of the earned innovations. Zetech University he said has made it mandatory for it’s students to do entrepreneurship and ICT as a course adding that this would help the learners employ themselves at the end adding that every Innovation must be registered under their names.
He was flanked by Grace Njoroge who is the Deputy CEO in charge of Accreditation at the commission for University Education who challenged students to incorporate innovations in their studies to remain relevant in the current job market regardless of their area of specialization.
Njoroge said young people were the drivers of the economy urging them to invest much in harnessing the potential of technology and innovations in helping the Society deal with complex global challenges and achieve sustainable prosperity for humanity.
She added that Kenya is becoming a global hub of technology and innovations thus a need for the government to fully fund research and technology. She said such a proposal is already on the table awaiting the approval by the new cabinet secretary after he or she resumes office.
However, Njoroge said there was a need for strengthening Universities-Industry collaboration for the development of innovations in mature and emergent industries in new industrialization countries.
She further said this will create awareness and make the young innovators be easily intensified for job placement by the potential employers. She further said that the formal sector was only absolving 10% at the moment adding that 90% is left to be filled by technology and innovations.
Florida Korir (18) a 1st year Bachelor of science, Information and Technology student at Zetech University together with other students had innovated a robot that had won a silver award recently in Geneva-Swizerland.
Frorida said the robotic and automation trend are increasingly gaining momentum in the advance of technology. She said they are gearing up towards inventing domestic oriented robotic innovations for working environment and which would address some of the domestic work challenges.
“As time goes, robots will be cleaning the environment, working in the kitchen and farms as that is where the world is going”. Said Florida.