Kwadaso (Ash), Nov. 26, GNA – The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is to set up a vibrant commercialization centre to market the products and services of the various institutes under it.
Professor Victor Kwame Agyeman, Director General of CSIR, who announced this, said this was to help mobilize the needed revenue for scientific research because of the dwindling donor support and inadequate government funding.
It would also enhance the visibility of the various institutes under the Council, increase revenue and project the image of the Council as one of the productive sectors of the Ghanaian economy.
Speaking at the maiden delegates’ conference of the CSIR Administrators Association of Ghana (CAAG) at Kwadaso, in the Kwadaso Municipality, Prof. Agyeman said a new arm of the Council would soon be established to undertake the commercialization project.
“CSIR staff are not an appropriate body to carry out commercialization, because they are more into research.
We need to have a private arm, though part of the CSIR, to commercialize our products for income generation,” he stated.
He said commercialization units would be set up in Accra, Kumasi and Tamale.
Prof Agyeman, however, said some products of the Council such as bricks, pozzolana cement, ‘prekese’ extracts and others would be advertised for partnerships with the private sector.
The conference was held on the theme: “Sustainability of Commercialization, Research and Development in CSIR in COVID-19 Era and Beyond – The Role of CAAG.”
It was aimed at forging better collaborations among administrators to strengthen activities of the CSIR and to elect new executives to lead the Association.
Prof Agyeman admonished the administrators to adopt new approaches to work for the CSIR to be able to chart the new path in the commercialization agenda.
He said they were not going to make commercialization strides with unethical work behaviour, absenteeism and laziness.
Mr Mohammed Baaba Briamah, National President CAAG, said the CSIR transformation and modernization agenda was achievable and pledged that the Association would lead the course to progress.
They would collaborate with management in its quest to gain accessibility and champion research and development in Ghana.
GNA