Industry
The Government is banking on innovations and research to strengthen and empower local industries so as to cut on importing products that the country can produce, Investment, Trade and Industry Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano has said.
The CS said by tapping into innovations, local industries will thrive, create employment and promote economic growth.
Speaking during Zetech University’s 6th Sustainable Innovation Week at the institution’s Mangu Campus yesterday, the CS raised concern that the country is importing a lot of products that it can manufacture emphasizing on the need to support local industries to thrive.
While noting that institutions of higher learning have the capacity to grow local industries from their numerous innovations by students, CS Miano said her Ministry has partnered with them through enhanced funding towards research and innovations, provided state-of-the-art facilities and encouraged collaborations between academia and industry to enable them come up with as many innovations as possible.
She called on the innovators to align their products with industry needs so that they can easily be tapped into and marketed to provide solutions in the various sectors and industries.
“As a government, we are working on empowering local communities and markets to achieve self-dependence and sustainable growth. We need to create solutions that will enhance self-reliance and reduce dependency on externally sourced products and services, bringing about inclusive and widespread benefits,” CS Miano said.
Investment, Trade and Industry Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano (right) interacts with innovators at Zetech University’s Mangu Campus yesterday
On major areas of collaboration with innovators, the CS cited renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, media and digital innovations and circular economy initiatives that promote environmental stewardship and social equity.
Others, she said, are enhancing the capacity of local industries to adopt and scale up innovations, strengthening industry-academia linkages, and undertaking joint research projects and internship programmes that allow students to gain practical experience in the industry.
“We are also keen on supporting start-ups and incubation centres and promoting intellectual property rights to ensure our innovators reap the full benefits of their inventions,” she added. Zetech University Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alice Njuguna said the institution is working on programmes to link the young innovators to industry and markets to ensure they benefit from their work.
She added that the university has set up a kitty to help students who venture into innovations as well as guide them to actualizing their innovations.
“We have established the Chancellor’s kitty that helps students who venture into innovations. We also have supportive lecturers who helped the students come up with those innovations. Also, we are working on linking the innovators to industry and markets,” Prof Njuguna said.