‘Science Technology and Innovation Indicator, Catalyst for Devt’
Kolawole in Osogbo
The Overseeing Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of the National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM), Ile-Ife, Osun State, Dr. John Akintayo Omimakinde, has contended that Science, Technology and Innovation Indicator (STI) would continue to play fundamental roles in providing scientific evidence for the formulation of national development strategies.
Omimakinde said yesterday at the inauguration of the National Advisory Committee on STI that it is important to know that STI indicators have been deployed to good effect by the developed nations in economic planning, policy formulation and development strategies.
He emphasised that in most African countries, most policies on STI were not based on scientific facts either because they are unavailable or where they exist, unreliable.
According to him, “it is this lacuna that prompted the conceptualisation of STI indicators project in 2005 by NACETEM, which became continental following its integration with the AU-NEPAD African Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators (ASTII) initiative in 2007.
“This is in furtherance to NACETEM’s mandate of establishing, maintaining and providing access to data-banks on STI research outputs and facilitating activities towards their commercial exploitation.”
Omimakinde said this made the federal government in 2007 to mandate NACETEM to serve as the implementation agency.
He posited that “these indicators will ultimately facilitate evidence-based policymaking and assist government to remove guess work from governance.”
Omimakinde noted that “in fact, the objectives of the STI Indicators project which include, among others, to monitor, evaluate, and forecast Nigeria’s performance in STI; to benchmark against national developmental targets; and to assess Nigeria’s international competitiveness in STI, further lend credence to its strategic importance in achieving sustainable development in Nigeria.”
He, however, remarked that “this is a project we cannot afford to treat with kid’s gloves. It requires concerted efforts and intentionality to make our data not only reliable, but timely. For this reason, it is apposite for us to institute a system that works and will make the collection of our yearly data easy. This, among other factors, is responsible for the inauguration of the National Advisory Committee to help galvanise the process.”
Omimakinde, therefore, noted that NACETEM would continue to deliver on its mandate of establishing, maintaining and providing access to data-bank on STI outputs with the support of Nigerians.
