ADDIS ABABA – In recent times, the clamor of innovative Ethiopians from the four corners of the country for advanced innovation and education center that helps them unlock their talents for remedies of societal ills is being echoed by the public. Robel Beamlak is a 4th grader. He is a talented student who displays a thorough knowledge and especial interest in Space Science.
He urges the government to facilitate special assistance to those who have a peculiar and innovative mind. Not only Robel, there are several youths across the country that need special support to unleash their talents and come up with worth to crow about findings that troubleshoot challenges besetting society. “Robel belongs to the set of citizens the country gets once in a blue moon.
Today, there are also various youths who endeavor to bridge nation’s gaps through expanding innovations. Therefore, such phenomenal individuals need the support of all stakeholders to nurture and unlock their talents and support the nation in the long run,” said Astrophysicist Getinet Feleke (PhD).
He believes that currently the country is hailing several innovative thinkers even if the absence of an advanced institution that renders them the required training and financial or technological assistance is prevalent. In the developed world especially in US such centers are common where innovators (that have especial talents) can enjoy the needed support to utilize their potential and to be of immense help to their nation through time, Getinet told to local media.
The Innovation Center, being constructed by the Ministry of Innovation and Technology, is located in Burayu town, Oromia state. It is believed to supply the right and timely response to the claims. The cardinal objective of the innovation hub is to promote and support Ethiopians who have special talents in innovation. The center is 50 percent through, Ministry Innovation Development and Research Director General Khalid Ahmed (PhD) told The Ethiopian Herald.
The effort is to create a launching pad for the expansion and promotion of innovation, he said. The center will have dormitories, workshops, labs, group work spaces equipped with the-state-of- the-art technological facilities, he noted. As to Khalid, the youth who will join the centre would get permanent technical training and undergo a continuous evaluation on basic design softwares, product selection, and service development, business plan and marketing, among others.
Therefore, they would be armed with much-needed knowledge and skills. They as well would get support to identify their product prototypes, he stated. “In addition, innovators would also get support on ways of accessing market linkage. The intended mechanism includes exhibition and business match making. The ministry would finance them to have successful startups.
Preparations to this end are finalized.” The center is the first of its kind in the country. It is established to promote knowledge and innovation he said adding, such a venture is not uncommon in the developed and middle income countries. Countries in the two sets take such facilities as prerequisites for creating new jobs and being technologically influential and competitive in the global arena. The ministry has been working with partners including Korean International Cooperation Agency to draw experience, which includes drafting projects to furnish the center with cutting-edge technologies and to decorate the interiors.
“We are furnishing the center in such a way to make it salubrious for talented Ethiopians who need such an environment.” The ministry is birthing a vast innovation village outlaying hundred millions Birr, he noted.
The construction of the center is a showcase of the government’s commitment to improve innovation and exploit its potential of problemsolving intellectual findings. It also shows intereste toword job creation and income generation. Moreover, in the long run such environment would help to achieve nation’s plan to be technologically competitive in the world, it was learnt.
The Ethiopian Herald, Sunday Edition May 12/2019
BY YOHANES JEMANEH
