Powering a research-driven local innovation ecosystem Concept: DSN PhD4Innovation hub is focused on supporting PhD/MSc research works that solve social/business problems through a tripartite model that brings together rigorous academic research, industry R&D support and incubation support for Ideas development and techpreneurship. Background: The technology ecosystem requires a tripartite engagement between the industry, academia and the developers’ ecosystem in order to create insightful breakthroughs that leverage rigorous academic research to solve industrial and social problems. A technology ecosystem that is not rooted in robust intellectual academic research may be short-sighted and unsustainable, hence a need to learn from the successful models like the Stanford/Silicon Valley business model and the Cambridge Innovation ecosystem. The current growth in tech ecosystems is not well aligned with local research contributions from Nigerian universities, especially in areas that provide huge opportunity for socio-economic leapfrogging (e.g. artificial intelligence, machine learning, etc.). Many ideas being promoted in the developers’ ecosystem today are not serving the fundamental peculiarities of our nation, and there remains a penchant for copying the developed world. For example, if we have more featurephones in the low income segment of society, why is there no research on what can be done to deliver on-demand services via unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) instead of applications? It appears that our current developmental efforts are not underpinned by the robust, research-led identification of problems and their requisite scientific exploration, which are precursor to truly innovative local solutions. The hub’s focus is therefore on how to use using data to answer local problems and drive digital inclusion and achievement of Millennium Development Goals.
Propositions for would-be research-to-innovator PhD/MSc techpreneurs Make your PhD a Profitable high-Impact Discovery Invest your PhD research in an area that solves social and business problems and build your research discovery into an innovation business.
Management: The programme is managed by expert academic researchers (in Nigeria and abroad), incubator experts, industry R&D gurus, global innovation leaders, and backed by investors who are committed to developing high-impact, medium-to-long term transformational solutions.
DSN PhD4Innovation Hub
What differentiates this hub from others?
What does DSN PhD4Innovation Hub bring to the industry?
What does DSN PhD4Innovation Hub bring to the academic environment?
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