1. Centers of R&D Excellence vs. Silos of Excellence Alfred Watkins Executive Chairman Global Innovation Summit Africa Forum On STI For Youth Employment, Human Capital Development, And Inclusive Growth Nairobi, Kenya April 1-3, 2012

2. Africa’s STI Challenge Science Solve Technology Transform Innovation Impact 2 Source: R.A. Mashelkar presentation at World Bank Global Forum, “STI Capacity Building for Sustainable Development, Washington, DC, February 2007

3. THE VISION  Practical solutions to practical problems  Africa in the driver’s seat, setting its own priorities 3

4. The Vision: R&D Part of a system -- Not a discrete silo 4 R&D for Sustainable Development Higher Education/ TVET Innovation and Entrepreneurship Policy Framework

5. …so it can become an indispensable tool for achieving Africa’s development objectives Clean, Renewable Off-Grid Energy Food processing and storage Food security Affordable, effective health care Clean drinking water Infrastructure Economic competitiveness, job creation and value addition Etc, etc.

6. 6 Vision Without Implementation is Hallucination

7. IMPLEMENTATION 7

8. Current Status: R&D Vicious Circle? Low government funding Limited private sector funding Inadequate governance Insufficient quality Low relevance Limited commercial application Brain drain Limited support for funding increases Vicious Circle 8

9. More money alone will not solve the problem … without appropriate incentives, improved governance mechanisms, and well-designed incremental funding programs

10. A modest proposal: From Vicious Circle to Virtuous Cycle 10

11. Mechanism: Pan-African Inclusive Innovation R&D Grants Program (IIGP) Pan-African Millennium Science Initiative (MSI) 11

12. Multi-disciplinary, pan-African virtual teams of scientists and engineers  working on a specific sustainable development challenge  receive long-term research grants Not bricks and mortar centers 12

13. Selection Criteria (i)relevance of the proposed research program to the defined sustainable development challenge; (ii)quality of the proposed scientific and engineering research; (iii)plans for diffusing the findings to local businesses and communities; and (iv)plans to link research and teaching. 13

14. Architecture Administered by? Funded by? Foster pan-African scientific collaboration Guided by an international scientific advisory board Proposals evaluated by international peer review panels 14

15. Questions International collaboration R&D collaboration with private sector Ownership of IP; commercialization of IP; distribution of licensing proceeds Success metrics – Patents? Publications? Other? Laboratory equipment Role of existing brick and mortar institutions Smart procurement/ mission oriented R&D 15

16. Thank you Alfred Watkins Executive Chairman Global Innovation Summit www.innosummit.com alfred.watkins07@gmail.com 16