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9th August, 2010

INTRODUCTION
 Background
 Science & Technology and GDP Growth
 Technology Innovation
 National System of Innovation

TECHNOLOGY INCUBATION PROGRAMME

 Definition
 Stakeholders
 Concept
 NBTI
 Scope  Host State Government
 Vision/ Mission  Private Sector
 Mandate  Entrepreneurs
 Research Institutes/
 Goals & Objectives Tertiary Institutions
 Benefits  Challenges
 TIC’s – Current Spread  Way Forward
 Essential Requirements  Conclusion
 Facts on the Ground
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S&T is the benchmark on which national progress and

development is measured.
Most under developed economies have natural
resources but lack technologies required to add
value to these; thus they remain in vicious cycle of
poverty.
Strategizing S & T goals for short term benefits
(e.g. food security, Poverty alleviation, job creation,
national security and stability) as well as the long
term for Nigeria to be amongst the fastest growing
and the top 20 economies by the year 2020. NBTI

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Inventions and innovations produce wealth

therefore public support is needed to
enable continued investment in R & D.
In the globalized knowledge-based
economy innovation is recognized as the
key element for competitiveness and
economic growth.

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Source: UNESCO E-Forum

Report Sept. 2003

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The Technology Innovation process is not R&D

alone but a larger constellation of inter-
related issues. Indeed R & D may typically
constitute only about one-third of Technology
Innovation in a country.
In today’s world, true competitiveness
requires entrepreneurships that can establish
strong positions in niche market through
innovative product and services.

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DEFINITION:
National System of Innovation (NSI) has been
defined as “the network of institutions in the
public and private sectors that interact in the
production, diffusion and use of new and
economically useful knowledge.”
Innovation basically begins with research, and
progresses through the process of
development, design, engineering and
production and ending with the successful
introduction of new products and/or processes. NBTI

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Elements of Good Innovation System (IS):

Quality and quantity of Educational output
(Manpower and Research & Development).
Innovation considered as the supply side of S & T
such that most technologies produced in Universities,
Government or private laboratories are channelled to
create businesses such that R & Ds provide quality
life for our people through products and services
that are knowledge-based and competitive.
Scientists empowered with entrepreneurial skills.
Networking of entrepreneurship and knowledge
base which lead to policies on knowledge and
industrial linkages
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GOVERNMENT

INDUSTRIES UNIVERSITIES

Laissez-Faire option describes the model where

Univ. – Industry – Govt. relationship are institutionally
separated with strong borders dividing them.
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Incubators, patent, prototypes

and pilot schemes

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The most common strategies used by

economic developers include:
Research and development capacity,
Technology transfer and other financial
and non
financial incentives.
Technology business management
training,
Customized training facilities,
Increased access to capital,
Creating networking opportunities and
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Such integrated support employs the creation

of:
Incubators,
Science & Technology Parks, and
Clusters
Technology Incubation generally has the
economic development goals of creating jobs and
building wealth by fostering the formation of new
businesses.
Incubator use as most important in all the
strategies NBTI

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Technology Incubation as illustrated above is the final stage and link between the ABUJA

entrepreneur and knowledge outputs.

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Technology Incubation (TI) is a popular

economic development tool which has been
used by both the developed and developing
economies to fast track local and regional
economic development.
It is an integrated support programme
provided by the governments, academic
institutions and private sector, either
individually or in partnership, with the
intention of creating and nurturing of budding
value-added and technology-based NBTI

enterprises.
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The incubation process begins with the

admission of a value-added technology based
enterprise into a Technology Incubation
Centre (TIC) and ends with graduation after
two (2) to three (3) years.
At the TIC, shared facilities – working spaces,
offices, hands-on management assistance,
access to finance, networking/linkages to
knowledge and exposure to critical business,
technical, & legal support services that
enhance the success of enterprise during NBTI

incubation period – are provided at subsidized ABUJA

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 The scope of Technology Incubation Programme

is to nurture the development and
commercialization of:

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The vision of the program is to pursue the

commercialization of technologies and technical
innovations using Technology Incubation as a tool in
order to enhance the attainment of technological,
industrial, social, and economic competitiveness of the
country and improve the quality of life of its citizens

To develop the necessary infrastructure for nurturing

technology start-ups; to promote Nigeria's indigenous
potentials through value-added and technology-related
activities; and to create enabling environment for
effective linkage amongst technology providers,
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To facilitate the establishing and

managing of Technology
Incubation Centres as well as
coordinating and regulating
Technology Incubation activities
and Science Parks which are
designed to create and nurture
technology based SMEs nationwide
based on value addition and or
new innovation in industrial
production.
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Technology Incubation Centres are where the

development of the enterprises take place.
The first pilot Centre was established in
Lagos in 1993.
Next came Kano and Aba in 1994.
Today, there are a total of twenty five (25)
approved Centres spread across the country
(as shown below) out of which twenty one
(21) have taken off and four (4) are in the
pipeline: NBTI

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For Technology Incubation programme to succeed and

deliver the intended benefits of spawning SMEs for the
growth of the productive sector, certain basic and
essential requirements for best practices are required:

Technology Supply:
Commercially viable: R&D results,
inventions and indigenous
knowledge
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Infrastructure:

Appropriate incubation building facility

Good Access Road
Steady Power and Water Supply
Quality Control Laboratory
Central Workshop & Equipment
Library Services, ICT
Business Service facility
Industrial Safety
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Funding:
Adequate funding for infrastructure and
Management of the programme
Venture Capital
Seed Capital
Human Resources:
Quality Management/Staff
Quality Professional Service Providers (Technical,
Legal, Commercial, Management/Accounting)
Capacity Building opportunities
Linkages/Networking:
Knowledge
Capital
National and International Liaison NBTI

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TIC – FACTS ON THE GROUND – SUMMARY

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FEDERAL GOVERNMENT:
STATE & LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
PRIVATE SECTOR
ENTREPRENEURS
RESEARCH & TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS

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TICs
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FROM R&D TO PRODUCT

INFRASTRUCTURE
SCALING UP

IN G
ND
FU
Products

Pre- Technology
Incubatio Incubation
n
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Poor funding for efficient running of the

programme
Lack of adequate and appropriate
infrastructure
Poor commitment by stakeholder
Lack of technology or know-how
Poor quality and quantity of output
(manpower and R&D)
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Slow economic growth with more than 70.8% living on less than $1 a
day
Weak economic sector resulting from import dependent economy
coupled with absence of adequate control.
Development primarily measured by physical structure and less on
human capital.
Lack of adequate framework for technology transfer
Linkages between Universities/Research Institutions and Industries are
almost at zero level.
The Universities/research institutions do not involve the industrial
sector in course design/industrial scheme hence not providing
sufficient linakge needed to fill the requiste work experience in the
industrial sector.
Lack of realistic opportunities within the system
Absence of dedicate Technology and/or Innovation Fund to stimulate
research activities including commercialization.
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5. Way Forward

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Pre-incubation are those preliminary activities by

the managers of the program prior to incubation
which are geared towards enhancing the
program success.
Some of these activities include:
Data collection, assessment, analysis and
cataloguing to ensure easy access to the
required input data for incubation
Trial production - proto-types, pilot schemes
to ensure commercial viability of product.
Capacity building support: to train prospective
tenant entrepreneurs on how to prepare
feasibility studies, and bankable proposals/ NBTI

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The Incubatee (Technopreneur) undergoes the

process of mentoring through the provision of
critical soft and hard infrastructures. These
include the following activities:
Technology Development Support Services – to
source for and facilitate inputs of emerging
technologies from universities/Research Institutions
into products to improve their competitiveness.
Business Development Support Services – Coaching,
networking, sercretariat support, market
development, business information, financial advise
and consultancy.
R&D results, New Invention and Innovation sourcing
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To ensure sustained competitive growth of the

graduated entrepreneurs, some intervention
measures are recommended to include:
Monitoring and evaluating performance,
Facilitating networking and linkage to
knowledge base to encourage continuous
improvement in services and/or processes,
Facilitating access to capital for business
expansion
Encouraging graduated entrepreneurs to
return to Centres from time to time to act as
mentors and positive role models for
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To increase the reach of TIP services to

entrepreneurs who may not wish to relocate to a
TIC or who may just be too far away from a TIC, the
following activities are proposed:
Data collection to identify and classify
entrepreneurs and their technology needs,
Capacity building support – workshops,
conferences,
Professional support services (Technical, Legal,
ICT, Management/Accounting, ...)
Facilitate Linkages/Networking with knowledge
base, capital, market, ...
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Encourage the establishment of Incubators at

Tertiary Institutions. Advantages include:
Proximity to R&Ds
Encourage product based research activities.
Promote entrepreneurship amongst the
researchers and students spawning the growth of
high-tech SMEs commercializing the R&Ds and
hence revenue generation for the institution.
Resolve the issues of ownership with technology
transfer since the researchers would most likely
be the entrepreneurs and or be directly
supervising the commercialization.
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Encourage the establishment of Model

Incubation Centre in the six (6) zones and FCT
The poor state of infrastructure at the
exisiting centres calls for the need to
establish a state-of-the-art Technology
Incubation Centre with top-quality
management team and furnished/equiped
with all the requisite amenities for best
practices to serve as model and resource
centre for other centres and SME‘s.
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Incubation
Units

Common Business
Design Centre
Facility Centre

TIC

Common
Machining Training &
Conference
Facility (Fab
Facility
Lab)
Quality Control
Lab.
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Establishing Innovation Fund.

To provide much needed funding support
in form of grant for the scale-up of the
indigenous knowledge, R&D and inventions
to value-added commercial products.
This is because scaling up R&D and inventive
activities are generally high risk and unattractive to
commercial banks. Thus for the program to succeed,
other funding schemes, as obtained in other countries
(China, Israel, Malaysia, etc) have to be devised.
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There is urgent need to establish a

comprehensive Science, Technology
and Innovation (STI) policy for the
nation to provide the overall policy
framework within which all actors/
stakeholders will operate.

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Encourage the establishment of Technology parks

as integral part of Technonoly Incubation Program
Advantages include:
Permanent site for relocation of graduates of the
program,
Will provide warehouse for incubators as well as
serve as innovation hub,
Cluster formation of enterprises producing similar
or related products where external economies of
scale exists and collective productivity gains can be
created through joint actions and networking
fostering competitive advantage.
Provision of extended service support geared
towards service/product improvements to ensure
competitive growth of the enterprises. NBTI

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R&D Results.
Innovations
Feed-Back

Proto-typing Pre-Incubation:
Facilitating Proto-
R&D Pilot Schemes typing,
Collaboration Pilot Schemes
R&D Results
Innovations Commercialized
R&D Results Commercialized Products
Innovations Products

Facilitating Feed-Back
R&Ds
Feed-Back
Commercialized
Products
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TERTIARY RESEARCH
INSTITUTIONS INSTITUTES
TECHNOLOGY
INCUBATION
CENTERS

INDUSTRIES

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