Prof. Paul P. Bosu (3rd left), the Deputy D-G of the CSIR, and some participants at the capacity-building workshop in Accra.

CSIR to focus on private sector-driven research

Ama Amankwah Baafi Business News Feb - 26 - 2021 , 09:37

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is to shift its focus from being a public sector institution to a private sector-driven research institution.

As a result, the council will now liaise more with the private sector and conduct research to assist in product development, including the use of innovation, to make the council competitive on the global market.

The shift is anchored in its four-year strategic plan which, according to the Deputy Director-General of the CSIR, Professor Paul P. Bosu, would span 2021 to 2025, during which the CSIR would also undergo institutional rebranding to improve visibility.

“We are also going to engage the private sector more on its problems and do research that will directly address those challenges,” he said at a media capacity-building workshop in Accra.

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Event

The maiden workshop of the ‘CSIR Knowledge Series’ was organised by the council, with support from the Modernising Agriculture in Ghana (MAG) programme.

Among the objectives, the workshop was to build the capacity of the media to be better advocates for science and research.

The MAG programme, which is being supported by Global Affairs Canada, is to help the country improve its agricultural sector.

The programme is also assisting the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to effectively disseminate technology by the CSIR in the country.

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Practice

“We have realised that one of our biggest problems is that we have sat in our offices, laboratories and field stations, done the research and hoped that, some way, somehow, people would get it.

“It doesn’t work that way, and so from now we are going to really do rebranding and visibility to shore up our own stuff,” Prof. Bosu said.

According to him, the initiative would be funded from internally generated funds (IGFs).

He said all the 13 institutions under the CSIR were making inputs into the new strategy.

“We did not just develop it at the head office; we had a team that went round all our institutes and centres to take opinions. Now we have asked the council’s directors to demonstrate how their respective programmes will drive the strategy,” Prof. Bosu added.

Highlight
.The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has developed a four-year strategic plan (2021-2025).
.It will focus on private sector-driven research and innovation, including institutional rebranding and visibility, to drive its vision and purpose.