[kictanet] Innovation & Patents

Wed Jan 29 14:50:22 EAT 2014

++1

On Wed, Jan 29, 2014 at 8:24 AM, Ngigi Waithaka <ngigi at at.co.ke> wrote:

> Phillip,
>
> That's the biggest difference between US & Kenya. US wants to be an
> innovator, Kenya on the other hand would wish to be the biggest consumer of
> technology in the region; basically we are this *huge* market. Our largest
> 'technology' businesses are basically just brokers for foreign technology
> into our market.
>
> US is that kid in the top percentile who still wants to do more, while we
> are that kid in the bottom percentile who thinks spending an extra hour
> every day to catch up is just too much work :-)
>
> Until the day we'll spend the Ksh 850B targeted for building Konza into
> research & development and not building offices for multinationals, we are
> going to settle rather comfortably into that bottom percentile.
>
> Leadership!
>
> Regards
> Waithaka Ngigi
> A1.iO
>
>
>
> On Wed, Jan 29, 2014 at 7:28 AM, Philip Adar <philip.adar at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Listers,
>> Maybe as Kenyan's we have nothing to gain from the US President State of
>> the Union Address. But, I happened to listen at a time we were discussing
>> about innovations and patents.
>>
>> Below, find a 2-paragraph extract from the 2014 State of the union
>> address, which in my view; shows us why and how USA still remains the
>> leading innovative nation on earth.
>>
>> "We also have the chance, right now, to beat other countries in the race
>> for the next wave of high-tech manufacturing jobs. My administration has
>> launched two hubs for high-tech manufacturing in Raleigh and Youngstown,
>> where we've connected businesses to
>> research universities that can help America lead the world in advanced
>> technologies. Tonight, I'm announcing we'll launch six more this year.
>> Bipartisan bills in both houses could double the number of these hubs and
>> the jobs they create. So get those bills to my desk and put more Americans
>> back to work."
>>
>> "We know that the nation that goes all-in on innovation today will own
>> the global economy tomorrow. This is an edge America cannot surrender.
>> Federally-funded research helped lead to the ideas and inventions behind
>> Google and smartphones. That's why Congress should undo the damage done by
>> last year's cuts to basic research so we can unleash the next great
>> American discovery - whether it's vaccines that stay ahead of
>> drug-resistant bacteria, or paper-thin material that's stronger than steel.
>> And let's pass a patent reform bill that allows our businesses to stay
>> focused on innovation, not costly, needless litigation."
>>
>> I cannot remember, at anytime in history where our top leadership in
>> Kenya has given any specific focus and commitment to supporting government
>> sponsored research at a national level??
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Jan 27, 2014 at 6:43 AM, Philip Adar <philip.adar at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>> Attached, I go back to some statistics (and documented studies) of a few
>>> years back (at least by then I was in active research and I knew for sure
>>> that the reported statistics was reasonably accurate to what was the
>>> experience in many countries; Kenya included).
>>>
>>> There are three main conclusions in the report: The first is that
>>> innovation makes a significant contribution to economic growth of a country
>>> (I want to assume that this is why the so-called top economies dominate the
>>> top contributors to registered patents in the recently published statistics
>>> I shared). The second is that there are significant spillovers between
>>> countries, firms, and industries, and to a lesser extent from
>>> government-funded research (I have not been able to qualify if the our
>>> Government has had any specific focus areas for research with a targeted
>>> budget to spend). Third, that these spillovers tend to be localized, with
>>> foreign economies gaining significantly less from domestic innovation than
>>> other domestic firms.
>>>
>>> This suggests that although technological 'catch-up' may act to equalise
>>> productivity across countries (as we have seen with decades of "off-shore
>>> manufacturing" in China, aiding the Chinese re-verse engineering
>>> innovation), the process is likely to be slow and uncertain, and require
>>> substantial domestic innovative effort...
>>>
>>> Well, that granted; my worry continues to be the lost potential our
>>> country is subjected to due to "little focus to new invention" ; (thank you
>>> Ken for subjecting yourself to the effort of explaining to us the
>>> difference between invention and innovation!).
>>>
>>> If I was to advise: until we shall have realized close to 50% (or there
>>> about) of our annual university admissions as post-graduate students; then
>>> our efforts to be an inventive/innovative society may still be elusive.
>>> Entrepreneurs (the likes of Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, or Andrew
>>> Vitabi/Irwin Jacobs etc) only succeed in an environment thriving with
>>> brains willing to rise-up for the challenge!
>>>
>>> Struggling to create another  replica of facebook or google or M-PESA;
>>> may not deliver much challenge to our children's thought process.....
>>>
>>> Once done, can always be done!
>>>
>>> Regards
>>> Philip
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sun, Jan 26, 2014 at 3:32 PM, Phares Kariuki <pkariuki at gmail.com>wrote:
>>>
>>>> People innovate, just that we have a weak IP framework (which people
>>>> like CIPIT at Strathmore University are working to resolve).
>>>>
>>>> To quote the many times abused aphorism, "absence of evidence is not
>>>> evidence of absence". Just because there are no patents coming out of
>>>> Africa it does not mean that Africans are not innovating. Many times IP
>>>> from Africa is registered abroad e.g. M-Pesa is implemented in Kenya, but
>>>> the IP is resident in the UK, granted the team that worked on it was
>>>> British, but it's an example of a product built in Africa but whose IP is
>>>> resident in the UK (possibly rightly so, I'm not debating the ethics of
>>>> having the IP resident there, just pointing out that it's hailed as an
>>>> African innovation but the IP isn't resident here). In other cases, people
>>>> don't bother patenting the innovation that they come up with, simply
>>>> because of the amount of time it takes to acquire rights or simply costs of
>>>> the same.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Sat, Jan 25, 2014 at 5:11 PM, Ken Okong'o <ken_okongo at yahoo.com>wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>  Philip, I think there's a fundamento difference between an innovator
>>>>> and an inventor. I'd say invention is the creation of a new product or
>>>>> introduction of a new process while innovation naturally happens when one
>>>>> improves on or makes a significant contribution to something that has
>>>>> already been invented.
>>>>> For instance, while Steve Jobs was an innovator, Thomas Edison was an
>>>>> inventor. The latter's was novel idea without precedent.
>>>>> Overall, technology is an aggregation of all existing inventions and
>>>>> innovations. Because of this u will also realize from the stats you shared
>>>>> that economies that invest much on the inventive talents become potential
>>>>> sources of innovation and new technologies. However, the measure of the
>>>>> level of patented inventions available for innovation is just one indicator
>>>>> that can serve as a measure of inventive output.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>    *From:* Philip Adar <philip.adar at gmail.com>
>>>>> *To:* ken_okongo at yahoo.com
>>>>> *Cc:* KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
>>>>> *Sent:* Saturday, 25 January 2014, 14:52
>>>>> *Subject:* Re: [kictanet] Innovation & Patents
>>>>>
>>>>> @Ali, I would want to believe that Innovation/Patents means much more
>>>>> than programming or Software. I thought it should start from abstract
>>>>> ideas, something not seen before or not done before...
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Sat, Jan 25, 2014 at 12:38 PM, Ali Hussein <ali at hussein.me.ke>wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Adam
>>>>>
>>>>> The answer to that is not a simple one.
>>>>>
>>>>> America has realized that innovation and patents don't only reside in
>>>>> inventing and creating. In the recent past process innovation has gained a
>>>>> lot of attention simply because America is loosing some of its competitive
>>>>> edge by outsourcing production entirely to Asia. This of course has other
>>>>> implications like China being able to copy and produce products as good or
>>>>> even better than the west can. I think that's possible one of the reasons
>>>>> that some American companies are talking production back to the Homeland.
>>>>>
>>>>> I suspect this is both an intellectual, business and political
>>>>> question that will dog us for years to come.
>>>>>
>>>>> The other issue about patents/innovation is what role this has in a
>>>>> world that is increasingly 'Opensource'. So patent registration may not be
>>>>> the only barometer to gauge how innovative a company/country is. We may
>>>>> want to aggregate more sources.
>>>>>
>>>>> Ali Hussein
>>>>>
>>>>> +254 0770 906375 / 0713 601113
>>>>>
>>>>> "I fear the day technology will surpass human interaction. The world
>>>>> will have a generation of idiots".  ~ Albert Einstein
>>>>>
>>>>> Sent from my iPad
>>>>>
>>>>> On Jan 25, 2014, at 7:59 AM, Adam Nelson <adam at varud.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Apple: Designed in California, Built in China
>>>>>
>>>>> Kenya can follow either path but innovation/prototyping have almost
>>>>> nothing to do with mass production when it comes to the tech industry.
>>>>>  That's why it's mind numbing to hear all this talk of creating thousands
>>>>> of jobs through manufacturing.
>>>>>
>>>>> Kenya is in a position to follow California with high value innovation
>>>>> careers but instead the government appears to be focused on following China
>>>>> with low-value mass labor.
>>>>>
>>>>> The irony is that the low-value mass labor of electronics production
>>>>> in Asia is already being displaced by robots so by the time the
>>>>> infrastructure is here, the industry will have already moved on beyond mass
>>>>> labor anyway.
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Kili - Cloud for Africa: kili.io
>>>>> Musings: twitter.com/varud <https://twitter.com/varud>
>>>>> More Musings: varud.com
>>>>> About Adam: www.linkedin.com/in/adamcnelson
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Sat, Jan 25, 2014 at 1:20 AM, Philip Adar <philip.adar at gmail.com>wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Listers,
>>>>>
>>>>> I am not sure if the attached statistics report is accurate, but it
>>>>> seems no new patents are coming up anywhere in Africa apart from South
>>>>> Africa?
>>>>>
>>>>>  One would wonder, are we building technology parks so that we can
>>>>> start inventing or should it be the inventions that should drive the
>>>>> development of technology parks?
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Regards
>>>>>
>>>>> Philip Adar
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>
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>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder
>>>>> platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy
>>>>> and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>>>>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>>>>>
>>>>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
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>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> kictanet mailing list
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>>>>>
>>>>> Unsubscribe or change your options at
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>>>>>
>>>>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder
>>>>> platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy
>>>>> and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>>>>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>>>>>
>>>>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
>>>>> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
>>>>> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
>>>>> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Regards
>>>>>
>>>>> Philip Adar
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> kictanet mailing list
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>>>>>
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>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder
>>>>> platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy
>>>>> and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>>>>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>>>>>
>>>>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
>>>>> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
>>>>> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
>>>>> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> kictanet mailing list
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>>>>>
>>>>> Unsubscribe or change your options at
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>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder
>>>>> platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy
>>>>> and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>>>>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>>>>>
>>>>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
>>>>> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
>>>>> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
>>>>> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Warm Regards,
>>>>
>>>> Phares Kariuki
>>>>
>>>> | *T*: +254 720 406 093 | *E*: pkariuki at gmail.com | *Twitter*: kaboro |*
>>>> Skype*: kariukiphares | *B*: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> kictanet mailing list
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>>>>
>>>> Unsubscribe or change your options at
>>>> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/philip.adar%40gmail.com
>>>>
>>>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
>>>> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
>>>> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>>>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>>>>
>>>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
>>>> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
>>>> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
>>>> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Regards
>>>
>>> Philip Adar
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Regards
>>
>> Philip Adar
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> kictanet mailing list
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>>
>> Unsubscribe or change your options at
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>>
>>
>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
>> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
>> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>>
>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
>> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
>> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
>> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>>
>
>
>
> --
> *Regards,*
>
> *Wait**haka Ngigi*
> Chief Executive Officer | Alliance Technologies | MCK Nairobi Synod
> Building
> T + 254 (0) 20 2333 471 |Office Mobile: +254 786 28 28 28 | M + 254 737
> 811 000
> www.at.co.ke
>
>
>

-- 
Regards

Philip Adar
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