CPUT is ahead of the academic pack in unlocking the potential of research. This was the overwhelming message of the World Intellectual Property Day event hosted by the institution’s Technology Transfer and Industrial Linkages department.
Themed “Through Sports Innovation- How do we reach for Gold” the event explored the role of technology innovation in competitive sport.
The department’s Director Revel Iyer says academics who are accustomed to doing research for the sake of publication need to have a cultural shift.
“Tech Transfer asks them to do more: to develop their ideas into commercial products or businesses. There are tremendous benefits if they do,” he says.
“CPUT has established several successful technology transfer projects. We’ve done this by identifying gaps in the market, understanding what people want and harnessing our institutional skills.”
Iyer says localising technologies and looking to success models in other countries is one way of driving innovation.
“In this model, technologies patented in other countries and proven commercially can be re-developed or engineered for an African country’s context,” he says.
