NCDMB Moves to Bridge Academia, Industry Gap, Gets 47 Research Papers

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) yesterday continued its bid to close the widening gap between the academia, industry as well as government with its Triple Helix SciBiz annual conference.
At the event which took place in Abuja, the Executive Secretary of the NCDMB,  Felix Ogbe, stressed that research and innovation represent the lifeblood of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.

He noted that this has been recognised by the board, reason a $50 million Nigerian Content Research & Development Fund was created by the NCDMB in 2020.
The three-day programme was themed: “Integrating Research, Innovation, and Policy: Triple Helix Pathway to Research Commercialisation”.
Strategically, Ogbe stated that the Triple Helix model of academia, industry, and government collaboration remains an appropriate international business framework for expressing ideas about how research can be turned into new products and services.

Ogbe, who was represented by the General Manager, Planning Research and Statistics, Silas Ajimijaye, stated that the NCDMB intends to on-board more impactful research projects in the upcoming months in addition to the 14 applied research projects that it presently sponsors at various stages of technological readiness.
“Pivotal to any meaningful sustainable initiative is funding, and within this context, the $50 million Nigerian Content Research & Development Fund was created by the board in 2020 and was designed to provide much-needed research funds in the oil & gas R&D space,” he added.

Also speaking, President, Triple Helix Nigeria who also doubles as the Director, Monitoring & Evaluation, NCDMB, Abdulmalik Halilu, stated that the programme launched in 2021 was in fulfilment of the requirements for galvanising participation of members of the association in intellectual discourse, to promote research and innovation culture in Nigeria and Africa
“In response to the identified challenges and opportunities inherent in a knowledge based economy, the journey of Triple Helix Nigeria started in October 2021 when a group of professionals that share common interests of economic development through research and innovation decided to establish Triple Helix Chapter in Nigeria. Through this period, our membership has grown from an initial 12 founding members to over 240,” he said.

According to him, the objective of THN is to foster value creation in the Nigerian economy in line with local content philosophy of looking inwards as well as promoting the development of technology skillsets required to solve Africa problems by Africans.
He stated that it also involves providing strong advocacy platform for building research capabilities in knowledge institutions and fostering structured partnerships between industry and research community, to attract research-based funding.
Chairman of the Planning Committee, Triple Helix Nigeria SciBiz Conference 2024, Prof. Eucharia Nwaichi, stated that 156 authors submitted 47 high-quality papers on various subjects.

A breakdown of paper contributors also showed that the academia had 55 per cent, industry presented 31 per cent of the papers, while 14 per cent came from government.

“These figures underscore the balanced contribution of the three pillars of the Triple Helix framework, emphasising the critical role each plays in advancing innovation and fostering economic development through collaborative research and commercialization efforts,” she stated.

In his remarks, the Principal, Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Dr Samuel Onoji, represented by the Director of Research and Development, Dr Tina Isichei, stressed that for research to be meaningful and impactful, the output must not just be kept in files, but must be commercialised to achieve economic and social development.

Various stakeholders in the research space, including several heads of Nigerian universities, as well as government agencies were also present at the event.