The National Commission for Science Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI) hosted the inaugural County Consultative Forum attended by County Focal Persons from 9 Counties. The event took place during the 41st IASP World Conference held at the Edge Convention Centre, Nairobi from 24th to 27th September 2024. The Conference was attended by more than 900 delegates from 53 countries.
The County Consultative Forum, a break-out session of the conference dubbed ‘Counties Positioning for Science Technology and Innovation (STI) Mainstreaming’ was held on 26th September 2024 at the Edge Convention Centre. It was chaired by the NACOSTI Board Chair Prof. Raphael Munavu and facilitated by Prof. Walter Oyawa, the Director General of the Commission assisted by Dr. David Ngigi, Director Advisories, Standards and Licensing.
The Forum aimed to explore and accelerate the integration of Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) at the county level. In addition, it was envisaged to strengthen the regulation, coordination and promotion of RSTI at the count level. Its specific objectives were; enhancing regional innovation capacity, promoting technology transfer, strengthening STI governance at county level and building networks for collaboration with private sector and civil society.
The Director General NACOSTI took participants through the mandate and functions of the Commission emphasizing potential areas for collaboration such as; quality assurance, surveillance, promoting STI, creation of knowledge and awareness, protecting intellectual property and indigenous knowledge, among other areas. He underscored the catalytic effect of such collaboration in assuring relevance and quality of research, science and technology from the grassroots –up in line with the BETA agenda and for national security and sustainable prosperity of the nation.
At the end of the forum, it was agreed that such engagement was long overdue. The commission will build on the positive feedback of this forum to expand its collaboration to involve the Council of Governors and other county and national level stakeholders across the Country. It is envisaged that these initiatives will steer enhanced governance of RSTI at the grassroots, trigger inter-regional collaboration, technology transfer and peer learning and contribute to anchoring RSTI in local production and consumption systems. Professor Munavu, in his closing remarks, reiterated the importance of broader collaboration and recommended expedition of action in creating and strengthening cooperation.