Implementation of Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISCs) in Kenya: Challenges and opportunities

Abstract

Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISCs) were established by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 2009 to support innovations in least developed countries. They facilitate innovators to access high quality innovations and technological information. They have been very successful in the United Kingdom and Germany. TISC implementation in Kenya has been evaluated in this work and challenges experienced determined with suggested mitigations. An evaluation of various intellectual property (IP) in Kenya shows that only 604 patents are registered per year; out of which, 167 are from nationals. Among the registered patents, an average of 5 patents per year is issued to Kenyans and 209 to internationals. There is a positive correlation between application of patents, trademarks, and industrial designs with establishment of TISCs. Three (3) out of 14 TISC centers are fully operational with an equipped office, trained personnel and offer services to innovators. Eleven centers are still ideas in the minds of center leaders. Kenya Industrial Property Institute (KIPI) and WIPO have trained all the center leaders on their mandates. Eleven (11) out of 14 centers cited financial constraints and non-committal administrations. Only 3 centers have financial benefit from IP. Eleven centers (11) are yet to implement their mandate fully and IP is mainly for staff development and branding. Incubation centers are rare and even difficult to get prototypes of the registered patents or designs. Furthermore, there is lack of IP audit and valuation. As such, prioritization of various IP by institutions for implementation is rare. On average, implementation of TISCs in Kenya is at 62%. A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis of the findings reveals a young, experienced, intelligent and enthusiastic staff that is limited by resources (funds), facilities, lack of entrepreneurial skills and ignorance. However, they are exposed to several willing government agencies including the Kenya National Innovation Agency (KeNIA) and Kenya National Research Fund (NRF). Nevertheless, external threats including pandemics (COVID 19) have impacted negatively on their implementation strategies. A business canvas model for the TISCs reveal their key partners to be NRF, KeNIA, innovators, companies, research institutions, learning institutions, small and medium enterprises, WIPO, KIPI etc. They can derive their own resources from external funding bodies, the government, and levy their services. It is, therefore, recommend that TISCs be hosted by learning institutions, financed by Kenya government with set objectives and be treated as businesses.