The National Information Technology Authority Uganda (NITA-U) alongside the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) held a workshop on Intellectual Property (IP) rights.
Organised for ICT innovators, the workshop, which took place at the Ministry of ICT & National Guidance Information Access Centre (IAC), aimed at enhancing awareness and building capacity for IP among the innovators.
Intellectual property is an intangible property that is as a result of creativity such as patents, copyrights, and others.
The training focused on promoting ICT innovations, addressing challenges created by the violation of Intellectual Property for ICT innovations, empowering innovators to safeguard their solutions/products and promoting the transfer of technology through patents, according to a statement from NITA-U.
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Speaking at the Workshop, Arnold Mangeni, Director Information Security, National Information Technology, noted that Intellectual Property is a product of innovation, which is tied to Uganda’s strategic objective to propel the country to middle-income status.
“Government of Uganda is aware of the benefits and role that Intellectual Property can play for accelerating the socio-economic development of our country. We know, for certain, that effective and strategic use of Intellectual Property has assisted many countries across the globe to attain rapid economic development,” Mangeni said.
Mercy K. Kainobwisho, a director of Intellectual Property at Uganda Registration Services Bureau urged innovators to be innovative whilst protecting their ideas.
“Business enterprises irrespective of size must be innovative to remain relevant and competitive locally, regionally. However, innovations cannot survive without intellectual property,’ she said.
The training comes at a time when the Government of Uganda has put in place an e-citizen Portal (ecitizen.go.ug) with citizen-centric e-Services including among others, the key sectors of Education, Health, Judiciary, and Agriculture.
These services are being implemented in close collaboration with the ICT innovators in Uganda. Innovators have been urged to develop and protect their innovations if they are to benefit Government and its citizens.
The Government of Uganda through the National ICT Initiatives Support Programme (NIISP) continues to support ICT innovators and further aims to facilitate the creation of a digital ecosystem and marketplace for exposing innovative digital products and enable innovators to reach new markets.
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