Preparing Nigeria for a Knowledge Driven Economy through Science and Engineering

1. Preparing Nigeria for a Knowledge Driven Economy through Science and Engineering Professor Pius J. Egbelu Department of Industrial Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, Louisiana USA

3. Sustaining Economic Growth • Why is it that some countries are able to sustain economic growth while others are stuck in poverty? - Vision - Commitment - Understanding today’s economic drivers

4. Factor-Driven Economy Investment Driven Economy Knowledge & Innovation Driven Economy Input cost Efficiency Unique value Stages of Economic Development

5. Income Per Capita

6. Nigeria is at the Factor –Driven Economy Level • Dependent on agriculture and export of raw materials • No export of manufactured products • Infrastructure is inadequate • Business climate seen as unfriendly • Low investment in science and engineering • Certainly lacking in new knowledge discovery

7. Knowledge-Driven Economy • 21st Century economy is a knowledge driven economy. • To enter the knowledge –driven economy, institutions have to be in the business of creating new knowledge. • New knowledge is a precursor to innovation and new product, process, and service development.

8. Knowledge-Driven Economy • To compete at the knowledge level citizens must be equipped with relevant knowledge - Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology (SMET) • Country needs SMET Educated workforce. • A strong SMET education is necessary for producing quality engineers and scientists needed to engage in scientific research.

9. Global distribution trends of Nominal GDP and GDP (PPP) Source: "List of countries by GDP (PPP)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 29 Nov 2006. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 1 Dec 2006

10. Human Capital Development Index

11. Table 1:: Science & Engineering doctoral degrees, by selected Asian country/economy and field: Selected years, 1985–2004 Source: US National Science Foundation, Appendix table 2-43 N/A = Not available S&E Indicator

12. Table 2: Patent data for selected countries for years 2000 through 2002 (Source: UN Statistical Yearbook, 49th Edition, 2005) Data unavailable

13. Table 3 Human Resources Employed in Research & Development (Source: UN statistical Yearbook, 49th Edition, 2005), *UNESCO Institute for Statistics--- Data unavailable

14. Table 4 Expenditures on Research and Development (R&D) for Selected Countries (Source: UN Statistical Yearbook, 49th Edition, 2005) ** Based on Foreign Exchange Rate at oanda.com on October 15, 2006 --- Data unavailable

16. National Research Agencies • Over the past 60 years, many countries have established national research agencies. USA, Japan, Britain, Germany, China, The Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Canada, Brazil, South Africa, and many others

17. Nigeria needs to establish a Research Agency • National Science & Engineering Research Foundation (NSERF).

18. Mission • promote the progress of science and technology for advancing human capacity and organizational excellence • develop the scientific and technological capacity of Nigeria • advance the nation’s capacity in research and development • usher Nigeria into the knowledge economy of the 21st century.

19. NSERF Vision • Create a culture for advancing science and technology through innovation and discovery aimed at enhancing the quality of life of Nigerians .

20. NSERF Objectives • Help Nigeria take leadership position in science, mathematics, engineering and technology. • Foster government and private sector partnerships help to sustain S&T development . • Promote economic growth through innovation and knowledge discovery. • Enhance S&T workforce by strengthening SMET education at all tiers.

21. NSERF • NSERF will not perform any research itself. • It engages in research through third party, principally, universities, research labs, secondary and primary schools. • Research awards made to institutions through competitive proposal process. • Researchers compete on ideas.

22. NSERF Core Responsibilities • People –develop S&E workforce by engaging faculty and students in transformative research. • Ideas and Innovation - foster new ideas and promote new knowledge discoveries and innovations. • S&E Infrastructure-invest in enabling science and engineering research infrastructure and equipment

23. NSERF Focus • Support high quality and transformative research. • Transformative research characteristics - brings new understanding to a problem. - Causes a shift in paradigm in how the problem is looked.

24. Strengthening SMET Education • Research foundations do not stand alone. They must be anchored in strong SMET education. • A world-class research foundation requires world-class scientists and engineers. • Restructure SMET curricula to reflect national priorities. • Build up SMET infrastructure.

25. NSERF idea not new to Nigeria • On May 23, 2006, President Olusegun Obasanjo announced the exploration of establishing a research agency. • I was invited through the Ministry of Science & Technology to develop a blueprint for such agency. • Report was submitted in early 2007. • Have heard of nothing again since then.