Some panelists at the Nigeria Innovation Summit 2017 on Thursday in Lagos urged government to review school curriculum to reflect modern business environment driven by technology.
They said it was time the teaching of students was upgraded from theories to the practical aspects of learning, especially in technology and innovation.
The panelists were discussing the topic: Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Driving Economic Growth, Building Innovation Ecosystems and Collaborations.
Mr Davis Cook, the Chief Executive Officer, Research Institute for Innovation and Sustainability (RIIS), South Africa, said that there was need for Africans to position themselves to tackle their challenges.
Cook urged Africans not to copy what worked for foreign countries and take it their countries since each country has its own unique technological problem.
“With good political will, and having the right experience and knowledge, Africans can be able to solve their problems.
“Africans have the right demographic power force as regards the youths and there is need to leverage on that force,” he said.
Mr Muntaqa Umar-Sadiq, the Managing Director, Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria called for innovation in the health sector, saying it would help government to save the lives of its citizens.
“The state of health is characterised by poor outcome, quality and lack of protection from financial risk and so it needs new approaches to investment.
“Despite significant investment, there is nothing to show in the health sector as current health programme are inadequate and people are now focusing outside for health providers
“We have leveraged on the efficiencies of communication and produced a health space that can help government to save lives,” he said.
Mr Bankole Oloruntoba, a social and business tactics engagement specialist said that structured innovation was a major problem facing the country.
He said that open innovation which had to do with sharing of problems was key to the country’s innovative growth.
He described open innovation as product development, creation of opportunities, increase venture capitalism, saying “all these help to create more jobs’’.
Oloruntoba listed challenges hindering open innovation as unwillingness to adopt to open innovation, risk taking, problem sharing, process change, among others.
TheNewsGuru reports that the Nigeria Innovative Summit is an event that brings stakeholders together to share trends and opportunities in the technological innovation sub-sector.