On the second day of Uganda’s deep tech conference, I had time for one-on-one conversations with some interesting people from MIT and AfricInvest. But first, a quick rundown of what we got up to on day two.
The format of the conference—a few panels and group conversations to point out the challenges and solutions for Uganda—remained the same, but the focus shifted to stakeholders like academia and investors.
Deep tech relies a lot on research making researchers at top universities key stakeholders. Why aren’t some of Uganda’s brightest and best turning their research ideas into commercial opportunities?
To hear Khaled Ben Jilani, a Senior Partner at AfricInvest, tell it, researchers must overcome considerable bottlenecks to turn these ideas into commercial opportunities. First, there’s the question of who owns the intellectual property (IP) of the ideas they come up with. Then, there’s the more practical concern that many academics aren’t entrepreneurs and may not be natural risk takers.
For Jilani, the government has to lower some of these barriers, considering that even with the right funding and support, innovations in deep tech can be a long game.
These conversations are critical because all parties—government, investors, founders, and academics—are present. They can come away from all this having agreed on a central source of truth.
For Kristy Morse, an MIT representative, this engagement can solve the trust problem for all stakeholders. “One relevant solution is partnerships and collaboration.”
Founders, who are often distrustful of regulators and regulators who sometimes view innovation with skepticism can use this to find common ground. Next up: presenting a clear plan to the government on Wednesday. See you then!
