The Government of Tanzania has reiterated its commitment to giving more attention to technology and innovations through the Higher Education for Economic Transformation (HEET), with allocation of 43 billion, approximately $19 million, for setting up new incubators and hubs. 

Opening the training on importance of technology and innovation for community development officers from different municipalities, Minister for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Joyce Ndalichako said the funds will be channeled to seven higher learning institutions.

Prof. Ndalichako named the institutions which will benefit from the recently signed World Bank HEET project as the University of Dar es Salaam, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Mbeya University of Science and technology, Mzumbe University, Open University of Tanzania, Ardhi University, Nelson Mandela University and Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH).

She said the training was meant to build capacity for the community development officers so that they become part of the mission to identify talents and innovations for bringing economic impact.

Moreover, she said, the institutions have been earmarked for innovation spaces and hubs to support innovators to have their technologies improved so that they become matured and commercialized.

The training, which was attended by 184 community development officers from countrywide, is expected to put them at a better chance to identify, recognize and bring the young innovators to the incubators. "Technology, if well utilized, would be catalyst to economic development activities in various sectors," she said. The Government in 2019 launched the National Science, Technology and Innovation Competition (MAKISATU) to identify young innovators as one of the Ministry's strategies to identify and develop innovations made by Tanzanians and encourage the use of science technology and innovation in social and economic activities that will support the development of the industrial economy.

She explained that in the last three years of MAKISATU, a total of 1,782 innovators have been identified and recognized by the Ministry and 130 talented innovators are being developed by the government through the National Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH) so that their innovations are marketed and thus increase employment opportunities for the youth. ABC