On Wednesday, April 9, 2025, the Research and Innovation Directorate (RID) organized a stakeholder dialogue on Innovation Strategy Development at the AH Hotel in East Legon. The event brought together a vibrant mix of researchers, innovators, and administrators from across the University in a bid to consolidate for the innovation landscape at the University.
The programme kicked off at 2pm with a welcome address by Professor David Dodoo-Arhin, Director -Research and Innovation (RID), on behalf of the Prof. Felix A. Asante Pro Vice-Chancellor, Research, Innovation and Development. In his remarks, Prof. Dodoo-Arhin emphasized the need to move beyond working in silos and towards building a cohesive innovation ecosystem at the University. He highlighted the importance of creating a comprehensive innovation strategy to complement UG’s existing innovation policy, as one of the key reasons for the event day’s gathering. The event presented insights from faculty on innovation.
The first presentation was delivered by Professor Kobby Mensah from the Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship. Drawing from personal experience, Prof. Mensah stressed the importance of acting promptly and documenting innovative ideas. He recounted creating a personal website as a PhD student in 2005 to store his writings—an idea similar to what platforms like ResearchGate now offer. He also shared stories of identifying talented students, including a young app developer he has collaborated with since 2016, as part of his effort to nurture student-led innovation.
Dr. Clementine Odei, the nurse in charge of the University of Ghana Medical School Clinic, shared insights on a staff and faculty mentorship programme initiated at the College of Health Sciences. Inspired by her personal experiences, Dr. Odei also discussed some of the barriers to innovation in the health science sector.
Adding to the conversation, Professor Patrick Ferdinand Ayeh-Kumi, former Provost of the College of Health Sciences, shared developments from the Medical Innovation Hub. His presentation highlighted several groundbreaking initiatives emerging from the hub, showcasing the transformative potential of applied medical research at UG.
Dr. Jack Dotsey from the College of Education spoke passionately about the construction of the Digital Youth Village. The idea for establishing a digital youth village was develop after the success of youth participation in the University’s annual New Year School programme. The youth village aims to address the underemployment of youth and train young people for the world of work. It will offer opportunities for sustained engagement between academia and industry to harness youthful talent.
Dr. Samuel Ankomea, a lecturer from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology added a critical dimension on the dynamics of intellectual property to the conversation. He emphasized that, “If your patent doesn’t bring money, then it’s just for prestige.” He highlighted the high cost of maintaining patents and the need to ensure they lead to commercialization.
An impressive innovation developed by Dr. Isaac Aboagye and some of his students from the Computer Engineering Department was showcased at the event; this was a smart walking stick designed to aid blind students move around safely on campus This invention demonstrates how outcomes of research can meet real-world needs.
Innovation in agriculture was presented by Dr. Gloria Esilfie a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Crop Science, who discussed the Post-Harvest Innovation Hub. This hub focuses on value addition to agricultural produce, technology adaptation, and forging partnerships to improve post-harvest practices.
Prof. Isaac Wiafe from the Department of Computer Science gave an inspiring presentation on his team’s work, all driven by the goal of designing for change and inclusion. Their innovations include a persuasive road marking system, virtual reality tools for teaching and tourism, UG speech data, and automated speech recognition technology. He also noted the challenge of undocumented innovations, which often leads to others taking credit for original work. Maame Yaakwaah Blay Adjei from the Department of Nutrition and Food Science introduced the DRIInC project—an ambitious effort to create a one-stop hub for all things dairy. She discussed product innovations, commercialization plans, and the broader goal of advocating for a national dairy regulatory agency similar to COCOBOD.
Prof. Felix Asante reiterated the importance of collaboration between various units and the Research and Innovation Directorate. He emphasized the need for early involvement of RID in innovation initiatives to ensure support, visibility, and alignment with UG’s broader innovation agenda. He also announced the rollout of a data collection initiative, through which forms would be distributed to all researchers to document ongoing work—helping populate the UG Innovations and Technology Portal and highlight the University’s rich innovation landscape.
The final segment of the event saw participants split into groups to collaboratively develop components of the University’s innovation strategy. Group presentations highlighted different innovation themes such as strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and potential areas of focus for UG’s innovation ecosystem.
The event concluded with closing remarks from Prof. Dodoo Arhin, who thanked participants for their enthusiasm and commitment. He expressed optimism that the University’s various units would work hand-in-hand with RID to push the boundaries of innovation at UG.