Sunday 04.01.18
OHK Launches Jordan’s Higher Council for Science and Technology Start-up Financing
Establishment of the National Centre for Innovation’ with Funding from the EBRD
Jordan’s Higher Council for Science and Technology (HCST), presided over by HRH Prince El Hassan Bin Talal, was established in 1987 to build a national science and technology base to contribute to the country’s achievement of national developmental objectives. OHK is supporting the HCST transform Jordan’s innovation landscape through the establishment of the National Centre for Innovation (NCI). The Centre will act as the technical implementing arm of the already existing National Council on Competitiveness and Innovation which is chaired by the Prime Minister. Photo © OHK Consultants. HCST logo is courtesy of the HCST.
Jordan has an active but highly complex and fragmented innovation ecosystem with a multitude of public and private stakeholders, which suffers from a lack of effective stakeholder coordination, inadequate collection and analysis of information, unclear channels and linkages, limited cooperation and inefficient financial management. To overcome this challenge, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), with funding from the Middle East and North Africa Transition Fund is assisting the Jordanian Government— via the Higher Council for Science and Technology (HCST)— to strengthen the country's innovation ecosystem with a 2-year project, the 'Start-up Financing for the Establishment of the National Centre for Innovation (NCI).’
OHK has been hired to set up the NCI as the national hub for all matters related to innovation, both public and private. A role that is mandated to take the NCI from concept to operation and “transition the NCI to full operational functionality.” Further, OHK will advise the HCST and innovation stakeholders on further enhancing policies and programs fostering an innovation-based economy through better coordination, information and monitoring of all innovation related activities. As project manager, OHK will work with the HCST to provide overall strategic and implementation support and ensure the NCI has been effectively set up and is operational by 2019.
Specifically, the NCI is expected to help ensure that national and international administrative, financial and technical services that nurture and support innovation (government, private sector and IFI initiatives etc.) are complementary rather than duplicative and help eliminate inefficiencies in funding and support to the private sector. It will also create economies of scale in bringing together and effectively coordinating stakeholder activities (government ministries and agencies, donor-funded programs, scientific and research bodies, universities, regional and local incubators, training providers, technology-related programs, start-ups and entrepreneurs).
This will improve the direct engagement between the private sector and public sector innovation stakeholders, such as businesses, industrial companies, start-ups, financiers, educational institutions and research centers. In addition, the NCI will collect innovation related information and provide vital national statistics on the impact of innovation initiatives for monitoring progress and articulating areas of success and those that need improvement, enabling Jordan to further assess measures for enhancing the development of an innovation based society.
OHK has developed Jordan’s innovation strategy in 2016 and brings to this assignment knowledge of various innovation systems and policy structures from around the world. As a global consultancy tapped into innovation networks ranging from the Bay Area to the developing world, OHK will strengthen Jordan’s innovation strategy and help build the NCI into a best-in-class organization.
For more information about OHK’s innovation advisory services in the Middle East and across the globe, contact us.