The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has signed agreements with Heritors Labs Limited to enable them to complement each other in research activities in the country.

The agreement seeks to enable the two institutions to collaborate to promote the development of joint research, studies and other programmes of mutual interest.

As a result, the two parties are to develop new and expand existing collaborations to provide mutually beneficial projects to both public and private sector participants on health, nuclear medicine, environment and sanitation issues.

The Director General of CSIR, Professor Paul P. Bosu and Mr Derry Edean Dadzie signed on behalf of the Council, while the Chief Executive Officer of Heritors Lab Ltd, Mr Derry Edean Dadzie initialed on behalf of Labs Institute.

Addressing the press after the signing ceremony in Accra on Friday, Professor Bosu expressed satisfaction with the agreement, saying “it will pave the way for the two institutions to work together to pursue a common goal in research.”

He added that “I envisage much deeper works into the areas of cooperation in the agreement and, to a larger extent, improve the lives of Ghanaians and beyond since CSIR is a premier research institute engaged in developing technologies and products in frontiers areas of science and technology and also known for its capabilities and competency in industrial research.”

However, Prof Bosu lamented that the main challenge of CSIR was transferring technologies to end users and it was necessary for Heritors Labs to develop findings into finished products for the market so that the collaboration would not only be mutually rewarding but also beneficial for the country and her citizens.

For his part, Dr Antwi described the collaboration as refreshing to augment existing efforts by the two institutions in achieving higher heights in the areas of common interest.

Mr Dadzie noted that the CSIR lacked a market value chain and there was the need to partner to focus on research, innovative market, value chain and mapping activities that would lead to the commercialisation of its research outputs.

He revealed that through the partnership, Haritos Labs would leverage CSIR’s rich expertise, knowledge, and research infrastructure and drive impactful outcomes to benefit both the scientific community and society at large.

Mr Dadzie indicated that the partnership was beyond a mere collaboration between two institutions but represented a catalyst for socioeconomic growth and transformation adding that “we will provide opportunities for CSIR researchers to explore areas of mutual interest, by enabling them to conduct research in relevant areas to unlock their full potentials to create wealth and jobs towards national development”.

He assured of Ghana becoming a hub for research, development and innovation and urged other organisations, both public and private, to explore opportunities for partnerships that would drive socio-economic growth, promote knowledge-sharing and create a thriving ecosystem of innovation.

BY BENEDICTA GYIMAAH FOLLEY