Conference Agenda

This study analyzed the determinants of agri-technology development, planned commercialization, and researchers’ intention to transfer agri-technologies in 9 public research institutions in Ghana. The study used cross-sectional survey data from 188 participants, including students, faculty, and researchers. This study suggests to policymakers and managers of research and higher learning institutions to advance innovation and commercialization as part of their societal mandate in the fourth industrial revolution. Factors that influenced researchers’ intention to commercialize agri-technologies are type of research institution, cost of developing a technology, level of education, specialization, collaborations with research institutions in Ghana, partnerships with agribusinesses for agri-technology adoption, motivation for technology development, and type of technology. The study recommends that to advance agri-technology commercialization in Ghana, Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) across the country could create a networking and knowledge-sharing platform among researchers in Ghana and also improve the co-creation of research ideas with agribusinesses.

The development of effective Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) strategies is critical for national progress, especially in aligning with long-term development plans like Africa's Agenda 2063. This paper investigates the impact of the enabler framework of STI indicators in supporting Nigeria towards the Second Ten-Year Implementation Plan (STYIP) using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to project trends from 2019 to 2035. For the first time, AI-driven forecasts are employed to analyze the interplay between human capital (HC) and key economic indicators, including sectoral growth, economic investment, trade, infrastructure access, and regulatory frameworks. Our research identifies significant trends and relationships across these domains. We found a concerning decline in workforce capabilities, evidenced by a drop in staff training scores from 3.27 in 2019 to 2.79 by 2035. Conversely, the gross enrolment ratio in tertiary education shows a modest increase from 12.24% in 2019 to 14.48% by 2035, yet it still falls short of the STYIP target of 50% by 2033. The adult literacy rate is projected to decline from 61% to 45%, emphasizing the urgent need for educational reforms. Notably, a perfect negative Pearson correlation of -1.000 between trade and infrastructure indicators reveals a strong inverse relationship, indicating critical challenges in balancing these areas. These findings illustrate the importance of strategic investments and policy interventions in reinforcing Nigeria's STI enablers. Our results highlight the pivotal role of infrastructure development, especially in ICT, energy, and transport, in reducing transaction costs and boosting productivity. Moreover, aligning education and training (E&T) with industry demands is essential for sustaining sectoral growth and enhancing economic performance. This study contributes to the broader understanding of STI indicator's role in providing a direction for achieving development objectives, providing actionable insights for STI policy formulation for policymakers to drive Nigeria’s progress towards the STYIP and Africa's Agenda 2063 goals.

Innovation ecosystems are characterised by a high degree of complexity. Existing literature highlights the importance of collaboration and idea sharing across different disciplines and between actors in the pursuit of innovation. This paper examines the health of innovation ecosystems in South Africa by evaluating the roles of each of the quadruple helix (Q4) actors and discusses the mechanisms available for collaboration. The paper utilises an extensive literature review to determine who the actors in each of the four helices are and critically analyse what role they are currently playing in the innovation ecosystem. The paper concludes that while South Africa's innovation ecosystem is well-developed, further efforts are required to strengthen various elements of the ecosystem before it can be considered healthy.

The global business environment is witnessing a growing trend in the adoption of management system standards, exemplified by ISO 9001 (quality management series) and ISO 14001 (environmental management). This study analyses the impacts of ISO management system adoption on firm performance, leveraging firm-level data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey across selected East African countries. Our results indicate a robust positive and significant effect of ISO management standards adoption and productivity, as well as notable improvements in both indirect and direct export sales performance for adopting firms. However, a negative effect is observed in the domestic market performance of adopters. We propose that the positive outcomes are linked to signaling mechanisms, technology lock-in effects, and an augmented awareness and learning curve among employees. Conversely, the adverse impact on domestic market performance may be attributed to the quality preferences of local buyers and deficiencies in local competitive practices. These findings remain robust across alternative estimation strategies. Our empirical results suggest that there may be potential benefits in considering government involvement to complement firms' efforts in the adoption of management standards and addressing instances of potentially unfair local competition. Moreover, proactive measures aimed at promoting product quality standardization among stakeholders in the East African region could better position firms to gain from global market participation and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).