Sri Lanka needs to promote its innovation culture and bridge the gap in the innovation ecosystem, Vice Chancellor of the Uva-Wellassa University and former President, National Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Chandra Embuldeniya said.
“There is a huge gap in the support system for innovators. We need to have a process from idea generation, prototype and commercialisation to ensure the end result is achieved,” he said.
Dr. Embuldeniya who was also the Chairman Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC) at one time, and contributed immensely towards the betterment of the sector. Technology is the future of the world. It will ensure the development of a country. “We have a very good education system, but we lack the strength to produce innovators. The problem lies with the people’s reluctance to claim the ownership of a new idea. We need to protect the intellectual property (IP) as someone else could claim the right. For this, there is a separate office, to file a patent application, and this takes time,” he said.
Sri Lanka is at the bottom of the Innovation Index compared to other countries in the region such as Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand.
The Index is prepared by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). China is heading the list in the South Asian region.
“Most of our people are happy securing paper qualifications and do not look beyond the application of this knowledge in producing novel things. Innovation is not an in-built practice in our society and not many applications are being made for IP rights. This shows that patentable ideas are lacking among the people,” he said.
It is necessary to have a mix of hard technology and proper applications. From the agricultural point of view, improving productivity and reducing labour content will lead to food security as more people migrate to more lucrative industries.The best way that agriculture could benefit is from technology coming in to the sector.
“We do not apply enough technology to the agricultural sector which is exposed to elements of weather. It is time that we expand it to protected agriculture such as Green House type, to get a uniform product. This will enable the farmers to get output throughout the year.
The plantation sector finds it difficult to find labour. We need to apply renowned technology such as Drone technology with the support of labour unions. However, there is a reluctance in the country to try out modern technology in agriculture,” he said.
The country needs to convert to hydraulic industries. “We are adopting the same old methods and these efforts have not bought about the desired results.
“We need to have a full team to fill the knowledge gap in the agriculture sector. We need to consider value addition seriously to take the plantation industry to the next level.
The application of high technology will enable the release of manpower to other industries. As a Nation, we have failed in our innovation side. We really missed the Free Market economy concept as we did not have a consistent national policy covering agriculture, services and industrial sectors”, Dr. Embuldeniya said.