Prof. Manny Aniebonam
Especially for those in the profession who had for many years wished that both government and private sector will come together and fashion out the necessary vehicle for leap frogging the giant of Africa in the 21st century. But then again, one is reminded of several lopsided ICT programs by the Nigerian government, staring with NUNET to the launching of a limited use satellite, and one must then wonder:
• Is Nigeria REALLY serious about designing, developing, deploying and maintaining a sustainable Technology Park in Nigeria?
• Besides quoting the huge amount of money required to build the park, and showing up on television to announce the concept, are the primary stakeholders in the project part of the discussion for what is really needed, by whom, where, and how such a project could be developed for maximum benefit to the country?.
• Finally, given a well defined set of objectives for building a centralized technology park in Abuja, have we considered alternative concepts such as decentralized technology parks, with broadband linkages, as a viable option?.
These questions are raised, not as arguments against the best intentions of the government to undertake this project, but as an additional thought provoking contribution by a circle of Nigerian IT Professionals in the Diaspora whose interest it is that a viable, functional and world-class Technology Park befitting Nigeria must not only be conceived but expeditiously built as a viable tool for accelerated economic development, not as a kangaroo show simply aimed at scoring a few political points.
To examine the role of Technology Parks (TPs) in economic development we must first of all fixate the concept of what we understand by Science or Technology Park. According to the International Association of Science Parks (IASP):
A Science Park, according to AISP definition, is an organisation managed by specialised professionals, whose main aim is to increase the wealth of its community by promoting the culture of innovation and the competitiveness of its associated businesses and knowledge-based institutions.
To enable these goals to be met, a Science and Technology Park stimulates and manages the flow of knowledge and technology amongst universities, R&D institutions, companies and markets; it facilitates the creation and growth of innovation-based companies through incubation and spin-off processes; and provides other value-added services together with high quality space and facilities.
This definition, which is now broadly accepted and used, encompasses not only the different models currently existing in the world, but also other labels and expression such as Technology Park, Research Park, Technopole, Technology Precinct, Learning Village, Science City etc. Although there may be some differences among the projects under these labels, such differences are not as significant as to constitute different projects or "categories", but rather different subtypes of one concept. Therefore it is perfectly possible in this definition to substitute the expression "Science Park" by any of the other expressions mentioned.
From this definition we can infer a first and important conclusion: TPs are tools for creating wealth, which have a social purpose, a purpose which Nigeria and all of Africa must see as a means of augmenting our foreign earnings if well implemented.
Having reached this point it is important to underline the main feature of Technology Parks:
They accomplish their "social purpose" (that is: "to increase the wealth of their community") by serving businesses, by helping companies to become more competitive in the global economy. In other words, the real "stars" of the TPs are companies, businessmen and entrepreneurs that make up the private sector. TPs are there to support them, and by so doing they will also serve and benefit their entire communities and societies.
In the last 30 years or so TPs have spread all over the world, and many different models have appeared, especially in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Perhaps because of their name (some times referred to as Science Park/Technology Park) there has been some confusion about the nature and meaning of these projects. These models, differences and types must be studied and understood before embarking into developing the appropriate model for the Abuja Technology Park. In essence, TPs not only deal with high-tech industry; they also deal with advanced services, with Research and Development processes, with the creation of new companies through incubation and spin-off processes, with technology transfer and technology commercialization. But most of all TPs deal with innovation: that is, with all the processes, methodologies and entrepreneurial attitudes that aim at constantly adding value to all the different elements of companies' activities: products, production processes and techniques, management, marketing, etc. In today's global economy it is only through innovation that companies can ensure their progress and their place in the market and can become strong enough to survive.
If innovation is crucial for single companies in Nigeria, it is also of the greatest importance from the Regional and National points of view. In more advanced economies, the political, social and economical authorities strive to create and foster the necessary conditions, infrastructures and programmes to allow and to encourage entrepreneurs and companies to be innovative, and not only today, or tomorrow, but permanently innovative. Innovation is a non-stop path. In the words of the famous Greek philosophical principle Heraclitus -that "Everything changes, nothing is permanent" , we see a dialectical nature of innovation.
By creating a favourable climate for innovation, developing country such as Nigeria and regions will allow their industries and companies to become stronger, to make more profits and to generate more employment. And by doing so, they will reach their most important objective in economic and industrial policy: to increase the social welfare, and the level of life of their citizens. In other words, to build better life conditions and social fairness.
To explore what the role of TPs is today in economic development, we must not only agree upon a definition of Science Park, but we must also have a broad picture and understanding of the frame and scenarios in which TPs operate.
Currently around the globe, we are not witnessing "the end of history", as some would have it, but rather a spectacular "acceleration of history". This new era has received many names, such as "Information Age", "Information Society", "New Economy", "Knowledge Economy", etc., and if TPs must be used as tools for economic development, a Public-Private Partnership must be designed to carefully fashion out the role of Technology Park constructs in support of the tenets of Nigeria's economic development strategies.
Today we are witnessing an amazing acceleration of historical processes and of social and cultural changes, very much based on the breathtaking IT revolution and, therefore, it is pertinent to ask ourselves about the relevance of TPs within this new world order, a world order:
• which is global and yet crowded with anti-globalisation movements (the paradox being that most of this anti-globalisation movements are themselves global),
• which has created a new environment, "the cyberspace", which we call virtual simply because it is not geographical, but which is, in fact, quite real and allows not only information and communication to take place, but also action,
• which raises doubts and questions about the role and legitimacy of states and governments,
• which is increasingly dependent on science and technology, and consequently on knowledge,
• which demands, more than ever before, a very high level of training and education and very solid skills from the individuals so that they are able to perform efficiently,
• which is dramatically changing the type of work, and worker and company profiles,
• which has promoted networks and networkers to a pivotal position,
• which has given birth to a new species -the 'globapolitans', who are like modern centaurs - half physical, half virtual, speaking languages and living in airports and in websites…
In other words, a whole new set of rules and situations is resulting in an interwoven world and society of astonishing contrasts, lights and shadows, which many find threatening and others, myself included, risky but also at the same time intriguing and fascinating, although not necessarily fair.
What then is the role of Technology Parks in the new World Order?.
After more than 30 years of existence of TPs as a world-wide movement, there is of course much to be said about their role and their nature. I shall try to briefly summarise a few important points.
To begin with, two things should be emphasized:
1. Technology Parks must be regarded as a tool, as the means to achieve certain goals and objectives, rather than as being an objective in itself.
2. TPs have proved to be very powerful elements for Regional Development, provided the adequate model is chosen for a given nation, Region or city.
At this stage it is important to underline once more that the best way in which TPs can be really effective in promoting National or Regional Development is by focusing on companies and entrepreneurs. The main aim of a TP is to help companies to become more innovative, and therefore more competitive, and in general, to increase the economic level of their region or municipality. Through global perspective, we all know that in today's global economy, the key words for economic success are technology, R&D, and knowledge management, and most of all innovation. We also know that one of the pillars in which innovation is based is research, and a large portion of the research potential of a Region or country is to be found in Universities and High-educational institutions. TPs are the bridge between Universities and companies. They are the "translators" of the often-different language and different interests of the Academics and the entrepreneurs.
It is indeed important to realise that by helping the businesses in the ways described above, TPs are also very significantly helping the universities to increase their own competitiveness, to better fulfil the new role that today's society demands, namely to be active agents of economic development, and last but not least to increase their income via research contracts with the Industry. This then raises the question: where are the Nigerian tertiary institutions in the design, planning, and implementation processes of the Abuja Technology Park?. In fact, how many first-class institutions, universities or national centers of excellence are within 20 miles radius of the planned Technology Park?.
In general, and to further provide the planners of this important project some KPI's at this planning stage, TPs must provide the following elements and services to their clients:
o High-quality and adequate infrastructures (space, landscaping, communications and transportation accesses, good location, good facilities and buildings, etc.)
o Good common services (office facilities, meeting rooms, parking, cafeteria, restaurant, hotel accommodation, security, etc.).
o Good value-added services (telecommunication infrastructures, quality access to Internet, videoconference, consulting services, commercial support to the companies, etc.)
o Efficient links to University and Research institutions, to the researchers, lab and equipment facilities, etc.
o Incubation units, to encourage and facilitate the creation of new local companies.
o International links and contacts to facilitate the access of their companies to international networks.
o Technology / knowledge monitoring and observatory, helping their clients to be updated, to know what their competitors are doing, to know where are the sources of new and relevant technologies and knowledge, etc.
In short, a TP must provide their companies and entrepreneurs with a range of services and infrastructures that will help them to better concentrate their efforts in becoming more competitive and in saving costs by making proper use of the synergies and scale-economy generated by the TP.
In other words, a TP must add value to their tenant companies. If they do not add value to the companies, they must not be considered TPs, but just simple conventional industrial settlements without a much lesser impact from the Regional Development point of view within the frame of a world knowledge economy.
Technology Parks are a means of supporting any knowledge economy, and fostering market-oriented technological development. They typically accomplish this by bringing together academic, business and governmental organizations into one physical location, and supporting interrelationships between these groups through incentives established by government policies. Since academic institutions tend to draw technically qualified personnel to a particular region , locations immediately near these institutions become prime candidates for such parks.
As possible models for Technology Parks which Nigeria may understudy for possible global best practices, two examples, from both the developed and developing economies are worth citing:
o The University City Science Center in Philadelphia is owned by a consortium of more than thirty academic and scientific institutions. It is physically located immediately adjacent to both the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University. Established in 1963, it is both the oldest and largest urban research park within the US. More than two hundred technology and research-based organizations are located within the Science Center, and approximately 7,000 people are employed there. The Center was the world's first business incubator, and has also been the most successful - it has launched approximately 250 private sector companies during the past three decades.
o In China, the Zhongguancun Science and Technology Park is the first state-level high-technology development zone. There are many research institutions and universities with within its borders, including Beijing University, Tsinghua University, and institutes of the Chinese Academy of Science. And also, around one third of the members of both the Chinese Academy of Science and the Chinese Academy of Engineering can be found within the Science and Technology Park. The Science and Technology Park currently has five zones in which houses not only Chinese enterprises, but also local subsidiaries of internationally recognized firms such as IBM, Microsoft and Mitsubishi. In the Tenth Five-year Plan period (2001-2005), several major construction projects are being launched, including software, biotechnology/medicine, telecommunications and other high technology industries..
Both of these parks have developed and implemented a series of policies designed to provide assistance to fledgling enterprises and organizations, thereby laying an important foundation for establishing world-class science/technology entities. Such an approach could prove very useful in promoting much-needed new and emerging technologies for sustainable development, particularly for meeting needs in developing countries.
Technology Parks (TPs) such as the planned Abuja Technology Village, must ensure that their strategies for future growth and development match the features of the knowledge-based digital economy (KE), (generally referred to as the New Economy), which in turn is embedded in a bigger context: the global Information Society (IS).
Understanding the main features of this new context, and being able to make the diagnosis of the current social, economical and political trends, is vital for choosing the models and strategies that will enhance the role of TPs in the Knowledge Economy.
Proposed Strategy for establishing the Abuja Technology Village
Given what we now know about the need for a sustainable Technology park for Nigeria, and our interest in seeing that such engagement is executed in the best national interest, it is worth pitching in our conclusion of this piece, some viable roadmap that this Abuja Technology Village planners may consider:
1. Review the Experience of Existing Science and Technology Parks
There are many different Science and Technology Park entities in many countries, two of which we have cited above. Some of these operate as independent organizations, some are attached to municipal governments, and some have national and international ties. Moreover, some have a narrow "high-tech" focus, while others have a broader technological base. The immediate task facing the Architects of the Abuja Technology Village is to: review the nature of these various parks based on global best practices; identify their institutional and/or organizational structure; estimate their "success" in developing and fostering new technological entities; and determine what fraction of these activities might be considered relevant to the Abuja Technology Village project in conjunction with international partnerships for sustainable development
2. Establish a Plan to Appropriately Cite the Technology Village
When these analyses have been completed, a development plan for the Technology Village is to be produced, outlining: the location of the park based on well informed logistics ; the nature of that facility; its technical focus; funding arrangements; financial viability; and short, medium and long term goals for new and emerging technological development. This plan should then become an instrument for promoting the role of business-science partnerships in utilizing new and emerging technologies for sustainable development - an important goal of both the Beijing Forum and the World Summit on Sustainable Development. With the announcement that the Technology Village should be cited in Abuja, it is necessary to re-evaluate this decision based on sound technical and logistic reasoning rather than political or sociological machinations. The purpose must drive the location; not the other way round as that will certainly lead to another federal white elephant.
3. Target Sustainable Development Technologies
While a wide range of technologies might be appropriate for sustainable development efforts, it may be appropriate for the Abuja Technology Village to become more narrowly focused. Some existing Science and Technology Parks in developed countries have addressed solely the information and communications technologies (ICT). It may be appropriate for the proposed entity to focus on clean energy technologies, eco-environment protection, cleaner production technologies, water efficiency technologies, agriculture, health issues, or other topics of immediate concern to developing countries. As an ICT professional, it is easy for me to recommend that Information and Communication Technology should be the main focus of the Technology Village. Nonetheless, a decision to target ICT as the main focus of the project must be informed by the potential income to be realized through creation of skills, products, and services at the Village capable of earning desired foreign income for the country.
4. Estimate Financial Needs and Develop Sustenance Program
When a potential institutional arrangement for the Technology Village is developed, the next step will be to estimate the financial needs necessary to establish the project, and to sustain its future efforts. The key is not in the initial financial cost of development but in maintenance of the facility for at least 20 years, something that hardly figures in many Nigerian projects. As noted above, a wide range of models for the development of such parks exists, and the first task will be to help select a successful one for this effort. Given the international nature of this effort, comparable seed funding is required from multilateral international agencies or bilateral donors, as well as from private industry. With the claim that Nigeria is ready to kick in 50 billion Naira in Seed money for the Abuja Technology Village, it remains to be seen to what extent this seed fund will go in establishing the necessary infrastructure needed for the take of the Technology Village.
5. Get the buy-in of all stakeholders into the Technology Village
Information on the development of the Technology Village must be shared with both private and public stakeholders, many of whom will subscribe to be partners, service providers, tenants or customers. Not only is this intended to promote their participation, but also to increase capacity building for the establishment of various other allied projects for sustainable development, in particular for states and local governments who would need to be linked to the Technology Village.
In conclusion, the idea of a Nigerian Technology Village is a needed shot in the arms of ICT development in Nigeria. There are, however, much planning to be done, more analysis to be conducted, several consultations and consensus to be built, and above all, major mobilization of critical human resources to be made. Until the right people from the private sector are engaged into this project, empowered to take ownership of different component of the initiative, with government as an enabler, there are reasons to believe that even this noble dream will go the way of several other projects of the past - yet another smoke screen of this federal government.
About the Author:
Prof. Manny Aniebonam is the National President of NITPA, The Nigerian IT Professionals in the Americas, based in Washington DC USA (www.NITPA.org). He is also the President/CEO of AfriHUB LLC, USA (www.afrihub.com) , with several years experience as a Professor of Information Technology at major US universities, including Howard University, and The George Washington University, Washington DC, USA. Further writing and lectures by Prof. Manny Aniebonam on Digital Access and ICT Solutions for developing economies are available online from www.aniebonam.com .
Sphere: Related Content
