Work on first SL Innovation Index begins

Work on Sri Lanka’s long-awaited national Innovation Index, which is set to measure the Lankan innovation portfolio, began in Colombo yesterday, and the top UN agency tasked with world Intellectual Property (IP) development says many new IP projects have been earmarked for Colombo in future. 

Leading local and international IP and innovation experts began brainstorming Sri Lanka’s innovation roadmap as soon as the launch event concluded last morning at Hilton Residences, Colombo. 

“In view of the rapidly-expanding knowledge-driven global trade and economic activities, Intellectual Property (IP) has acquired a very important status,”  said Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen, addressing the inauguration of the high-profile National Level Innovation and Intellectual Property Policy Conference led by the Industry and Commerce Ministry’s National Intellectual Property Office, joined by Coordinating Secretariat for Science, Technology and Innovation (COSTI), World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO- Geneva), and Ministry of Science and Technology of Sri Lanka. 

Among the international panellists specially flying in for the Colombo session were WIPO Asia Pacific Regional Director Andrew Michael Ong, Cornell University Visiting Fellow Dr. Richard S. Cahoon, Julius & Creasy Senior Partner Dr. J.M. Swaminathan, Columbia Maryland’s ET Cube’s Intellectual Property Commercialisation specialist Yumiko Hamano and WIPO Senior Economist Dr. Sacha Wunsch-Vincent.  

Among the Lankan Government officials were NIPO Director General Geethanjali Ranawaka, Secretary of Ministry of Industry and Commerce T.M.K.B. Thennakoon and Secretary of Ministry of Science and Technology R. Wijayalakshmi, joined by many Lankan research and training institutions from the public and private sectors.

“Today is an important day in Sri Lanka’s IP history as we launch this important index, opening a new chapter. The IP system of a country greatly contributes to its various development activities such as promotion of national creativity, research, technology transfer, licensing, commercialisation of goods and services, and proper implementation of industrial policies. If we look at many developed economies practicing high level of innovation such as Japan and Korea, we can see that intellectual property has become a key growth driver for them,” said Minister Bathiudeen.

He added: “Their strong research and development are transformed into innovations and then patents are obtained. This trend is never more important than at present times. For example, the applications received by the European Patent Office (EPO) in 2015 increased by a strong 5% from 2014. Filings under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) increased by 1.7% in 2015. What is important is that Asia contributed significantly to this growth, taking a strong 43% of 2015 global total.

Bathiudeen asserted that Sri Lanka’s own applications have showed a positive trend, stating that in 2014, Sri Lanka filed a total of 516 ‘Article 50’ Patent applications. 

“Costa Rica, Tunisia and Uzbekistan are the only countries that filed Article 50 Patent applications in a somewhat similar range to Sri Lanka. Therefore an organised Intellectual Property System will not only pay back the innovator but also spreads knowledge and information to the society. The Government of Sri Lanka has recognised the usefulness of an active Intellectual Property System, and has taken major steps in promoting the use of Intellectual Property as a tool for economic and social development. The vision of our Government is to transform Sri Lanka’s economy into a knowledge-based economy. In this endeavour World Intellectual Property Organization has contributed in a major way, providing Sri Lanka with assistance in organising training programs, workshops and information sessions and I wish to thank WIPO for their ongoing assistance,” he added.

WIPO Asia Pacific Regional Director Andrew Michael Ong said that innovation thrives in an environment of collaboration. “I see today a big gathering of players and actors of innovation systems in Sri Lanka. WIPO congratulates Sri Lanka for preparing this session. As a UN Agency, WIPO’s mandate is to provide info and support IP policy. We have been working with Sri Lanka’s NIPO and looking forward to take up key development projects in future as well.”

A few months ago, a special WIPO team was in Colombo for a session on tourism industry related IP development. Earlier, another team of WIPO consultants were in Colombo to study integration of IP policy to Sri Lanka’s innovation systems. The latest (14 June) Innovation Index initiative in Colombo is a result of WIPO’s 2013 recommendation for national level and regional indices for Sri Lanka.