On Wednesday, 19 March 2008, CompTIA will host its first Innovation Forum in South Africa, entitled Innovation for Growth, Employment and Skills.
The forum will bring together entrepreneurs from the ICT sector, leading policymakers, and experts to exchange ideas and experiences to develop practical strategies that create a favourable policy environment for ICT innovation in South Africa.
Drawing from success stories such as the recent recognition of South Africa by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) for its continuing strength in patent applications filed through the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), CompTIA's IP Expert and Political Advisor, Chris Katopis says: "South African institutions continue to build patent portfolios around the world. Such developments highlight the ability of the nation to continue to harness its innate creativity and the talent of its youth in order to create benefits at home."
The challenge for emerging economies in today's technology age is to harness the potential of innovation and intellectual property to fuel growth and employment opportunities. And it is the right balance achieved through policy that is critical.
According to CompTIA's Group Director of Public Policy EMEA, Hugo Lueders, enabling policy environments would be the kind that allow for the development and diffusion of different software. Says Lueders: "Only when all software options are available can the specific needs of each ICT project be met, driven by a flexible range of factors such as cost, reliability, security, functionality and availability, among others."
The forum will be a platform for the debate of these issues through its three panel sessions on SMEs innovation, innovation and intellectual property, standards and interoperability and SMEs and e-skills. The panels will be represented by ICT specialists in the government, corporate and SME sectors.
The South African event follows similar successful awareness-raising innovation forums in Lithuania, Berlin, Hungary, Poland, Denmark, Prague and Lisbon, and will take place at The Castle Kayalami Hotel in Midrand.
Share
CompTIA is a global industry association representing the business interests of the information and communications technology industries. For nearly 25 years CompTIA has provided research, networking and partnering opportunities to its 20 000 members in some 100 countries. The association is involved in developing standards and best practices, and influencing the political, economic and educational arenas that impact ICT worldwide. Companies represented at the CompTIA board include, among others, Ricoh, Lenovo, Ingram Micro, Microsoft, Xerox, Avaya, and Symantec. For more information, see http://www.comptia.eu.
Editorial contacts