MTC opens high-tech innovation centre at NUST
MTC on Thursday opened doors to a high-tech, state-of-the-art innovation centre and mobile home at the University of Science and Technology (NUST) residency in Windhoek.
The innovation centre aims to be a hub for testing, building, and showcasing new technologies and consumer ICT applications, whilst the mobile home will offer customers services that include SIM card registration, account payments and top-ups, device sales, and self-help services amongst others.
MTC Managing Director, Licky Erasmus said while the nation ought to celebrate the milestone between the two institutions, the industry needs to accelerate and set itself fit for the 4IR.#
“This is an Innovation hub where industry experts and academics will be appreciating and leveraging synergies to transform innovative ideas and concepts to life. Indeed, a national centre of engaged excellence that will explore and fuse innovation with the transformative power of technology, said Erastus while adding that ignoring innovation will be to commit and economic suicide.
This comes after NUST and MTC recently inaugurated the High Tech Transfer Plaza Select (HTTPS) initiative to facilitate a functional technologically inspired ecosystem for the university community, industries, development partners, and entrepreneurs.
According to the two institutions, the ethos of the HTTPS concept is to improve competitiveness through trans-disciplinary research and the transfer of specialised knowledge and technology.
NUST Vice-Chancellor, Erold Naomab said the aim of this development is to ensure that technological and scientific developments are available to a wider audience.
The NUST head made reference to the work of the university since the launch of the HTTPS saying; “It was indeed a momentous occasion and it gives me great pleasure to note that in this short period, we have made notable strides towards fulfilling the mandate of this ecosystem, which is to facilitate a functional technological inspired space for the university, industries, development partners and entrepreneurs.”
Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Peya Mushelenga said the government will continue to foster innovation by establishing conducive environments through public policy. This, according to Mushelenga, includes the rule of law, property rights, patent protections, incentives to invest, and light-touch regulations and regulatory regimes.
“When it comes to innovations the policy default should be permissionless innovation rather than restrictive regulations. Permissionless innovation is the idea that experimentation should generally be permitted by default, even when innovation might lead to some short-term disruption of established business models. In the long run, the perpetual search for new and better ways of doing things drives human learning and, ultimately, prosperity for all should be the aiming point,” Mushelenga added.
