NOTAP: the Minister lays the revolutionary foundations for the NOVA project

In a significant boost to infrastructure and development initiatives, the Minister in the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology (FMIST), Kingsley Tochukwu Udeh SAN, has reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to technology commercialization, local content development, industrial competitiveness and sustainable job creation.

The minister said this during a visit to the site of the proposed NOVA Hub project at the headquarters of the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP).

The visit marks a milestone in the implementation of the Nigeria Outsourcing and Value Acceleration (NOVA) Project, a flagship initiative conceived by NOTAP Director General and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Obiageli Amadiobi, to strengthen Nigeria’s science, technology and innovation ecosystem and accelerate the transformation of indigenous research, technology and innovation into measurable economic value.

The project is expected to offer modern facilities and economic opportunities and will be positioned as a flagship enterprise that will improve service delivery and create thousands of jobs upon completion.

Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday, the Minister described the initiative as a “new dawn” for the sector. “Today we are not just laying the foundation of concrete and steel, we are laying the foundation for progress, innovation and a better future for our people.

He revealed that more hubs will be established across the nation.

Earlier, during her welcome speech, Dr. Amadiobi highlighted that Project NOVA was conceived as a strategic national intervention to address one of Nigeria’s most persistent development challenges: the gap between knowledge creation and economic utilization.

He noted that while Nigeria continues to produce thousands of research findings, innovations and highly skilled professionals in different sectors of the economy every year, only a fraction translates into commercial products, services, businesses, jobs and industrial growth.

According to her, Project NOVA is designed to serve as a national commercialization and distribution platform for NOTAP, creating structured pathways for technology transfer, innovation adoption, business development, workforce competitiveness and industrial transformation.

The NOVA project, the DG said, is structured around three integrated pillars namely; NOVA of Excellence (CoE), NOVA Catalyst and NOVA Impact, which together provide a coordinated framework for research commercialization, intellectual property management, technology transfer, skills acceleration, business competitiveness and industrial collaboration.