Technological Innovation: Catalyst To Industrial Development

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Technological Innovation: Catalyst To Industrial Development

27 nov. 2018 10:55

The digital revolution is a whole raft of new opportunities and has become a major lever for growth and job creation.

Digital innovations are remaking our industries, economy, and society just as steam, electricity, and internal combustion did before them. Like their predecessors, computers and other gadgets like mobile phones, drones amongst others are engines of industrialisation. Cameroon which is in dire need of industrialisation is using the present technological evolution to push its industrial agenda. The blueprint document (Growth and Employment Strategy Paper, GESP) drawn-up to guide Cameroon’s development carefully primes innovations as one of the pillars for industrialisation. To further compound the drive for industrialisation, the government through the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Technological Development also came up with an industrialisation master plan which also takes into account innovations as an essential component for industrial development. Quite a good number of award-winning innovations have been registered in the country and their impact on accelerating industrialisation cannot be undermined. When in 2015, Arthur Zang, a young Cameroonian engineer developed Cardio pad, the first medical tablet made-in Cameroon, it attracted world attention and earned him FCFA 20 million Prize of the President of the Republic. His invention led to the creation of his company Himore Medical SA which imports accessories of the device and assembles it in Cameroon. His invention has undoubtedly revolutionised the health industry as cardiology diagnosis can now be made from a distance. Other innovations that has sparked industrial revolution is the invention of the first made-in Cameroon drones by William Elong. The 26-year old Cameroonian engineer, Chief Executive Officer of Will & Brothers consulting, which is today building drones for different purposes. Cognizant of the pivotal role of innovations in the country’s growth, the government has also been relentless in promoting the digital economy. The President of the Republic during his end-of-year address to the nation in 2016, pointed out that instructions have been given to the government to accelerate conditions necessary for the country’s industrialisation. One of the ways he outlined, was through the digital technology, reason why a Strategic Plan for Digital Cameroon b...