THE Business and Intellectual Property Authority of Namibia has launched a policy aimed at ensuring that intellectual property in Namibia is protected, and its ability to stimulate economic growth is harnessed.
At the launch last week, trade and industry deputy minister Lucia Iipumbu said the world is fast approaching an age of rapid transformation, where the way economies operate changes, including the way of living and working, and that poses a challenge to keep pace, or risk being left behind.
“We are in an era of dynamic transformation, where creativity, innovation, technology, digitisation, robotics and knowledge are fast becoming credible means of fostering prosperity,” she said.
The deputy minister noted that it is because of this realisation that an enabling environment is created to support creativity and innovation in order to achieve sustainable development.
This promotes the creation of wealth, and fosters national, social, cultural and economic development.
“Those who have created the space to imagine, invent, create and innovate have never ceased to grow and advance,” Iipumbu said, adding that the policy is a tool that can facilitate initiatives to drive value creation, as the creation of a framework stimulates innovation and creative work.
“It is with this understanding that the government of Namibia has identified intellectual property as a stimulus for economic growth through the protection of intellectual property rights,” she continued.
The intellectual property policy comes after the passing of the Business and Intellectual Property Authority Act in 2016, which aims to create an institutional framework for the protection and promotion of intellectual property.
Intellectual Property (IP) are products created as a result of the human intellect, an expression of creativity and innovation.
“The protection of IP rights provides creators and innovators of new inventions, books, music, clothes and products the opportunity to be rewarded for their ideas and efforts,” she explained.
This development is in alignment with the government’s commitment to increase the contribution of the creative industry towards employment from 0,65% to 2% by 2022 to arouse the entrepreneurial spirit.
The policy will, firstly, identify areas that involve and may be supported by IP in order to integrate them during the formulation or revision of national development plans and sectoral policies. Secondly, policymakers will be sensitised on the significance of integrating IP during the formulation of development plans and policies, as well as using IP as a tool for enhancing development.
Thirdly, capacity will be built to ensure that policy analysis, formulation, monitoring and evaluation take place, and lastly, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms will be established to evaluate the contribution of IP to the realisation of the development goals of the policy instruments.
Stay informed with The Namibian – your source for credible journalism. Get in-depth reporting and opinions for only N$85 a month. Invest in journalism, invest in democracy –
Subscribe Now!
