Koforidua-Ghana, June 27, GNA – Koforidua Technical University (KTU) has hosted a ground-breaking international applied research conference with a technology exhibition which sparked a discussion on business incubation and strategies for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)in the post-COVID era.
This year’s gathering marked the 12th edition of the international applied research conference of the university, and it was sponsored by the Kasapreko Company Limited and the Ghana Digital Centre.
It was on the theme; “Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in the Post-COVID Era: The Role of Research, Innovation, and Technology Transfer.”
The programme aimed at opening a dialogue on pursuing various strategies to help achieve the SDGs in the Post-COVID era attracted several players from industries, universities, and research institutions.
Dr. Samuel Kwofie, Director of Research and Innovation at KTU and conference coordinator, said the international applied research conference was organised to create a platform for partnership with the academia, industry, and research organisations to spur national development.
“KTU is one of the first universities in Ghana to organise such international conferences before other universities came to learn from us,” he said, and hoped that the conference would award student organisations with high-tech products.
Professor David Kofi Essumang, Vice Chancellor of KTU, said the significance of research was that it was essential to the success of a university education because advancement would have been impossible without research.
He said students investigate social problems and seek answers, discuss policy connections between education, employment, and training, as well as endeavour to improve practice.
Commenting on the theme, he said it was necessary to develop new technologies that promote research and stimulate innovation, explaining further that technology generates environmentally sustainable systems.
For instance, he said renewable energy, automated systems, artificial intelligence, and robotics all contributed to sustainability of the environment.
At the technology exhibition, students from the department of computer science, with various projects, namely Uni Market, Wattsmart, and Cheff Booking, explained how their innovative products supported the post-COVID era.
Mr. Jonathan Asante of Uni Market, for instance, said that Uni Market was an online campus market that provided students with affordable products and services in a convenient location, and that one could also advertise his or her products on the platform.
According to Wattsmart’s Bryan Opoku Mawunyo, their initiative had an in-built sensor that detected early flames in commercial and public spaces.
He said the sensor detects smoke and relays the information to the organisation and fire detection services to facilitate prompt intervention.
Dr. Winfred A. Nelson, a director at the National Development Planning Commission’s Development, Coordination Division, said the challenge Ghana face was beyond integrating the SDGs at the national level or into a decentralised planning system.
He said mere attainment of the goals was not the ultimate objective; “the challenge is to do so in a sustainable manner.”
He therefore called for a robust coordination and integration from all institutions and stakeholders to guarantee sustainability.
