UWI, JIPO To Stage Entrepreneurial Workshops

The University of West Indies (UWI) and Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO) will stage a series of workshops under the Regional Entrepreneurial Assets Commercialization Hub (REACH) Project, from February 13 to 17 at the Knutsford Court Hotel in New Kingston.

The workshops will target current and prospective entrepreneurs who will be provided with technical skills training in business planning, development, marketing and branding; and evaluating existing entrepreneurial ventures to identify and pursue new opportunities.

Among the facilitators will be representatives of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO); Young Americas Business Trust (YABT); Mount Carmel International Training Centre (MCITC) in the United States; and MASHAV – Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation.

Executive Director of JIPO, Lilyclaire Bellamy, told JIS News that the REACH Project was established pursuant to a Technical Cooperation Agreement signed in 2015 by the UWI and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which is providing approximately $115.19 million (US$900,000) in grant support.

This, she explained, aims to assist Caribbean entrepreneurs, particularly small and medium size enterprises (SMEs), in commercializing intellectual property rights across the region.

The project aims to develop case studies of Caribbean firms that have commercialized intellectual property.

The outcome of these studies, coupled with recommendations for monetization strategies, will form the basis of presentations to smaller firms seeking to be competitive in the Caribbean and international markets.

Ms. Bellamy said a key motivation behind the REACH Project is the belief that innovation can help to boost Caribbean economies and position them to capture a greater share of global market benefits.

This, she indicated, by, among other things, monetizing intellectual property linked to their key revenue generating industries – agriculture and tourism. The Regional Entrepreneurial Asset Commercialization Hub (REACH) Project was launched in Jamaica on November 2016.