SRC, JIE Sign MOU to Advance Innovation and STEM

The Scientific Research Council (SRC) and the Jamaica Institution of Engineers (JIE) have signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on advancing national development through innovation, entrepreneurship, disaster resilience, and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education.

Among the key initiatives is the National STEM Visibility Series, which will comprise monthly sessions focused on renewable energy, water systems, disaster resilience, automation, and commercialisation.

The entities will also develop an innovation-to-entrepreneurship pipeline, designed to create a structured pathway for Jamaican innovations to be scaled.

The agreement was signed during a ceremony held at the SRC’s offices in the Hope Gardens Complex in St. Andrew on Monday (September 14).

SRC Executive Director, Dr. Charah Watson, said the Council is increasingly focused on fostering stronger linkages within Jamaica’s science, technology and innovation ecosystem.

“One area that is particularly important to me is the opportunity for us to help move Jamaican ideas from concept to application and from application to commercialisation. Jamaica has no shortage of creativity or ingenuity. What we must continue to strengthen are the pathways that will allow an inventor, researcher, an engineer, an entrepreneur, or a student with a good idea to access the technical expertise, the testing facilities, validation, mentorship, business development support and networks needed to turn that idea into something viable and something transformational,” she explained.

The Executive Director noted that there is tremendous scope for the SRC and the JIE to work together to build Jamaica’s STEM talent pipeline, whether through mentorship, school engagement, technical exposure or professional development.

She added that the inclusion of disaster resilience in the partnership is equally important.

Dr. Watson underscored that, as a small island developing state, Jamaica must continue to strengthen its capacity to leverage science, engineering and technology to anticipate risks, improve infrastructure, build resilience, and respond more effectively to the challenges posed by climate change and natural hazards.

In his remarks, JIE President, Dr. Balvin Thorpe, said the partnership with the SRC is intended to combine research expertise with the practical knowledge of engineers.

He noted that some of the initiatives will focus on students, emphasising the importance of engaging them in the development of forward-thinking solutions.

“We want to create resilient solutions in the whole field of engineering, and we’re not limiting this to Jamaica. I believe that with the talent that we have in Jamaica, especially in the engineering field, we are going to be the hub of creating unique specialised solutions for the science and technology industry going forward, not only for the Caribbean but I see it globally because we are very powerful,” Dr. Thorpe said.

He maintained that the MOU is critical and said both entities are committed to ensuring that the seeds planted today germinate into real solutions for the betterment of Jamaica.