[caption id="attachment_53067" align="alignright" width="600"] Rahamon Ade Bello[/caption] By Rahamon Ade Bello The challenges of the 21st century require that developed and developing countries transform our approach to economic developments. Central to this transformation is technological innovation, from basic research to commercialization, for environmental sustainability. To date, the vast majority of clean technology innovation has occurred in developed countries, where strong research university, publicly and privately funded laboratories, and intellectual property regimes have successfully encouraged entrepreneurship for green growth. The challenge for developing countries, Nigeria inclusive, is to ensure that they, particularly the least Developed Countries (LDCs), do not miss out on this technology transformation and the opportunity to leap frog their own development pathways onto more environmentally friendly development trajectories. However, the challenge faced here may be the need for developing national capabilities to innovate and create business opportunities in emerging technological areas as there may be a dearth of early stage funding for commercialization of technological innovations by both government and non-government agencies due to higher risk of investment in un-proven technologies. Thus, major proportion of available early stage funding gets invested in relatively low risk opportunities, based on proven technologies, thereby limiting innovations to reach the market. Apparently, invention and innovation are often used interchanging, however, they differ. The Merriam- Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (2010) defines inventions as “the act of creating a new process or a new machine” and an innovation as “a new way of doing something”. While these definitions may appear similar, they are indeed different. An invention creates a unique or novel device or process. The invention may be an improvement upon a machine or product, or a new process for creating an object or a result. An invention that achieves a completely unique function or result may be a radical breakthrough. Such works are novel, and not obvious to others skilled in the same field. On the other hand, innovation is the development of new customer value through solutions that meet new needs, unarticulated needs, or old customer and market needs in new ways. This is accomplished through different or more effective product, processes, services, technologies, or ideas that are readily available to markets, governments, and society. Therefore, innovation differs from invention in that innovation refers to the use of a better and, as a result, novel idea or method, whereas invention refers to the use of better and, as a result, novel idea or method, whereas invention refers more directly to the creation of a product itself. Innovation also differs from improvement in that innovation refers to the notion of doing something different rather than doing the same thing better. It is also different from discovering (a thing or principle, which already existed, needing only to be found). The generation of technology involves the “innovation chain” which is the sequence of steps by which an idea or concept is converted into a product or process. This sequence of steps varies with the circumstances, but can often be schematically represented thus: Idea/ Relevant Basic Development Engineering Applied Research and Design for Manufacturing Concept Research Product/Service Marketing Figure 1. Sequence of steps in innovation chain. The terms are define as follows · Relevant Basic Research refers to the synthesis or assembly of understanding relevant to the technological objectives; · Applied Research is the activity of demonstrating the technical feasibility or the synthesis of understanding leading to a new technology; · Developing and Design describes the activity of coming up with a version of the new product/service that can be ‘commercialized’ in the economy, that is, a product/service that meets performance, reliability and economic requirement; · Engineering for manufacturing refers to the activity of demonstrating that the working technology can be manufactured at a price acceptable to the economy. The above explanation implies that technology is used to invent things and therefore technology lends itself to innovation. Technological innovation can be defined as the process through which new (or improved) technologies are developed and brought into widespread use. It comprises new product and processes and significant technological changes of products and processes. It can be divided into three parts: (i) generation or realization of new idea, based on technology, capability or knowledge (invention); (ii) development of this into a reality or product (realisation); and (iii) diffusion, implementation and marketing of this new idea, technology, capability or knowledge (implementation). So, technological innovation focuses specifically on technology and how to embody it successfully in products, services and processes. Innovation can be thought of as being composed of research, development, demonstration, and development. An innovation has been implemented if it has been introduced on the market (product innovation). However, innovation is not a linear process: there are various interconnections and feedbacks loops between the afore-mentioned stages, and often even the stages themselves cannot be trivially disaggregated. Innovations involves the involvement of a range of organizations and personnel (laboratories, firms, financing organizations, etc.) with different institutional arrangement underpinning the development and deployment of different kinds of technologies; contextual factors such as government policies also significantly shape the innovation process (sagay and van der Zwaan, 2006). Technological innovation is often blindly referred to as “progress”. The question is: progress towards what? We now live in the age of high technology. In the past generation, most people spent most of their time in nature, and then in later years more often in social settings. In the modern word, most of us spend an ever-increasing amount of time in an interconnected web of machines. What currently drives this technological innovation, this technological bubble that defines our age, include self-interest, greater productivity, greater consumption, the law of supply and demand, and the commoditization of the world. This economic system which has now succeeded in global hegemony, dictate all our social interactions. In early societies, the market system was never the method by which basic societal problems were addressed; rather the market place was delegated only a limited role by our ancestors compared to their cultural and religious beliefs and social patterns. Not only are the current dominant economic system and their intertwined technology systems at odds with the ecological cycles of the natural world, but they are also actively and quickly eviscerating the planet. We are exponentially reducing the earth’s capacity in every natural realm: land, air, water, and everything in between, through ozone depletion, acid rain, species extinction, deforestation, and desertification. Hence, our survival and planet’s survival must not threatened by commodifying nature to match our systems through technological innovation. Our industrial technologies must not create national and/or global environmental crises. We are now faced with technological dilemma – the ‘developed” portion of the world’s population has become dependent on the technological environment. Yet the same technologies that support life for the richest part of human population are threatening the very viability of life on Earth. It is thus crystalline clear that we cannot live with our technologies, and we cannot imagine living without them. It is advisable therefore we institute appropriate technological innovation in sync with the cycles of nature, without causing planetary and human peril. Attorneys and policy makers have somewhat succeeded in passing and utilising laws that would limit the impacts of capital and industrial systems. Scientists and Engineers are urged to develop more holistic visions of their vocations. This approach/option will be a step toward addressing economic development within the context of rather than at the expense of our global environment and the society which depends upon it. People have come to the conclusion that our current technology is not compatible with life. They have foreseen the growing conflict between globalization, mass consumption, and the laws of nature. However, their solution to the dilemma is very different. Rather than change our economics and technology to better comport with the needs of living things, corporations and government began to engineer life itself to better accommodate the market system and the technologies upon which it is predicated. Ignoring the constrains of the natural world living systems are to be re-made, engineered at the genetic and molecular level to further the necessities of the technological age. We must recognise and address the underlying philosophy and economy that drives and controls technological innovation. An order of magnitude in change is required; we must institute a paradigm-shift to a system of governance and life that is based on co-existence with and benefit of natural system. We can also move from the technological age to the ecological age. We must begin treating ourselves and the natural world as a part of an interconnected web; stop thinking in straight lines and start thinking in circles. “Progress” must include the natural as well as human world, encouraging mutually enhancing human – earth relationships. Human technologies should function in an integral relationship with earth technologies, not in a despotic manner. Nature, over hundreds of millions of years and through an infinite number of experiments, worked out ecosystems that were already flourishing abundantly when we came to exist. How can technological innovation help us determine how we can best to present in this context? Morden society must treat life and the natural world as the spiritual force it is. There must be mystique of rivers if we are ever going to restore the purity of our rivers. This is not a new idea, it is actually the oldest. Is this an idealized vision? Perhaps, but it’s a considerably less naive world vision that which claims we can sustain our current industrial system. We must evolve our technological systems so that they are democratic and responsive to us, that we are responsible for them, and so that they comport with nature and with life forms on the earth. We can dust off the old ways and make them the new again, making them more seductive and more logical than our current destructive ways. Only with these changes will technological innovation properly serve the planet and enhance, as well as extend, a meaningful human experience. The promise that a given new technology will deliver environmentally benign electricity to cheap to meter, and hunger and poverty, or cure disease is very seductive. That is why the claims are made with many emerging technologies – nuclear power, biotechnology and nanotechnology, to name a few. In addition to benefit, new technologies come with social, economic and environmental cost, and sometimes significant political implications. If we can only make technological innovation ‘safe’, its development will necessarily deliver wealth, health, social opportunities and even environmental gains. Ensuring technology safety is clearly very important. But simply assuming that ‘safe’ technology will deliver nothing but benefits, and that these benefits will be available to everyone, is – to put it mildly – quite optimistic. Some thoughtful and critical question need to be asked and answered on the benefits and risks of technological innovation. These include questions about whether technology – and what sort of technology – could help to extract us from the quagmire we are in, and whether technology – and what sort of technology-will dig us further in. They would also evaluate the extent t which technology’s actual (rather than ideal ) applications will help or hinder, and the extent to which helpful applications will be accessible to those who need them. More significantly, we will also ask how decision making about technology could be opened up to those affected – wider publics. The last decade was a period of significant technological innovation in which microelectronics, information technologies, medical treatments, telecommunications and biotechnologies were developed, and mass air travel expanded dramatically. Technologies transformed economies, political structures and daily life for both better and worse. In this time of rapid technological development, there were winners, loser and a new scale of environmental cost. The per capital ecological footprint of our country grew. The gap between the global rich and the global poor widened. This is not imply that technological innovation has been the only factor driving increasing resource use and widening inequities – clearly it has not; a range of social, economic and political factors are relevant. Rapid technological innovation can be the answer to our national and /or global problems. Our experience demonstrates that technological innovation will not in itself enable us to live within our means – no amount of technology delivered efficiency will enable endless economic growth on a finite planet. Nor will technology reduce the inequities that divide rich and poor – this requires social, economic and political change. There is a tendency to focus on the potential of new technologies to address our most pressing problems, rather than to seek better deployment of existing technologies, better design of existing system, or changes in production and consumption. This reflects a preference to avoid systemic change. It also reflects an unfounded optimism that the ‘solution’ lies just over the horizons. But sometimes, ensuring better deployment of existing technologies is the most effective way to deal with a problem. Just as wider accessibility of existing drugs and medical treatments could prevent a huge number of deaths world- wide, improving urban storm water harvesting and re-use, housing insulation and mass transit public transport could go a long way to reducing our ecological footprint- potentially at a lower cost and at a lower risk than mooted high tech options. If evaluating the implementation or performance failures of previous technologies reveals economic or social obstacles or constrains, it is probably these factors that warrant our attention. There is no reason to believe they will magically disappear once new technologies arrive. Technological choices have a key part to play in achieving urgently needed environmental and social change. Making the best choices that we can has never been so important. This requires us to look beyond safety to ask bigger questions about new technologies. We must ask what is required to achieve our most critical social and environmental objectives, and be willing to accept that the new technology is not always the answer. We must also ask what is required to ensure that those most affected by the outcomes of technology decision making have a voice in that decision making process. 2. Invention vs. Innovation Innovation is distinguished in the literature on the study of science and technology from invention even though these two terms are used interchangeably in ordinary language, as stated earlier. The term innovation is used to describe the process of transforming an idea or concept into a product/service. It include much more than the term invention, which is usually restricted to the process of going from an idea or concept to a contrivance or prototype or design. In addition to invention, innovation involves the crucial process of commercializing the product or service in the economic activity of a country. The process of innovation can be represented as shown in Figure 1 by the innovation chain, which is the chain of steps leading from an idea or concept to a product /service in the economy. I will rather chip in a word of advice that goes thus: do not invent something that nobody wants. Popular history usually gives credit to Thomas Edison for inventing the light bulb, Alexander Graham Bell for inventing the telephone, and Guglielmo Marconi for inventing the radio. But the truth is they invented none of these things. Their recognition and association with these successful technologies are largely due to their inspired business practices. Their respective successes and fame resulted from their ability to cost-effectively translate inventions into marketable product or, in other words, to be innovative. The same innovative spirit should be at the heart of every one present here today. The innovation of the light bulb by Heinrich Goebel led to innovation of the Edison Electric Grid (a marketable product). The invention of the telephone by Antonio Santi Giuseppe Meucci led to the innovation of the Bell public Switched Telephone Network and the invention of radio transmission by Nikola Tesla led to the invention of wireless telegraphy and opening of the world’s first “wireless” factory by Marconi. 3. Sustainability Development The United Nations (1987) suggest that sustainable development “implies meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Alternatively, sustainability educator Needham (2011) referred to sustainable development “as the ability to meet the needs of the present while contributing to the future generations’ needs”. The concept of sustainable development plays an important role in the 21st century. The three aspects of the sustainable development are: economy, environment and society. The attention of the people who work in the field of sustainable development is focused on the quantification of each aspect as well as on the all possible interactions between the three elements of the sustainable development. Sikdar (2003) proposed a typology of indicators, considering the three dimensions of sustainable development in three distinct groups: 1. One dimensional (ID) indicators which provide information about one aspect of sustainable development: economical, ecological or societal. 2. Two dimensional (2D) indicators which provide information about two of aspects of sustainable development: socio-ecological socio-economic or economic- ecological. 3. Three dimensional (3D) indicators which provide information about all the three aspects sustainable development. [caption id="attachment_53067" align="alignright" width="600"] Rahamon Ade Bello[/caption] Sustainable development strategic outcomes include increased development, commercialization, adoption and diffusion of environmental, energy and bio-based technologies. Nigeria’s economic performance is a key determinant in ensuring a sustainable future for Nigeria’s Technologies will help our country address its long –standing productivity and business R&D investment challenges. They will also help to deal with key environmental issues such as climate change, air and water pollution, waste, and contaminated sites. Sustainable development can be advance through the integration of innovative technologies and strategic organisational changes. The development of innovative technologies requires investment in fundamental research, development and commercialization. Strategic organizational change refers to new business strategies and process-efficiency tools that can help lessen the private sector’s ecological footprint through waste reduction and the more efficient use of materials, energy and labour. New approaches in marketing, communications and management processes are key contributors to firms’ performance. 4. Commercialization of technological innovation Commercialization should not to be confused with sales, marketing or business/product development. Commercialization is the process or cycle of introducing a new product or production method into the market. Commercialization is thus the total process of moving a technology from the concept stage, to production of a product and from there, to market acceptance and use. The commercialization process has many models depending on the product, device and /or industry. It is a stage –wise process and each stage has it own key goals and milestones. The actual lunch of a new product is the final stage of new product development, and the one where the most money will have to be spent for advertising, sales promotion, and other marketing efforts. Finally, it is vital to involve key stakeholders early, including customers. Technological commercialization is based on ideas, the conversion of ideas into inventions (working devices/processes), the commercialization of invention into innovations (commercially viable devices/processes), and finally, the widespread adoption and dissemination of innovations by users. For a successful commercialization of a technology, and following steps are important: 1. Identification of the potential adopters. 2. Measuring the perceptions of a relevant potential adopters. 3. Designing the developing a user-friendly product. 4. Informing the potential adopter of the product’s user-friendliness. 5. Providing post – adoption support. Table 1 provides information on various phases of technology commercialization. Table1. Model for commercialization of technological Parameter Technical Market Business Investigative phase Assessment of technology concept Assessment of market needs Venture assessment Development phase Feasibility TechnologyFeasibility Market study Economic feasibility Planning Engineering Prototype Strategic marketing Business plan Introduction Pre-production type Market validation Business start-up Commercial phase Full scale production Production Sales and Distribution Business Growth Maturity Production support Market Diversification Business Maturity Commercialization is an important benchmark for sustainability for the following reason: 1. It is causally and positively related to the benefit associated with clean technologies such as environmental gains and health improvements. The faster the commercialization process, the greater are these benefits; 2. When full commercialization is achieved, the benefits associated with clean technologies can come at zero or negative cost to taxpayers; once a technology is commercial, benefits continue to accrue without incurring cost to taxpayers. 3. Consumers and firms who invest wisely in clean technologies also benefit from negative cost (profit). The indicators that can be used to highlight different dimensions of commercialization include: (1) the profitability of projects, (2) technology cost trends, (3) the share of private activity in the market, for example, the share of energy production/savings generated by the private sector or the amount of profit-driven private investment for energy efficiency improvements,2 (4) business and support service development (e.g. Cluster), (5)the availability of commercial financing, (6) awareness and understanding of technologies and benefits among consumers and businesses, and (7) consumer and business demand. Taken together, these indicators can adequately represent the complex process of commercialization (Nichols and Martinot, 2000). Getting patent for ones ‘s technology innovation is an achievement, with some in inherent advantages. In the academia, it can earn one a lot of credits in terms of promotion or career enhancement. But most significantly, the real fruits of patented technology innovations only come through commercialization (for the benefit of society), which can earn the technological innovator royalty if the technology is transferred or earn the innovator profit if the patented technology is converted into a business organization which is called techno-entrepreneurship. Thus, it is advisable that we must always think of patents or copyrights for our technological innovations in order to protect the interest of the innovators. 4.1 Steps of Commercialization of Technological Innovations the steps involved in commercialization of technological innovations are highlighted as followers: 1. Research: Observations and experiment during research activities often lead to technological innovations that may have commercial applicability. 2. Disclosing an innovation: The Innovation must be formally disclosed by innovator. 3. Market assessment: This involves assessment of a disclosed innovation and development of a preliminary commercialization strategy in order to assert University’s rights in the disclosed innovation. The assessment and determination will be performed in conjunction with innovator, outside counsel, and/or advisors as appropriate. 4. patenting and other legal protection: Having asserted the university’s rights in an innovation that appears suitable for patenting, outside counsel will be engaged too pursue patent protection for the innovation. When appropriate, the university may utilise copy right, trade secret or trademark rights to commercialise university innovations or works of authorship. 5. Prospecting: Companies, Entrepreneurs, and investors (who have been indentify as potentially suitable partners) are approached to bring the technological innovation to market. Available technologies can also be show-cased online and at appropriate conferences. Moreover, faculty publications, presentations, or academic renown may result in third party licensing interest. 6. Due diligence and negotiation: Marketing activities may result in one or more parties requesting an in-dept examination of the technology. This can involve signing a non-disclosure agreement and additional discussions with the innovator. Interested prospects will present a plan for commercialization and negotiate business terms. 7. The deal: Legal agreements are prepared to reflect the business terms negotiated when the university and commercialization partners are ready to move forward. When the agreement are signed by both parties, the start-up or licensed has the right (and obligation) to commercialize the innovation. Compensation to the university varies from agreement to agreement and may involve fixed fees, milestone fees, royalties, equity, and other forms of consideration. Compensation is shared with innovator/investor in accordance with university policy. 8. After the deal : The part to commercial market varies, depending on the nature of the innovation, the market it is addressing, and the innovation’s stage of development. Under the terms of agreement, the commercialization partner provides regular progress reports to the university on its commercialization activities. The innovator may continue to be involved in the development activities with the commercialization partner. 4.2 Issues and challenges related to commercialization of technological innovations and patents While discussing the commercialization of any technology innovation, it is really very important to touch the issue of: ‘to go for a patent or not? Going for a patent will lead to a publication of your innovative technology. Whether it is good for business or not is a matter of debate. Patent gives you protection so government needs to accelerate the process of acquisition of copyright and patent and our legal procedures should be fast and void of corruption. It takes a lot of time, energy and resources to fight patent and copyright cases with many hurdles. Some innovators never thought of any patent or copyright as they believed that building a robust business model is more important. However, once your business model is robust, even if somebody “steals” your technology, that person may not be successful as your business will act as an entry barrier to provide solid competition. In some developing countries like Nigeria and others, filing patent is a very slow process which gives frustration to the innovator and commercialization motive may therefore go haywire. It is important to stress that techno-entrepreneurship is an important factor to be considered in the commercialization of any technological innovations, whether patented or not. To be an entrepreneur by converting your own patented technological innovations into a product will always yield dividends. The conversion of an innovator into entrepreneur is an easy task as this involves many aspects of business functions: resources, manufacturing, financial management, human resources management, networks, marketing, new product development (techno-innovation) and feasibility analysis. The patented technological innovation should have commercial viability. The same can be checked by carrying out marketing feasibility, economic feasibility and technical feasibility etc. The important thing is: how to convert techno-innovation into techno-entrepreneurship? There are many technological innovations but how many can be converted into techno-entrepreneurship? Technology innovation is important and it is difficult but an entrepreneurship is not just about technology and innovation. Techno-entrepreneurship is a board concept and involves many things. Technology entrepreneur is the one who organises, manages and assumes the risk of a technology-based business enterprise (Nicholas sand Armstrong, 2003) As an entrepreneur one has to think about all other components of business and not just about the technology innovation. And because of that, only the person who has technology innovation may require support for other components of business, otherwise as mentioned earlier even the greatest innovation may die. A techno-entrepreneur needs to have technical management skills, business management skills and motivation, then only he can be a successful techno-entrepreneur (Oakey, 2003). New entrepreneur who have no existing markets and no existing customers, look for any market where their technology offers cost and performance-advantages over existing product i.e., replacement of existing products (Walsh and Kirchhoff,2002). [caption id="attachment_53067" align="alignright" width="600"] Rahamon Ade Bello[/caption] Question For Management while discussing the techno-entrepreneurship & innovation, we need to give thought to the following question: · How to tackle the issue of geographical diversity and ethnicity problem in a vast country like Nigeria? · How to maintain balance between traditional systems and innovations in a country like Nigeria where tradition has a lot of value? · How to design reward systems to foster innovation and conversion of innovation into entrepreneurship? · How to solve the problem of – ‘who gets the credit?’ Here, the most important question may be – “who gets the credit?’ Mostly just because of this question, the technological innovation may die. Research and technology institute may have innovative ideas void of support of converting them into entrepreneurship, whereas a management institute can have support for many components of entrepreneurship except technology and innovation. So, if they come together and start an intra-institution interaction and networking, they can best support innovative ideas. But here also, most of the times, the question – ‘who gets the credit?’ will create trouble and act as a hurdle to techno-entrepreneurship and innovation. Technology business incubation is one of the most important support for commercializing technology innovations/patents. It involves the commercializing of science and technology through newer community institutional arrangements which can be thought of as technology venturing. It concentrates on alliances as an economic development strategy. Technology venturing is based on creative and innovative ways of linking public sectors initiatives and private sector resources within and across regional and national boundaries for promoting economic growth. Technology business incubation can foster corporate and community collaborative efforts, while nurturing positive government-academic business relationships. Technology venturing activities within a community are based on linking four critical factors: (1) talent – people, (2) technology – ideas, (3) capital – resources, and (4) know-how – knowledge. Support for each factor include expanding talent pool, accelerating the transfer of technology, increasing availability of capital and improving availability of managerial, technical and business know-how. The primary drivers of technology business incubation are entrepreneur (i.e. people who make things happen) and technologies or ideas that have potential to be commercialized within a reasonable period (Tornatzky et al., 1996). There is a growing realization that community at large also benefit from small business incubators. Not only can the incubator increase local employment opportunities, it can also diversify the local economic base and enhance the local image as a centre for business activity. The most effective use of incubator as a tool for economic development requires careful consideration of the process by which those entrepreneur choose to participate in the program (Spitzerand Ford, 1989). Allen (1985) has shown relationship between business incubators and start-ups as an entrepreneurial marriage. To qualify for incubation program one must have: sound technical knowledge, competence in focus area, entrepreneurial traits, good business sense, global thinking, conviction and strong perseverance and strong references. So commercialization support in the form of incubation is really essential. We can say that technology business incubation is really a very important mechanism of support for innovators who have patents but lack in business know-how and managerial skills. They can get all the supports for the commercialization of their patents. Technology business incubator can help one to become an entrepreneur by commercializing his patented technology himself. If this option is not suitable, then the other option is to transfer the technology to well established organizations which can commercialize the patented technology effectively this arrangement will make an innovator earn in terms of royalty without being an entrepreneur himself. So, he can focus on other innovations also. One can transfer the patented technology himself also without taking help of any technology business incubators or any other supporting agencies. Nowadays, various universities and technology institutes have their own technology transfer offices to support the innovations of their faculty members and students. But the technology transfer mechanism is not always simple, particularly, when the technology is new and has uncertainty. The receiving organization has to carry out feasibility study as discussed earlier. There are no set rules for deciding terms and conditions for technology transfer. Deciding pricing and monetary conditions (valuation of patented technology ) are also very difficult as the patented technology may be quite new and not well tested in the market. These problems may invite frustration to innovators some time. As highlighted above, there are two options to commercialize patented technology innovations: techno-entrepreneurship and technology transfer. If the innovator is going for the first option i.e., techno-entrepreneurship, he should have enterprising tendencies or entrepreneurial characteristics. If one lacks entrepreneurial characteristic, then technology transfer would be a better option. Some of the entrepreneurial characteristic are given in the following discussion: Need for Achievement: It includes the sub-characteristics like: Forward looking self-sufficiency, optimism, task-oriented, result-oriented, restless and energetic, self confidence, persistence and determination, dedication to completing a task. Purnima (2006) has given that entrepreneurs should have achievement motivation and Misra et al. (2000) has given important to effective competence. Desai (2001) has given importance to self confidence and energy. These would have some matching with the sub-characteristics given in ‘Need For Achievement’ Need for autonomy: It includes the sub-characteristics like: wanting to do unconventional things, preference to working alone, needs to do his ‘own thing’, needs to express what he thinks, dislikes taking orders’ likes to make up his own mind, does not bow down to group pressure, stubborn and determined. Creative tendency: It includes: imaginative and innovative, tendency today-dream, versatile and curious, lots of ideas, intuitive and can guess well, enjoys new challenges, likes novelty and change. Purnima (2006) has shown that creativity is an important characteristic for an entrepreneur. Even Desai (2001) has shown importance to creativity and Misra et al. (2002) have covered this in cognitive competence. Moderate/ calculated risk taking: It includes: acts on incomplete information, judges when incomplete data is sufficient, accurately assesses his own capabilities, is neither over nor under ambitious, evaluates likely benefit against likely cost, set challenging but attainable goals. Purnima (2006) and Misra et al. (2000) both have given importance to this characteristic. Drive and determination: It includes: taking advantages of opportunities, discounting fate, making one’s own luck, being self-confidence, believing in controlling one’s own destiny, equating result with effort, showing considerable determination. Other important issues and challenges confronting commercialization of patented technology innovations are: Obsolescence: Application for patent and acquiring it may frustrate and retard the process of commercialization of technological innovation. The technology may be obsolete by the time the innovator obtains the patent and the demand for the new product and process may decline. Hence, entrepreneur must take advantage of his technology innovation by accelerating commercialization of technology before it becomes obsolete. Educational background and business soft skill: Lack of soft skill and lack of knowledge of business functions may affect the growth of one’s business enterprise, though the innovator may have good technology innovation. Recommendations 1. Research in the ivory tower should endeavour to convert intellectual property into commercial reality. 2. There is need to work in partnership with clients in industry an government to develop, refine, demonstrate, and commercialize marketable technologies that provide practical solutions to real- world problems. 3. Government should institute a collaborative programme aimed at facilitating development, demonstration and commercialization of technology innovation projects pertaining to new products or process developments to encourage and promote development of capabilities to innovate and to bring high-risk innovations to the market for opening up opportunities for business linked with innovations. Government can also create a revolving fund for technology innovation for development, up-scaling, demonstration and commercialization of innovative technology-based projects. 4. Government and non-government agencies in our country should lend support for commercialization of technological innovation/patents. Our government should as a matter of urgency establish a board under the Ministry of Science and Technology with full fledged website and web portal, where all the information about techno-entrepreneurship and conversion of technological innovation into techno-entrepreneurship can be obtained. 5. Each university can establish a Research Centre to operate as a business within the University, be committed to the demonstration and commercialization of technological innovations, and aggressively market technological innovation for the benefit of the society and the innovator since commercialization of innovative technologies is key to the creation of high-quality jobs, new wealth and economic prosperity. The Research centre should assist its entrepreneurial partners to cost-effectively translate breakthrough inventions into marketable products. The success of these innovative products in the market place will result in significant economic, environmental, and societal benefits nationwide and/or worldwide. The Research Centre should develop true working partnerships with government, the research community, and private sector clients from all over the nation/globe with a view to leverage federal money with non-federal money. 6. University programmes should combine science and technology with business management for tremendous benefits to the society at large. 7. Universities and research Institute across the nation are advised to establish their technology transfer offices in order to support the technological innovations of their faculty members, undergraduate and graduate students. 8. Teaching entrepreneurship fundamentals should be incorporated into the undergraduate programme in our tertiary institution to engineering students, as done in University of Lagos, in order to build future techno-entrepreneurs with not only techno-innovations but also commercialization of knowledge. Text of a lecture delivered by PROFESSOR RAHAMON ADE BELLO Vice- Chancellor- University of Lagos at a conference at the University of Ife- Ile- Ife recently)