Register your work, govt tells innovators
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance, Ms Aminah Zawedde (left), interacts with Ms Rita Ngenzi, the national coordinator for Youth Startup Academy Uganda Project, during a summit in Kampala on April 26, 2024. PHOTO/JANE NAFULA
What you need to know:
- Last year, the ICT ministry launched a digital transformation roadmap that focuses on infrastructure development, taking services online, cyber security, and data protection, among others.
Innovators have been challenged to register their work with the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) if they are to protect it.
The call was made by the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance, Ms Aminah Zawedde.
“It is important for them to understand and appreciate that when you conceive an idea and innovate, you register that intellectual property. In addition to innovators getting their ideas ready for support to commercialisation or generating revenue, they need to protect their ideas,” she said.
Ms Zawedde added: “We have seen several people, especially artistes saying, I sang my song and then somebody is playing it for free and I am not earning from it. We call it intellectual property, register your innovation or your idea with URSB.”
URSB is a government agency, established by an Act of Parliament in 1998 and is responsible for registration of businesses, patents and intellectual property rights, insolvency and receivership, chattels registry and any other registrations required by law.
Ms Zawedde made the call during the summit organised for the third cohort of beneficiaries of the Youth Startup Academy Uganda project held in Kampala last Friday.
The project, financed by the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME), aims to incubate 1,000 young entrepreneurs by end of this year.
Ms Zawedde also noted that her ministry had designed a tool kit to guide innovators, especially on legal issues.
Last year, the ICT ministry launched a digital transformation roadmap that focuses on infrastructure development, taking services online, cyber security, and data protection, among others.
Dr Hatwib Mugasa, the executive director of the National Information Technology Authority (NITA-U), said going digital is the best channel to link economies, people, and technologies for the betterment of the country.
Dr Mugasa advised youth to take advantage of the innovation fund managed by the Ministry of ICT so that their innovations can get out of the launch phase.
Ms Rita Ngenzi, the National Coordinator for Youth Startup Academy Uganda Project, said since 2022, they have supported more than 700 young entrepreneurs across Uganda.
