Sri Lanka, US universities cooperate on innovation and entrepreneurship
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Sri Lankan delegates visited the Department of Commerce, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and a locally-based incubator in Washington, D.C.
Top American engineering and science universities have shared strategies for developing technology incubators and technology transfer offices with Sri Lankan university, government, and business leaders as part of the US commitment to helping Sri Lanka develop a diversified, modern economy that can attract foreign and domestic investment, the US embassy in Colombo said in a media release.
“Sri Lanka is well-positioned to become a technology hub in Asia, given its excellent human capital,” said U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka Atul Keshap.
“We hope that putting these talented minds together can help strengthen innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems in this country, and that Sri Lanka can be known not just for world class tea, but world class IT.”
Eleven Sri Lankan delegates visited Princeton University in New Jersey and Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania from October 26 to November 4 through support from them US Department of Commerce’s Commercial Law Development Programme (CLDP). Over the course of the 10-day programme, participants from six Sri Lankan universities also met with CLDP, the U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office, and a locally-based incubator in Washington, D.C. to learn how to generate value from self-developed intellectual property (IP) through different forms of IP protection, licensing, start-ups, and publication.
“It was a big boost to me and my fellow participants to learn the art and science of commercializing innovation, or tech transfer, to strengthen Sri Lanka’s economy and fuel IP-based research and development,” said Manjula Sandirigama, Professor at the University of Perideniya. “After our visit, I am optimistic that my team and I now have the necessary tools to help create a healthy innovation environment in Sri Lanka.”