Enabling Innovation Policies

Gender and IP Literature

Innovation Council has created a running list of resources on various issues related to Gender and IP, based on work by Morgan Schreur

Click here to see the reading list.

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Slideshow: Measuring the Gender Gap in Innovation

Monitoring the share of women inventing, creating, and innovating is essential to develop appropriate policy responses to the innovation-related gender participation gap. Yet, several national and international innovation and IP data sources lack any type of gender breakdown.

This slideshow reviews the different ways to get innovation and IP data with gender breakdown.

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IFPMA event on March 8th – Women Innovators in Africa

The virtual event, titled “Women-led innovation in Africa: Achieving sustainable health and gender equality on the continent” will take place in March to mark International Women’s Day. The event will demystify the notion that women have a limited role in innovation, celebrating the contribution made by women leaders, innovators, and creators to the development of societies and economies. The underpinning argument is that, without the considerable and equal participation of women in policymaking, business and innovation, it will be impossible to achieve the SDGs by 2030.

Join IFPMASpeak Up Africa, and African women driving innovation and making advancements to achieve the SDGs on Tuesday, 08 March from 09:00-11:00 GMT / 10:00-12:00 CET. The panel will be part of Speak Up Africa’s broader African LeadHERs Forum. This virtual, two-hour moderated panel discussion will be held on Zoom, and interpretation from English to French will be available.

Register now.  

 

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Slideshow: Extending Bio-manufacturing Networks in Africa and IP and Covid

This slideshow presents key messages from the recent Innovation Council – Bobab online discussion about extending bio-manufacturing networks in emerging regions, notably Africa. The discussion on February 8th featured Prof. Mark Schultz of the University of Akron School of Law, Anissa Boumlic of Merck Life Science, and Simon Agwale of the African Vaccine Manufacturing Initiative. Click here for the video of the event, and click here to review a transcript of the event.

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Invent Together advocacy in favor of the IDEA Act

Invent Together is a coalition of organizations, universities, companies, and other stakeholders dedicated to understanding the diversity gaps in invention and patenting. It aims to support public policy and private initiatives working to close the diversity gap. They have been supporting the adoption of the Inventor Diversity for Economic Advancement (IDEA) Act, which would require the USPTO to collect data on inventors’ demographic data on a voluntary basis and make this information available in the aggregate for research.

The IDEA Act has recently passed the House as part of the America COMPETES Act. As the House and Senate negotiate a compromise, Invent Together is calling for Congress to keep the IDEA Act in the final version sent to President Biden’s office.

Invent Together has written a sign-on letter urging congressional leadership to keep the IDEA Act in the final innovation and competition bill which can be found here.

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Bobab discussion about bio-manufacturing in emerging regions

The Innovation Council and Bobab organised a discussion on expanding BioManufacturing production capacity in emerging regions. Biologics, a category of pharmaceuticals which includes products such as vaccines and monoclonal antibody treatments, are quickly becoming among the most important medical products in the world. By combining enabling government policies and technology transfer between innovators and their global partners, it will be possible to improve availability of biologics, increase health security, and enhance scientific and industrial capacity in developing countries.

Click here to see the transcript.

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5G and FRAND: Licenses are key to a future of Innovation

Although consumers may feel they are yet to feel the transformative impact of 5G, the infrastructure underpinning its wider rollout is being developed quickly and on a significant scale. With such development, we are quickly approaching the much-heralded 5G era, where we will see more of the opportunities from 5G come to fruition. As a result, the digital ecosystem will become available in many more corners of everyday life.

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South African Company nears License to sell J. & J. Covid Shot across Africa

The South African drug maker Aspen Pharmacare announced on Tuesday that it was finalizing the first agreement to control production of a Covid-19 vaccine in Africa. The deal, with Johnson & Johnson, would allow Aspen to bottle and market the Johnson & Johnson vaccine across Africa under the brand name Aspenovax.

Aspen would then have the right to determine to whom the vaccine will be sold, in what quantities and at what price. This agreement stops short of giving Aspen rights to produce the drug substance — that is, the actual contents of the vaccine. Instead, Johnson & Johnson will direct other facilities to make the ingredients to send to Aspen for the company to blend into vaccine doses.

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APAC 2021: Technology & Innovation event

Two-day event on October 19–20, 2021, will help top business and technology leaders in the region embrace creativity as a competitive advantage to drive growth. Technology & Innovation APAC will explore how businesses, armed with the right strategy and people, can leverage platforms, practices, and partners to unlock creativity within their organisations to enhance customer and employee experiences.

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