ROLE OF POLICY DEVELOPMENT IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TECHNICAL INNOVATION PROJECTS: A CASE STUDY OF JKUAT – TECHEXPO
Abstract
Emergence of the technological age and the spread of information and communication technologies (ICTs), has seen the development of global systems and approaches which aim to transfer best practices ICTs. The combination of different types of knowledge by all stakeholders involved is a necessary process to initiate and to implement sustainable technological innovation projects. Each day there are young promising innovators providing solutions to everyday problems; however, many innovations which have been show cased in different expos never see the light of the day. A few succeed to go to the market but require support in order to commercialize. JKUAT Tech Expo is a student driven innovation expo that targets to expose and provide a forum through which students can interact with the industry by showcasing their projects and project ideas. Despite all the efforts put during the Expos, many of the innovations remain just that, innovations. Innovation activities should be guided by an adequate regulatory framework. This research sought to assess the role of stakeholder involvement in the successful implementation of Tech Expos in advancement of innovation projects exhibited. The study adopted an exploratory approach. The target population was drawn from all the JKUAT Tech Expo team leaders and implementation teams. A google form-online questionnaire was used. The data collected from the field was captured using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) IBM version. Descriptive statistics was employed and a summary graphs, pie charts and frequency distribution tables given. Content analysis was used to analyze qualitative data to help triangulate quantitative data. Inferential statistics mainly involved the testing of correlation among the various variables. The questionnaires administered were all returned. Majority of the respondents were male. The findings revealed that stakeholders were involved greatly in setting up the objectives, however, stakeholder’s duties and roles were not objectively defined, because the respondents could not openly define the level of engagement. During the policy development, there was an engagement gap between the management and the stakeholders. It is recommended in the Implementation of Technical innovation projects, stakeholders input should be considered in the policy development stage. A study on the low turnout of women innovators should be undertaken. Secondly, this study focused on public universities, one should be done in private universities to find if the factors cut across. The variables of the study contributed to a great significant however other studies should be done to check the effect of other underlying factors contributing to the Implementation of Technical innovation Projects.
Keywords: Policy, Innovation, Stakeholders, TechExpo, Technology
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.61426/sjbcm.v5i2.714
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