Event

The UWI is hosting an Innovation in Renewable Energy Conference entitled ‘Applying and Developing Renewable Energy Technology for the Benefit of the Caribbean Region’ at the Institute of Critical Thinking, St. Augustine Campus on July 12-13, 2016. The Conference is a joint activity of two projects funded by the European Union and implemented by The UWI in a Consortium of Universities led by the University of Alicante in Spain. The Projects are ‘Knowledge Transfer Capacity Building for Enhanced Energy Access and Efficiency in the Caribbean (CAP4INNO)’ based at our Cave Hill Campus and ‘Empowering Knowledge Transfer in the Caribbean through Effective Intellectual Property and Knowledge Transfer Regimes (IPICA)’ based at our St. Augustine Campus.

RATIONALE:

Energy costs in the Caribbean are among the highest in the world, being about three to four times that in North America and Europe. New, more effective and efficient technologies are urgently needed to broaden access to and affordability of energy in the Caribbean. However, the Caribbean has weak innovation systems. Investment in research and development is among the lowest in the world (< 0.02% of GDP).  The development of a knowledge-based economy that builds on the output from science and technology to tackle important challenges for Caribbean societies is therefore constrained and in need of urgent support. Higher education and other research organisations are the main sources of knowledge generation and innovation. To enhance the impact of research investment on development, Higher Education Institutions need to work with policy makers to ensure that knowledge is transferred from education and science to society.   Beyond this, there is a need to create mechanisms for the development, transfer and diffusion of environmentally sound technologies from more developed to developing countries.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES:

The main goals of the Conference are to bring together principal stakeholders in the energy sector to exchange ideas and promote effective collaboration on energy access and efficiency in the Caribbean, and to discuss and initiate new ways of working and relating that will create the ‘learning alliances’ required to further enhance the innovation opportunities critically needed in the renewable energy sector in the Caribbean.

The target audience is expected to consist of persons from energy sector enterprises, governmental organizations active in energy issues, Higher Education Institutions and Research Organisations (research staff and students, managers), Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) policy makers (IP offices, ministries and legislators), Knowledge Transfer managers and practitioners, entrepreneurs, international STI actors and other relevant stakeholders from the Caribbean and Europe.

The specific objectives of the Conference are:

1- To promote a supra-regional dialogue on enhancing energy access and efficiency through innovation and knowledge transfer and assessment of the role of Higher Education Institutions.

2- To facilitate regional convergence of Intellectual Property and Knowledge Transfer policies and strategies and to enhance regional cooperation, while creating opportunities for peer learning and exchange.

3- To strengthen co-operation links in the energy sector at both national and regional leves among academia, researchers, industries and policy makers.

4- To support networking and relationship building.

5- To present information on and outputs from the CAP4INNO and IPICA projects.

REGISTRATION:

A maximum of 70 persons can be accommodated at the Conference and participants will be selected on a first-come, first-served basis. To reserve your place, please contact: Mr Damian Ali or Ms. Ena Siew Persad at the Office of Research Development and Knowledge Transfer at 662-2002 Ext. 84488 or 224-3722/23/26. 

Please click here to access the full details and conference programme.

All are invited.