August 2016


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The Seed Planted by Mr Manning

I purposely delayed penning this note on Mr Patrick Manning, former Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, so that the message would not be lost in flood of condolence messages, eulogies and reflections published on his passing. Significantly, many attempted to describe the legacy Mr Manning.

Of all the opinions published on the Manning legacy, it is my considered view that the Vision2020 plan is perhaps the most significant initiative that he championed. The Vision2020 plan was quite reminiscent of the Malaysia Vision2020 plan, of which Mr Manning must have been aware. Like the Malaysian initiative the Vision 2020 document was drafted by individuals, experts and other professionals from across the social and political landscape of Trinidad and Tobago. Unlike the Malaysian initiative, it struggled in its attempt to be embraced by the population at large and, by all appearances, barely survived the change in Government in 2010. As with all vision statements it needs to be revisited and more robustly implemented.

However, this note is not so much about Mr Manning’s legacy but treats more with a seed that he helped to plant. The story behind the seed has been recounted ad nausea. However, its significance is still lost to the vast majority of those who have heard it.

As most would recall, in December 2005, Mr Manning’s Cabinet approved funding for the creation of the Steelpan Initiatives Project (SIP) at The University of the West Indies. Cabinet Note 3308 of 2005, said that “It is noteworthy that Trinidad and Tobago, as the originator of the steelpan, which is our national instrument, has lost the competitive advantage in continuing innovation and commercialisation to researchers and developers in countries such as the United States of America, Sweden and Japan. In moving towards Developed Country status, there is need to promote Research and Development particularly of an innovative and indigenous nature. This is also consonant with the increasing importance being placed by the Government on manufacturing and knowledge-based industries”.

It goes on to say that the projects to be undertaken in the Project would serve “as vehicles for the development of local innovative capability” and “represent an unprecedented opportunity for the Government and the people of our nation to advance the development of high-tech indigenous technology and promote sustainable development”.

These excerpts from Cabinet Note 3308 of 2005 are significant and poignant given the current, now fervent cries for diversification. The significance of the project was re-emphasised in a September 2009 presentation to Mr Manning that highlighted how well the SIP reflected an initiative that could be used as a pilot for strengthening the economy in the dimension of innovation-based entrepreneurship. The presenters, Professor Emeritus St Clair King, Dr Ronald de Four, Mr Marcel Byron and I, were asked to bring the presentation to Cabinet. That opportunity never arose as by May 2010 a new Government was in place.

The SIP projects have not, so far, delivered in terms of the intended impact on the steelpan industry, in particular and local industry in general. However, the project unwittingly served as a catalyst for raising national awareness of the importance of innovation and intellectual property. By 2010, for example, it was relatively easy to find lawyers and other legal professionals schooled in IP. This was not the case in 2005. In addition, the country saw the creation and upscaling of numerous projects, such as the i2i program, that sought to motivate, nurture and commercialise creativity and invention. Furthermore, the G-Pan that was originally conceptualised by Mr Manning and globally patented and trademarked, though having not been commercialised to date, has motivated the establishment of a drum making facility that utilises some of the technology developed for fashioning those pans. This facility, originally set up to develop prototypes in the SIP, was operationalised by Pan Trinbago in partnership with The UWI.

The new national focus on innovation and entrepreneurship shows that the seed has taken root, but that the soil still needs to be further cultivated. This requires, in the first instance, the establishment of a properly formulated National Innovation System (NIS) that would collect and coordinate all of the various elements required to ensure a robust pathway to take creative thought – from providing much needed support for invention and concept development, through to marketing and commercial market entry. The triple helix, a partnership between Government, Industry and Higher Education Institutions, is critical to its successful formation.

Mr Manning must be commended for planting this seed that is yet to blossom for the benefit of the people of Trinidad and Tobago. I do not think he fully understood the broader ramifications of what he did, but it will be revealed in the fulsomeness of time. Our role now is to ensure that this seed grows and blossoms.

EDITORIAL TEAM

Campus Principal: Professor Brian Copeland
Director of Marketing and Communications: Dr. Dawn-Marie De Four-Gill
Editor: Ms. Rebecca Robinson [rebecca.robinson@sta.uwi.edu]

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