Appendixes: Workshop Reports
The three workshops described in the appendixes that follow were carried out as part of the Science-Based Enterprise Creation project, a collaboration of the U.S. National Academies and the Nigerian Academy of Science.
The workshop on solar photovoltaics described in Appendix A was held December 8–9, 2005, at the offices of the Nigerian Academy of Science in Lagos. Appendix B presents the findings of the workshop on water purification, held December 12–13, 2005, at the same location. Appendix C reports the findings of the workshop on artemisinin-based malaria therapy. This workshop was held April 24–25, 2006, at the offices of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris, following a preliminary meeting at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Ibadan, Nigeria, December 5–6, 2005.
The format of the workshops was based on the U.S. National Academies’ knowledge assessment methodology, prepared in collaboration with the World Bank. This methodology is used to probe and explore the advantages and challenges facing specific science-based enterprises in a host developing country. The particular technique employed is the hypothetical case study. This exercise helps to identify the opportunities and challenges confronting enterprises seeking to exploit specific technologies for profit. It requires collaboration between foreign experts familiar with the technology and enterprise building and local experts familiar with the host country’s social and economic situation.
During the workshops, the Nigerian experts played the role of trust-
ees of a new company formed to exploit the technology, and the foreign experts acted as consultants, well versed in the problems surrounding the technology studied, but not familiar with the Nigerian business environment. The interaction of the two groups of experts was used to produce a plan for the new (hypothetical) enterprise that points out the opportunities presented by the new technology but also the pitfalls and challenges that must be confronted in Nigeria.
This report thus serves an audience interested in developing this particular technology in Nigeria, but it also is of interest to those concerned with the creation of knowledge-based enterprises in Nigeria in general and those concerned with exploiting this technology in other countries. This report is almost entirely drawn from the expertise and experience of the participants in the workshop and is not based on any independent technical or market research. By means of this report, the U.S. National Academies do not intend to either propose or discourage real investments in actual enterprises similar to those described here for Nigeria.