The Global Industrial Technology Innovation Conference highlighted leadership, diversity, and integration
January 18-19, 2024, Nanjing, P.R. China, the Global Industrial Technology Innovation Cooperation Conference (GITICC) was jointly hosted by Jiangsu Industrial Technology Research Institute (JITRI), National Innovation Center for Excellence (NICE), and the World Association of Industrial and Technological Research Organizations (WAITRO).
The theme of the 1st GITICC is set as ‘Integrating Innovation and Industry: Partnerships for a Sustainable Future’, aiming to foster global discussions and collaborations on innovation, and transferring science and technology into industry.
The GITICC attracted 400 distinguished guests representing 40 international partners in over 20 countries and regions, representing key universities, investment institutions, multinational corporations, and business and industry leaders.
On January 18th, the opening ceremony and main forum brought together international and Chinese experts from government departments, universities, research institutions, financial industries, and the business community. WAITRO Secretary General Dr. Paul E. Burrows delivered a welcome speech to all guests and over 5,000 online attendees, inviting them to jointly work with the Global Innovation Family, nurturing science and technology partnerships through supportive platforms and mechanisms such as those of JITRI and WAITRO. Dr. Burrows also invited the attendees to the 23rd biennial WAITRO Summit in Nanjing, which will be held in November 2024.
The Conference was honored to have keynote speeches from the former WAITRO president, HRH Princess Sumaya bin El Hassan, President of the Royal Scientific Society of Jordan (RSS-Jordan), and the current WAITRO President, Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal, President of Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK). The prestigious WAITRO leaders emphasised the challenges and crises the world has faced through the past ten years, from the pandemic to climate change to mis/disinformation. Their speeches addressed the importance and hope of overcoming these challenges with technological development and supportive environments for partnerships brought through the efforts of JITRI, WAITRO and international peers.
After the main forum, a subforum on ‘Bridging Academia and Industry: Shaping Effective Supportive System for Entrepreneurship’ was organized by WAITRO and moderated by Mr. Wesley Okeke, CEO of CUBIO and Headway Idea Labs, a WAITRO associate member. The subforum followed on from WAITRO’s three part Entrepreneurship Event Series, offering a lever to create supportive innovation systems in research and technological institutions. Panellists shared their insights, experiences, and strategies to foster global innovation and how to adapt global best practices to local markets. The panel featured expert panellists, prestigious opinion leaders from the University of Technology Sydney, Westlake University, GE HealthCare, GemPharmaTech, and YES!Delft.
WAITRO members contributed their scientific and technological expertise and shared their insights on their countries and regions with the GITICC’s broad range of attendees. It is a pleasure for the WAITRO Secretariat to welcome Engr. Abeer Arafat, RSS-Jordan, regional representative for the MENA region and Mr. Jaime Arboleda Palacio, CTA-Columbia, regional focal point for the Latin America and Caribbean region, also signing an MOU between CTA and JITRI to officially establish partnership.
In between the formal sessions of the GITICC, the WAITRO Secretariat held informal discussions and meetings with representatives of WAITRO member institutions, including Dr. Lothar Schäfer, who recently retired as Deputy Director from Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films; Dr. Stefan Klaibe, Head of Division of Cross-Sectorial Energy System, Fraunhofer IOSB-AST; Engr. Christian Conrad, Chief Business Development Manager, Fraunhofer IZFP; Mr. Hong Bo Zhang, the representative for Material Technologies at Fraunhofer Rep. Office Beijing; and Mr. Warren Bath, Associate Director of Operations of TWI (The Welding Institute).
For more information on the GITICC and building connections with WAITRO member institutions, please contact info@waitro.org.
About the Author: Lei Hou
