Relying on Egyptian inventors in development projects serves the economy

Removing bureaucracy and obstacles encourages

continuity and eliminates the phenomenon of brain drain

Financial incentives, promotion, marketing and investment are among our most important demands

Every so often we hear in the media and social media about Egyptian scientists and inventors who have won awards, been given medals, been honored abroad, cared for and even sought help from outside Egypt.

Egypt is in a phase that desperately needs every mind, thought and hand to help build, develop, progress and grow, and it must seek help from its cadres who have been spread throughout its lands for many years.

The whole world built its civilization on the minds, ideas, inventions and discoveries of its sons, and it is not right that we abandon our innovative and inventive sons and run after imported innovations that drain our economy a lot. In statistics published on the website of the Patent Office of the Academy of Scientific Research for the year 2021, that is, three years ago, about patent applications submitted to the office, there were 2236 applications, of which 910 were from Egyptian inventors, that is, only 40% Egyptian for an Egyptian inventor.

According to statistics from the Central Agency for the same period, the number of patents granted to Egyptians was three that were not marketed to Egyptians out of 63 patent applications, while foreigners are in the form of a new product that they want to market in Egypt, so they are granted a patent.

This reveals that the Egyptian inventor does not receive any attention from the state and his innovation is not marketed and widely published.

Should we turn to this mine that can bring much good to the Egyptian state and start now to produce what the Egyptians invent and obtain a patent for it now and benefit the Egyptian people or should we let them flee to other countries or leave them prey to the hand of frustration and killing of creativity?

These questions were posed by “Al-Jumhuriya Online” to some experts and inventors and they said.

Dr. Heba Abdel Rahman:

We must attract them and not let them flee abroad

Dr. Heba El Rahman Ahmed, the head of the Egyptian Inventors Syndicate, believes that inventors lack care and support, and scientific research must be transferred to application on the ground, and agreements must be concluded with factories and companies to implement these ideas. The crises facing inventors are multiple, including difficulties they encounter during the registration process. The high cost of the models required to apply for a patent.

She added that the most prominent of these problems in our current era is the reluctance of Egyptians to register their innovations, as they feel uncomfortable about not benefiting from their registered inventions, amid the absence of studies aimed at adapting their ideas according to the needs of society. She called for providing facilities for investors in the field of innovation, and setting privileges when establishing innovative projects in industrial zones, and granting loans to these entities with easy conditions. And canceling registration fees for all Egyptians, and paying attention to student inventors getting a percentage added to the total, similar to those who won sports championships.

The number of patents registered in Egypt is more than 30 thousand patents since 1960 until now.. indicating that it is a low percentage compared to global figures, so we do not receive enough attention from the International Federation of Inventors, which provides benefits and support to countries that are pioneers in the field of scientific research, and have a large balance of patents.

She pointed out that the importance of the state benefiting from local inventions in all stages of building countries, not only in times of crises or wars, is of great importance. We all remember, for example, the idea that Captain Engineer Baqi Zaki Youssef invented at that time, using fire hoses to convert them into a water cannon to demolish the earthen barrier of the Bar Levi Line in the October War, which was one of the reasons for Egypt’s victory.

The inventor is the means for countries to progress and grow, not import. Innovative and discovering countries have better economies than countries that only use technology. Also, local innovation and invention save a lot of countries’ economies and hard currency that they import with, and even create opportunities for more local and foreign investments to enter into the manufacture of these innovations, and countries become able to export their modern products that the world needs.

Inventor Sami Girgis:

Think about patent books that need to be developed

Inventor Sami Girgis, the owner of many initiatives and patents, says that the Egyptian inventor works with purely individual effort without assistance from any scientific body, and sometimes without a job or insurance for his life or future. Inventors in their country have no right to innovation and invention as a basic partner in the development of the country. The state must sponsor innovators and inventors, discover them early, and reward them for their efforts, starting with just ten points added to their total in middle school or high school, similar to those who excel in sports and art (they get five points of excellence). They must also be directed to the colleges in which they excel and innovate without being bound by a total or coordination, then support them to produce their innovations and inventions, especially those that can be fully manufactured products. Therefore, the idea of ​​the Patent Office system and the Academy of Scientific Research must be developed and become an independent entity under a sovereign fund whose management is characterized by flexibility and achievement, and encourage Egyptian businessmen and motivate them to invest in inventors and their inventions. With incentives from tax reduction.

There should be a right for the inventor who owns the patent to be appointed in the government apparatus as a researcher, inventor and developer in the field of his invention, and there should be a day to honor inventors and an award for the best innovation of the year, similar to artists and athletes. Also, the inventor receives the State Medal of Appreciation for his efforts, and this day should be attended by the President of the Republic, especially after his support for the ideas and innovations of the youth of Sohag in his last visit, and the assignment of the Tahya Misr Fund to support inventors in a year.

The amendment of the Egyptian law allows the inventor to be nominated for the state’s appreciation and incentive awards and to implement inventions and innovations according to the state’s ability and to pay a monthly salary for life, paid from the month following receipt of the patent for providing great services to the state and devoting himself to thinking, research and innovation. We also demand that the word “inventor” be added to the personal card. The Ministry of Education and Higher Education also does the following: Notify every inventor who obtained a final patent according to the prescribed curriculum and in a manner that suits the students. For example, my personal invention in the fourth grade primary science subject. There is a lesson on renewable energy that mentions wave energy, such as a power generation station, water desalination and salt separation. I also demand that every school organize a symposium at least once a year in which it invites an inventor to talk about his invention to spread the spirit of innovation and invention among students, teachers and all Egyptians, which gives a strong impetus to young people to think, create, modify and add. They will certainly invent better than my invention. Thus, we have created a living example among us instead of the student finding his role model in lowly things that contradict morals and religions.

He added that we, as inventors, demand the cancellation of all types of fees for all Egyptians without any exception from the moment of application and for a period of twenty years, and everything is free to encourage Egyptians to innovate, and all exhibitions for inventors are free with the provision of accommodation for the inventor.

Salah Hassanein Ibrahim, owner of many patents in various fields, most notably the sports field, believes that the demands of inventors are represented in our right to express an opinion on current draft laws related to inventions and innovations and to work on amending them in favor of the inventor and to seek specialized agencies to provide banking facilities for inventors to obtain the necessary loans to support inventions and inventors to help him implement the project of implementing his invention and to seek to send inventors who have obtained a patent on missions abroad to stand on the production lines to manufacture a product similar to his invention in order to transfer modern and advanced technology to manufacture and implement the Egyptian invention and to seek to give the inventor a tax grace period similar to the gentlemen investors and new industrial cities and to grant the inventor a financial reward at the expense of the state upon obtaining the patent to compensate him for what he spent on research and thought.. since the number of patents granted by the Academy of Scientific Research does not exceed 30 patents for individuals per year and to reduce the registration fees for patent applications and the annual fees imposed on all patents which increase annually and to drop the patent due to payment of the annual fees except after non-payment for five consecutive years To ensure that the inventor is not serious about payment and to reduce the period of examining the patent application so that it does not exceed two years at most from the date of submitting the application, obtain a patent and strive to give priority in tenders and government practices to the product of the Egyptian inventor as long as it serves the same purpose as the similar product instead of the imported one, and to set annual plans to hold scientific seminars, training courses and workshops for members of the union, and to grant awards to innovators and inventors whose inventions contribute to supporting and developing the national economy and which contribute to solving the basic problems in Egypt, and to honor all inventors who obtained a patent during the year on Science Day and to highlight inventors in all media and to choose appropriate times to display their inventions, especially the basic channels, and to cooperate with the Ministry of Defense and Military Production and the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Higher Education and Education and research centers to apply and implement the prototype of the invention in the workshops located in the faculties of engineering and technological institutes as well as in the workshops of industrial schools, institutes and research centers. The implementation of the invention in these places can be for an educational and productive purpose at the same time while preserving the intellectual property rights of the inventor.

Dr. Rashad Abdo:

The basis of all progress in the world

Dr. Rashad Abdo, Professor of Economics at Cairo University, says that countries advance through the thinking and innovation of their people, and all the means and tools of life that we have in our hands now were just an idea that was invented or developed, and therefore the innovator and inventor are among the reasons for the development of the world.

On this basis, the state must rethink its approach to benefiting from its people by using them and their innovations in economic development.

The Egyptian inventor has been suffering for years under conditions that repel him and do not encourage benefiting from him and using him for decades, which has prompted many national minds to emigrate and settle abroad. We have a striking example in Dr. Ahmed Zewail and other scientists who have contributed with their innovations to providing solutions to major problems in other countries, and when they are brought to Egypt, it is for the purpose of honoring and media hype only.

Everyone calls for linking education to the labor market, and this is true, but unfortunately we are now alienating our children from education.

Therefore, the Egyptian state must begin to intervene to produce, present, promote, reward and motivate the Egyptian inventor and seek the help of businessmen in this as well and be the link between them without the bureaucracy of the benefiting employees.

Yes, capital is cowardly, and therefore when the state begins to seek the help of the Egyptian inventor to produce his invention and solve the problems of the public sector and government factories, this will encourage the investor to invest in the field of inventors while establishing protection laws between them and providing incentives for them.

This will certainly have a positive impact on many aspects, including the economic and social aspects, as society’s view of the inventor will change and he will receive the attention he needs, as well as reducing imports and draining hard currencies in importing goods and products that may have a local alternative with a purely Egyptian mind and thought. Also, converting these inventions into products that can be manufactured and marketed at international exhibitions will lead to demand for them and increase exports and the introduction of hard currency. Also, in the development and construction phase that Egypt is witnessing, the state must push inventors to provide innovative solutions that serve its projects after studying them comprehensively

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MP Jihan Al-Bayoumi:

The President supports them

MP Jihan Al-Bayoumi, a member of the Education and Scientific Research Committee in the House of Representatives, added that there must be a database that includes all research studies or an information bank that is circulated and published through websites to be available to various ministries and agencies so that the official can easily find the projects of his ministry and agency that can be implemented to serve the community, such as environmental research, development projects, land and water reclamation and agriculture. We will find that there are many studies and research.

The officials in the ministries and governors have projects that are concerned with geographical areas in terms of interest in studying the geography of the place from the natural and human aspects and the means used as well as the development mechanism. The inventor must submit with these studies a feasibility study and the economic return from this study. If the study is concerned with a specific area, we can pay attention to this study to achieve the return from it.

Under the auspices of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the education and health budgets were increased, and thus the state provided support for research projects, which contributes to achieving the state’s goals. The state also proposes targeted future projects. It is possible to employ inventors, innovators or scientists to study the targeted area for investment or development, and thus the state will obtain a sound scientific study, especially since these research projects include more than one scientist in his field and experience to come together on results that benefit the state in the development and investment process.

The president’s interests are increasing in the field of education and providing financial support to researchers, unlike what used to happen in the past. I submitted a research project to the state and the state supported it, and it had results that I submitted to the relevant ministries. It was about the dangers facing tourist areas in Minya Governorate, in collaboration with a group of scientists, which was marketed.

The marketing and promotion process is very important for the inventor, invention, scientific publishing and the interaction of bodies as well. We must eliminate the phenomenon of isolated islands and bureaucracy.