Professor Philip Duku Osei, the Vice Chancellor (VC) of the SD Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (SDD UBIDS) has stressed the need for strategic investment in research for the rapid development of the country.
He said the success of every country was based on research hence the need for the government of the government to prioritise research to achieve the needed development it yearned for.
Prof. Osei, who said this in Wa during the second edition of the Research and Development Conference, 2022 of the university, said: “Research and innovation underpin the development and sustainability of successful countries.”
He noted that for the university to meet its objective of establishment it must make research the core of its activities.
The conference was on the theme: “Leveraging Applied Research in Higher Education to Address Contemporary Development Issues.”
He said for Ghanaians to solve the myriad of challenges they faced currently as well as in the future the establishment of the SDD UBIDS as a research-based institution is appropriate.
Prof. Osei acknowledged that the university was executing its mandate to solve social and economic development challenges but observed that there was a need to do more to attain the much-desired status as an internationally acclaimed university.
We are doing well but we need to do a lot more in publishing sources that are recognizable and that will place the University among the best researchers around.
“Without that kind of output, our strive for international acclamation may delay but we want to get there as quickly and as early as possible.
On his part, the Upper West Regional Minister, Dr. Hafiz Bin Salih, in a speech read on his behalf by the Regional Coordinating Director, Mr Peter Maala, at the conference, reiterated the need for the government to invest in research for the socio-economic development of the country.
He reiterated that research and development was vital for the development of any nation in this era of globalization and increased competitiveness since they served as the bedrock for development.
“Research and development serve as important drivers of economic growth and the development of a nation”, he explained.
He expressed confidence in the potential of the management of the SDD-UBIDS that had demonstrated great leadership by taking initiatives including the conferences to channel their research energies for the benefit of SDD-UBIDS.