Potential retirees of Federal Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies under the Contributory Pension Scheme, during an annual pre-retirement workshop in Abuja last Tuesday. Photo: NAN

The National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) yesterday urged companies involved in technology transfer to embrace online registration in their applications.
Mr Lucky Nwosa, a deputy director with NOTAP told reporters in Lagos yesterday that this would ensure a fast and speedy approval of successful agreements.
Nwosa said companies needed to forgo the old habits of sending their consultants to his office.
“The office, under the present dispensation, has tried to introduce online-application registration but old habits die hard.
“Companies still prefer to use their consultants who will, rather, come in person for obvious reasons,’’ he said.
He said the office had, over the years, organised various training programmes to educate companies on the necessary requirements and information they would include for their agreements to be successful and approved.
Nwosa said all these efforts were to fast-track the time-frame within which agreements would be processed.
He said for effective technology transfer, applicants were compelled to answer all questions in the application forms that clearly indicated the parameters for such agreements.
Those parameters and modalities were put in place to fast-track the transfer and acquisition of the technology, Nwosa said.
The deputy director said that the parameters needed for technology transfer agreements were the need for the recipient enterprises in the country to acquire explicit rights for the use and the exploitation of the technology in question.
He stressed that the period within which the rights would last should be specified in the contract, adding that the concept of know-how should also be clearly expressed and defined in the contract.
Nwosa explained that there would be no approval for agreements based on assembling of Completely Knocked Down (CKD) parts imported into the country except there were payments for short-term technical services relating to such.
He added that the content of such agreements should also state the methods for the domestication of technology, local raw material development and skills acquisition.