National Research Database to End Fragmented Innovation in Ghana

National research platform aims to connect scientists with industry, reduce dependence on foreign consultants and turn innovation into economic value

Some of Ghana’s brightest scientific minds are solving problems every day in laboratories, universities and research institutes across the country. The challenge has never been a shortage of expertise. It has been knowing where that expertise is, what research is underway, and how it can be mobilised quickly to solve national problems or support business and industrial growth.

That long-standing gap is now being addressed through Ghana’s first National Research and Innovation Information Management System (RIIMS), a digital platform expected to become the country’s central intelligence hub for research, innovation and scientific expertise.

Developed under a three-year partnership between the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST) and South Korea’s Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI), the initiative is designed to reposition research as a strategic economic asset by connecting scientists, universities, government agencies, industry and development partners through one integrated national platform.

Unlike fragmented institutional databases, RIIMS will consolidate information on researchers, research projects, funding opportunities and national research statistics into a single system capable of supporting evidence-based policymaking, improving investment decisions and strengthening collaboration across Ghana’s innovation ecosystem.

A National Asset for Economic Transformation

As economies become increasingly driven by knowledge, innovation and technology, governments are investing heavily in systems that allow research to move beyond academic publications into commercial applications and public policy.

For Ghana, the new platform represents an important shift.

Instead of research information remaining scattered across universities and research institutions, policymakers, businesses and investors will have access to a searchable national database containing ongoing and completed research projects, specialist expertise, funding opportunities and national research performance indicators.

Officials believe the platform could improve productivity across agriculture, healthcare, mining, manufacturing, renewable energy, environmental management and digital technology by making it easier to identify local expertise before seeking solutions abroad.

Three Years of Building the Foundation

The initiative forms part of the K-Innovation Partnership Programme, through which South Korea supports partner countries in strengthening their science, technology and innovation ecosystems through policy advice, capacity building and knowledge sharing.

The collaboration has progressed through three distinct phases.

The first phase focused on helping Ghana and Korea better understand each other’s research and innovation systems.

The second developed Ghana’s roadmap for a national research and innovation management system.

The third concentrated on building institutional capacity while preparing ministries, universities and research institutions to operate the platform sustainably.

The result is a fully operational cloud-based pilot system scheduled to be handed over to the Government of Ghana in the coming months.

Connecting Scientists with Industry

The RIIMS platform includes a searchable national database of research projects, a directory of researchers, a portal for research funding calls, and dashboards tracking Ghana’s research and development performance.

Beyond serving government, the platform is expected to become an important resource for businesses looking for technical expertise, investors seeking research partners and development agencies identifying institutions capable of implementing scientific projects.

Deputy Director-General of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Prof. Marian Quain, said one of the system’s biggest benefits would be making Ghanaian expertise visible.

“There are times that we have partners from outside Ghana looking for expertise within our country and they don’t even know where to go to find who they can collaborate with,” she said.

“This sets up a very easy collaborative platform.”

She added that the platform would also encourage both government and industry to utilise local expertise before looking overseas.

“There are expertise that we have in-country. There are times we look outside the country for those expertise. This platform will help us look inward first.”

According to her, the database could support consultancy work, collaborative research and national development planning while ensuring Ghana benefits more directly from its own scientific capacity.

Reducing Waste, Improving Investment

The platform is also expected to strengthen how Ghana finances research.

By recording ongoing projects, funding sources and participating institutions, government agencies will gain greater visibility over national research investments, helping reduce duplication while directing limited resources towards priority sectors.

The system is expected to support management of the National Research Fund by making it easier to identify qualified researchers, advertise funding opportunities and monitor project implementation.

It also provides a stronger evidence base for future budget allocation and policy evaluation.

Breaking Institutional Silos

Director of Science and Technology at MEST, Kwamena Essilfie Quaison, said the project responds to a long-standing coordination challenge within Ghana’s science and technology ecosystem.

Research institutions, universities and government agencies have traditionally generated valuable scientific work independently, often without a central mechanism for sharing information or coordinating national priorities.

“We are riding on the back of this project to make sure that we have a system in place… to put all the relevant activities happening in the ecosystem together in such a way that, in the comfort of one’s office, one can, by the click of a button, access relevant information for policy making, decision making and national benefit,” he said.

He noted that the governance framework being developed alongside the platform would help coordinate research information across ministries, universities, research institutes, development partners and the private sector, improving transparency while reducing duplication of research efforts.

Building Capacity for the Long Term

STEPI Associate Research Fellow Dr. Dongwook Seoh explained that the system standardises information relating to researchers and research projects regardless of funding source.

He said the immediate priority is for government officials, universities and research institutions to populate the platform with historical and current research information while strengthening governance arrangements that will keep the system operational and continuously updated.

Beyond the technology itself, the final phase of the partnership has included training government officials and research institutions to manage the platform, preparing operational guidelines and assessing Ghana’s wider national innovation system to support long-term sustainability.

From Research to Results

For businesses, the implications extend well beyond academia.

A manufacturer seeking engineering expertise, an agribusiness looking for crop research, a mining company requiring environmental specialists or a hospital searching for biomedical engineers could all eventually identify qualified Ghanaian experts through a single national platform.

The system is also expected to strengthen Ghana’s international competitiveness by making it easier for foreign investors and development partners to identify credible local collaborators.

As countries increasingly compete through innovation rather than natural resources alone, officials believe Ghana’s ability to organise, coordinate and deploy its scientific knowledge could become an important source of competitive advantage.

Rather than allowing research to remain isolated within institutions, RIIMS seeks to transform it into strategic national infrastructure, one capable of supporting industrialisation, attracting investment, improving public policy and accelerating economic growth.

For Ghana, the platform represents more than a new database.

It is an attempt to ensure that the country’s next breakthrough in economic development comes not only from what it discovers, but from how effectively it connects knowledge to opportunity.