In the context of the existing low educational, institutional and technological base, the focus should be on how
to promote technological learning, adaptation and diffusion as well as recognising the contribution of traditional
knowledge to the socio-economic wellbeing of the country’s population.
An effective IP Policy is one which recognises the differences in the rationale and need for different categories
of IPRs and the sectoral impacts of the various rights and which seeks to strike the correct balance between:
providing incentives/inducement for innovation and creativity and availability and access to the fruits of
science, technology and innovation (STI);
protection and enforcement of IPRs and the need for technological diffusion to support further
innovation; and
national development interests and the interests of foreign trading, development and strategic partners
and investors.
This IP Policy is an instrument to direct the country’s efforts to facilitate absorption, adaptation, and
assimilation of existing scientific and technological advances while ensuring that the technological, economic
and social structures in the country incorporate built-in inducement and capacity to generate new knowledge,
technologies and cultural creativity in accordance with the country’s developmental needs.
3.2 Objectives of the Intellectual Property Policy
The IP Policy is aimed at providing guidance and a road map to ensure that the IP laws, practices and strategies
in Rwanda support and facilitate the achievement of the country’s high-level vision and targets. For Rwanda,
the key is to facilitate technological learning. To do this requires a conducive national and international
environment. Consequently, this IP Policy is predicated on six interrelated objectives. These are:
I. Increasing technological literacy and advanced scientific and technological skills that in turn would
increase the innovation capacity.
II. Promotion of innovation and creativity including minor and incremental innovations to provide an
opportunity for the largest number of individuals and firms to participate in innovation.
III. Increasing access to foreign and local technology by local firms and research institutions.
IV. Improving access to IP-based essential goods and services especially health and food.
V. Facilitating investments in innovative and creative activities.
VI. Enhance the protection of traditional knowledge and facilitate equitable access to genetic resources and
benefit-sharing.
POLICY OBJECTIVE I: Increasing technological literacy and advanced scientific and
technological skills
Advancement of scientific and technological skills is among the key goals of Vision 2020. The focus on
technology and science literacy will be to enable the individuals to understand not only the science but also the
society and culture in which the science will be deployed. Furthermore, the uptake of scientific and
technological solutions by society significantly depends on the general level of education in society.
This literacy will entail the following:
Enhancing access to scientific learning and education materials and facilities, including textbooks, scientific
journals and databases as well as ICT, such as computer programmes.
Encouraging local publishing in science and technology fields.
Increasing the number of enrolments in science and technology.
8