• Encourage and fund ICT R&D in the nation’s universities and research institutes • Create incentives for industries to set up ICT-related R&D centers in the universities and research institutes through faculty chairs, matching grants and focused joint projects. • Institute mechanisms for soliciting ICT research projects that will be made open to both research institutes and universities to facilitate the selection of good and innovative projects for national development. • Fund vacation and sabbatical visits of expatriate ICT experts and researchers to facilitate the process of knowledge and expertise transfer and sharing through collaboration with local counterparts • Establish ICT R&D institutions with unique and clear mandates and encouraging industries and organizations to establish similar institutions • Setup up national level institutional framework and structures for taking process development at academic institutions and R&D laboratories closer to industrial acceptance. • Provide incentives to local R&D institutions to enter into collaborative research with foreign universities as well as with local companies and multinationals. • Facilitate the acquisition, adaptation and dissemination of new developments in ICTs. • Facilitate the transfer of technology and collaboration on R&D between local Centers of Excellence and international R&D centers. The Key Implementation Agencies, Players and Stakeholders • • • The Universities, Polytechnics, Colleges and Research Institutions The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Private Sector Businesses and Establishments 67