4. Facilitate partnerships between public and private sectors. For the ICT sector to be fully functional and to promote innovation, a focus on research and development is paramount. While nascent in Liberia, the opportunity to plan for the establishment and implementation of well-resourced Innovation Hubs remains an important ingredient to support innovation and entrepreneurship in the country. A review of the experience of the iLab in Monrovia with a view to establish processes will help inform future policy on local innovation and research and development. 5.11.2 Summary of Strategies 1. Develop a database of innovation, research and development activities in Liberia; 2. Develop a strategy document with measurable targets through a multistakeholder approach involving private sector, academia, public sector; 3. Establish support for hubs, connected spaces and accelerators; 4. Work with relevant Ministries eg Finance and Development Planning, Commerce and their respective agencies to review policies on taxes on ICT hardware and software needed by startups; 5. Consult at critical decision-making and investment consideration stages with innovators and operators for sound policy co-creation and reform to unlock ICT potential in the country; this calls for government to be open, accountable, transparent and collaborative;11 6. Ensure that government can be a reliable consumer of local tech innovations as a means of demonstrating commitment to supporting the local technology innovation ecosystem and, given the strong social focus underpinning so much of these hubs’ work, contribute to solving pressing social issues; 7. Establish government funding for activities across the innovation ecosystem, to scaling successful initiatives. This kind of financial support would ease the infrastructure cost burden borne by hubs, such as rent and telecommunications and also be impactful by making more funding available for the hubs to seed their incubated innovations and support experimentation in early and growth stages; 8. Fund independent and multidisciplinary research, with an emphasis on e-learning tools, digital literacy and software education. 5.12 Local Content Development 5.12.1 Policy Objectives 1. To create a critical mass of locally relevant content and applications that are useful to the public in Liberia; 2. To ensure that Liberians have access to online resources that reflect local culture and preserve cultural heritage; 3. To stimulate local production of audiovisual material in entertainment and education; 4. Facilitate processes for intellectual property rights; 5. Encourage synergies between local start-ups and ICT operators Provision of locally relevant content is vital for meeting the needs of the public in 11 http://www.makingallvoicescount.org/publication/technology-innovation-hubs-policy-engagement/ 44