World Intellectual Property Day 2018: Interviews with Women in Green Innovation
April 26, 2018
As today is World Intellectual Property Day, we took this opportunity to reach out to the WIPO GREEN Network and ask a few questions related to this year’s theme: “Powering Change: Women in Innovation and Creativity”.
Every April 26th, WIPO GREEN joins WIPO and others in celebrating World Intellectual Property Day to raise awareness of the role of intellectual-property (IP) rights (patents, trademarks, industrial designs, and copyright) in fostering innovation and creativity.
This year’s World IP Day campaign celebrates the brilliance, ingenuity, curiosity, and courage of the women who are driving change and shaping the future.
Showcased below are some of the responses we received from talented and innovative women around the world who are helping to address climate change.
We would like to sincerely thank all of our partners and users who reached out to share their thoughts and messages.
Happy World IP Day from the WIPO GREEN team!
Rumbidzayi Mlambo | Zimbabwe
Founder, Techwomen Zimbabwe/Founder, Zimbabwe IP Development Trust
Tell us about yourself and your field of work
My name is Rumbidzayi Mlambo. I am an intellectual property specialist and also a founder of Techwomen Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Intellectual Property Development Trust. I work with innovators creating transformational technologies to help them use the IP system to improve their inventions or ideas, or to find inspiration in existing technologies contained in patent documents. Through Techwomen Zimbabwe, I support the inclusion of women and girls in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) to develop innovative solutions to problems.
I am currently part of a team that is trying to solve the water challenges brought about by climate change and other environmental factors in Africa. This infrastructure-development project works to extract water from the Zambezi River Basin to supply Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. It seeks to complement existing developments in the Zambezi River Basin (ZRB) related to agriculture, industry, and electrical power production within the water, power and food nexus framework impacting all Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries.
It also seeks to provide a climate-change mitigation platform for the SADC region; is intended to be deployed as a tool for disaster management; and is designed to function as an early-warning system for floods and droughts in the region.
Why is it important for women to be involved in innovation and creativity, especially in the field of green technology?
In my work with women and technology I have come to appreciate the creative nature of women. Women often seek to solve the challenges they face in their everyday lives, and those of the people they are concerned about, or the community in general.
Despite the availability of advanced technologies in a number of settings, the world fails to meet the basic needs of many people, and to secure a safe and healthy future for all – this is an area women are often passionate about.
"Women often seek to solve the challenges they face in their everyday lives, and those of the people they are concerned about, or the community in general."
Their voices have gone unheard for a long time in innovation, and their contributions are sometimes ignored. However, to improve lives and ensure that future generations benefit from innovation that preserves and sustains the environment, it is important to promote and encourage women’s contributions. We must support them as they work and thrive in teams, groups, cooperatives, etc. - and such structures should be established at all levels – from young school girls to students, professionals, experts and researchers in the field. We must build critical mass in these areas.
Why is it important to raise awareness about intellectual property rights, and how have they helped you in your work?
From my experience we cannot talk about innovation, creativity and technological advancement without including intellectual property rights (IPRs). IPRs form the foundation upon which we can learn and further innovate to improve what already exists.
IPRs have directly helped me in my work because I have been able to help innovators improve their work – to make it more exciting, and above all, to make a living.
What message would you like to send to women and girls around the world?
To all the women and girls out there – the world needs you! We need your passion to be translated into innovative products and services that will change the lives of people globally.
"To all the women and girls out there – the world needs you!"
I truly believe that the reason we still have many challenges is because we are lacking the creative input of women and girls. So as women, let us innovate and have fun whilst doing it. Happy World IP day, you are all amazing!
Rocío Alcocer | Spain
Creator, Zero Waste Kitchen/Managing Director, TAPP Water
Tell us about yourself and your field of work
My name is Rocío Alcocer. I am the creator of the Zero Waste Kitchen (@zerowastekitchen), an Instagram project to raise awareness about food-waste and other types of waste we generate at home and on the go, and to provide ideas for small actions in our daily lives through which we can reduce our impact on the planet. I also work at TAPP Water, a company that fights plastic pollution by empowering people to access clean water from the tap in an easy, affordable, and sustainable way.
Why is it important for women to be involved in innovation and creativity, especially in the field of green technology?
We should all be involved in innovation and creativity, especially when it comes to the field of green technology, which is intrinsically linked to the future of our planet. Not because we are women, but because it is an issue that concerns all of us, no matter our age, gender, nationality, or religion.
“The more diverse the workforce involved in finding solutions, the better and more creative those solutions will be.”
The more diverse the workforce involved in finding solutions, the better and more creative those solutions will be. And at the current consumption rhythm, we really need to be creative to preserve resources for the generations to come.
Why is it important to raise awareness about intellectual property rights, and how have they helped you in your work?
Raising awareness about IP rights is important because it allows people to be more generous with their ideas and inventions. If IP didn't exist, many great creations would stay in the dark for the fear of being copied.
What message would you like to send to women and girls around the world?
No matter where you are and where you end up, don't be the one setting limits of what you can say, do, or become.
Vivian Ahiayibor | Ghana
Managing Director, City Waste Recycling Limited
Tell us about yourself and your field of work
My name is Vivian Ahiayibor and I am the Managing Director of City Waste Recycling Limited (CWR), a Ghanaian waste management company that offers responsible waste processing solutions for a wide range of problematic waste types.
Since our establishment in 2008, we have produced saw-dust briquettes; upcycled plastic waste; degassed refrigerators; handled WEEE (e-waste, white appliances, electrical cables, lead-acid, lithium batteries); and collected and prepared catalytic converters.
CWR is the only formal e-waste recycling company in Ghana with a state-of-the-art Step One Fridge Degassing Plant — the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa — with the capacity to decontaminate ozone depleting substances (ODS) from compressor oil. Our mission is to promote environmentally sound waste handling and value addition in Ghana.
Why is it important for women to be involved in innovation and creativity, especially in the field of green technology?
Women are the teachers of families, and therefore, of nations world-wide. If they actively take up the green revolution we really can achieve a better world and save our small planet.
Why is it important to raise awareness about intellectual property rights, and how have they helped you in your work?
Without intellectual property rights, entrepreneurs have difficulties to prosper, but these rights should not lead to a monopolization of business ideas – rather replication should be the goal.
What message would you like to send to women and girls around the world?
Ghanaian markets are 99% managed by women, this demonstrates that women and girls are able to maintain businesses, especially in the African context.
“With women’s full involvement and empowerment, we can create wealth for Africa and beyond.”
I can only encourage women and girls to extend their involvement even further into politics, which would contribute to reducing corruption and conflicts, and enhancing social responsibility. With women’s full involvement and empowerment, we can create wealth for Africa and beyond.
Brindusa Burrows | Switzerland
Founder & CEO, The Ground_Up Project
Tell us about yourself and your field of work
My name is Brindusa Burrows and I am the Founder & CEO of The Ground_Up Project, a deal-sourcing platform for sustainability open to businesses from around the world that are looking for funding of under USD 20M. In a world where green innovation sometimes happens far from the investors' eyes, it is important to offer entrepreneurs a better understanding of what investors are looking for and how the process of investment really happens. We fill this important gap between entrepreneurs and investors via groundupproject.net and theinvestmentclinic.com
Why is it important for women to be involved in innovation and creativity, especially in the field of green technology?
It is a myth that technology, and in particular green technology, is a field reserved for men. In fact, we have seen many women entrepreneurs developing technologies or technology-based innovations that have game-changing potential in water and sanitation, energy, and consumer products, to name just a few.
“It is a myth that technology, and in particular green technology, is a field reserved for men.”
On the investment side too, we see an increasing number of funds and investors focused on women entrepreneurs in the green-technology space. If you want to make the world a better place and succeed as an entrepreneur, green technology is definitely an area for women to get involved with.
Why is it important to raise awareness about intellectual property rights, and how have they helped you in your work?
IP is a key ingredient in raising funds for a technology enterprise. It brings value to any technology business and it is an asset that investors are attracted to. As such, IP encapsulates much more than just the protection of a certain invention, technology, or process; it is an asset that grows in value for the entrepreneur who owns it.
What message would you like to send to women and girls around the world?
We can be whatever we set our minds to be. Let's take every opportunity to make the world a better place for us and for future generations. Let's have fun bringing to life all the tremendous potential that lies within us.
Find out more
- Video message (YouTube) from Abibatou Banda Fall, Senegal, President, Association pour la Recherche Action Développement et Environnement au Sahel (ARADES)
- Video message (YouTube) from Elisabeth Yoboue, Ivory Coast Founder & CEO, Solutions Environmentales et Energétiques (SOLEEN)