education 15 May 2026 Daily Monitor (Uganda)
URSB Launches Innovation Hubs to Bridge Research and Real-World Solutions
The Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) is establishing innovation hubs in educational institutions nationwide to transform academic research into practical solutions and foster innovation. Source: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/ursb-rolls-out-innovation-hubs-to-turn-research-into-solutions-5460580
The Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) is actively working to bridge the gap between academic research and tangible, life-improving solutions by rolling out innovation hubs across the country’s learning institutions.
During the launch of a new Technology and Innovation Support Centre at Bishop Stuart University, URSB chairperson Francis Butagira emphasized the need for educational institutions to become fertile grounds for developing ideas into marketable products that address societal challenges. “Innovation is the way to go if we are to develop,” Butagira stated, highlighting the hubs as a significant step towards Uganda’s transformation agenda.
These hubs are designed to provide students, innovators, and startups with crucial access to intellectual property services, research support, and pathways for commercialization and technology transfer. URSB Executive Director Mercy Kainobwisho revealed plans to establish these hubs in primary, secondary, and higher learning institutions, aligning with the shift towards practical, competence-based education.
Kainobwisho stressed the initiative’s aim to move research beyond academic settings and into communities. “We need to have product- and knowledge-based research, and one of the interventions to realise this is through these innovation hubs,” she explained, aiming to boost the quality of products and ensure students benefit from their intellectual property.
University leaders acknowledged past missed opportunities in fostering innovation. Bishop Stuart University Council chairperson Prof. Kenneth Kagame noted that while individuals without formal education have produced remarkable innovations, universities have lagged in supporting such endeavors. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, represented by Commissioner Patrick Mugisha, pledged support, envisioning the hubs as a means to enhance graduate employability and self-employment.