JEDCO trains 17 inventors in commercialisation practices

AMMAN — The Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation (JEDCO) has completed a remote training and mentoring programme under which 17 participants benefitted from the “Transforming Invention Models into Commercial Projects — Commercialisation” programme, which was launched earlier this year.

In a statement, JEDCO CEO Bashar Al Zoubi said that the corporation received 33 applications for the programme, which aims to enable Jordanian inventors to develop their inventions, register them and convert them from innovative ideas into income-generating, commercial projects.

It accomplishes this goal by providing financial grants on a competitive basis targetting 10 projects valued at up to JD40,000 each, of which JEDCO’s contribution is 90 per cent, with a total budget of JD400,000 for the programme.

Zoubi added that 17 projects were selected to participate in the training programme, which was implemented in two phases. The first phase aimed at enabling participants to prepare action plans for their projects based on international best practices and using the international Kauffman fast track method. This phase included 30 training hours and participants were provided with a detailed guide and models to prepare realistic and applicable action plans, according to the statement.

The second phase focused on training the participants on presenting their projects to investors over the course of 12 training hours. The technical guidance was provided by local experts.

JEDCO received the work plans from the projects’ owners and a specialised technical committee is currently evaluating them. Following this step, personal interviews and an examination of the inventions will take place, followed by the selection of 10 projects for the grant of JD40,000, the statement noted.

The projects represent several sectors, including electricity generation from wind energy and solar energy, production of organic fertilisers, manufacture of auto parts, recycled plastics, manufacture of poultry feed, cosmetics, industrial machinery, food industries, engineering industries, electronic waste processing and home vertical farms.

Zoubi expressed appreciation for the efforts of the corporation’s strategic partners in implementing the programme.

“Transforming Invention Models into Commercial Projects — Commercialisation” aims to encourage pioneers and entrepreneurs to invent by transforming their invention models into production projects that are economically feasible, and helping them to register with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply, according to the statement. 

It aims to present new, economically feasible projects with high growth opportunities to meet market demands and create new jobs, the statement said.

The programme also works to encourage pioneers on national linkages and integration with value chains such as the use of production lines of other companies, the production of complementary products that solve sectorial problems, and motivate inventors to invent commercial products and focus on the commercial side before the production side, according to the statement.