EGYPTIAN innovators, researchers and inventors have been flocking this week to the first Euro-Med Innovation Market in Cairo, being held at the Fairmont Hotel in Heliopolis, in order to learn something they really need to learn, which is marketing and reaching out to people. The three-day event, where more than 200 exhibitors from the Mediterranean region are represented, along with several organisations, universities and companies working in the region, has been organised by the Research, Development and International (RDI) programme of the Ministry of Higher Education. The event, which ends today, is the first of its kind. Its purpose is to review the cooperation between the north and the south of the Mediterranean, but for Osama Abdel-Qader Ahmed, the Market has been an opportunity to market the machine he invented several years ago to protect the environment from pollution and toxic gases, by turn them into a material that can be used as a fertiliser. Although Abdel-Qader's machine works well and has even won him several prizes in local and international competitions, he is still unable to find a company that can produce this machine and market it. His case is by no means unique, as the ideas of many Egyptian innovators have suffered the same fate. "One of the problems with some of the inventors in Egypt is that they aren't necessarily scientists. They work in different fields where they encounter a certain difficulty that makes them think about a solution or an invention to solve it, but in some cases they are not able to explain their ideas in a scientific way,” says Mohamed Tareq Hussein, the head of the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology in Egypt. “And also, in some cases, they don't have the means to market their ideas.” Hussein insists that to learn how to market and reach people is as important for innovators as innovation itself, adding that his academy now has a special department to show these innovators and inventors how to reach people and market their ideas. “The Innovation Market is also a good chance for the innovator to learn how to do this,” he adds. "The event aims at promoting scientific and technological diplomacy and encouraging the spirit of innovation, helping these innovators to reach people and find sponsors for their ideas or companies to market their products,” says Hannan Dowidar, Deputy Co-ordinator of RDI. "Today they have a good chance to market their ideas. But they have to realise that you can no longer wait for help in a competitive world,” says Dowidar, adding that RDI now has a grant of 11m euros from the European Union that will be used to help Egyptian innovators implement their projects. “But they must first of all convince of the importance of their projects,” she explains. On the sidelines of the Market, there have been several seminars, highlighting scientific events in the Euro-Med region, such as the first Famelab competition to be held in Egypt. Famelab is an international competition designed to identify and nurture talents in scientific communications, awarding a prize to the innovator who is able to explain his ideas in a way that's easy for everyone to understand. In the section for young inventors, you find yourself really amazed with the ideas and inventions, ranging from a quartet engine plane to a mouth that helps disabled people to use computers. These brilliant young scientists innovate because they enjoy it; marketing is the last thing most of them are thinking of. But Haitham el-Deq, a fresh graduate from the Modern Academy for Engineering, is looking for some companies who can develop and produce the machine he has made for carving wood and other materials. "This machine, called the 'CNC', is not made in Egypt. But we have succeeded in producing it locally with some innovations, so that it can work with different materials, not just wood. “However, due to lack of money, we are still unable to produce it on a big scale," says el-Deq, who, like many inventors, mistrusts businessmen, who might show an interest in their idea and then steal it.
