Tayebwa asks universities to invest in solutions based research

The Deputy speaker  of Parliament, Mr Thomas Tayebwa has advised universities to invest in ground breaking research that find solutions for issues affecting the continent of Africa and Uganda.

Mr Tayebwa said that most  researches done in the country are funded  by foreigners who are not about helping the country but fronting their own interests.

" That's what will help us to get solutions for Uganda, otherwise most of the research we have in this country is funded by foreigners,"  Mr Tayebwa said.

He added; "I want us as government, private sector to invest in research that is tailor- made to address issues of Uganda and Africa at large."

Mr Tayebwa was speaking  during Victoria University 8th graduation ceremony at Speke Resort Convention centre Munyonyo in Kampala  on September 20 where over 1,471 students were graduating in different academic disciplines.

Mr Tayebwa explained that investing in research is the only way institutions can make a magical contribution to the transformation of a country like Uganda.

Mr Tayebwa acknowledged that university education is very expensive and asked private universities to create partnerships with public  universities  to undertake cost- cutting activities and share resources  like libraries.

"In this era, why should we have buildings called libraries, we have e- libraries.  Why should each University pay its own subscription for e- Library? Share that," Mr Tayebwa said.

Dr Lawrence Muganga, the Vice chancellor Victoria University said that the university is establishing an Artificial Intelligence (AI) computer laboratory for research and development.

" We want to develop our own Ugandan AI that can speak our languages, that understands our business practices. To us this is something we are not going to compromise on because we know what it can do to improve our students and the community," Dr Muganga said.

He added; "We hope that our university can add something to the development of this country. By the time our government develops a policy that guides AI maybe we will be there to also guide and support that process."

Dr Muganga acknowledged that  doing bold things is not an easy task but also one can only achieve greater things if they do hard things, something the university has adopted.

Prof John Opunda the University Chancellor  advised the students not to ignore lectures because of AI but rather read widely and understand.

" Ask yourself who put that information there and how good is that information. it is important to read very widely and understand," Prof Opunda said.