AUST, NACETEM Host Workshop on Policy Innovation Through System Dynamics

The African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja in collaboration with the National Center for Technology Management ( NACETEM), on Wednesday, November 13, 2024 hosted a one-day workshop on policy innovation through system dynamics. The event took place at the NNPC hall, African University of Science and Technology, Abuja. The workshop brought together leading policy researchers, scientists and the academia who brainstormed on the strategies for sustainable and data-driven policy-making in Nigeria.

Professor Azikiwe Peter Onwualu, FAS, President of the African University of Science and Technology, Abuja, thanked NACETEM for partnering with AUST in the hosting of this very important conference at this period of time when Nigeria needed a lead way on innovation policies utilizing system dynamics. He congratulated once more the NACETEM Director General, Dr. Shola Odusanya who until his appointment was a visiting faculty in the department of Materials Science and Engineering, AUST and lauded him for the good works he has been doing since his appointment and urged him not to relent.

Responding, the NACETEM DG, Dr. Shola Odusanya thanked the AUST President for all his support and for the mutual collaboration existing between AUST and NACETEM maintaining that this collaboration would no doubt help in advancing science and technology development in Nigeria. He enjoined Nigerians to adopt a more scientific and evidence-based approach to policy decisions, stressing that many current policies rely too heavily on emotional and anecdotal reasoning.

Dr. Odusanya highlighted several sectors where a more rigorous, data-driven approach could bring significant benefits, particularly in healthcare and agriculture, maintaining that Nigeria as a country with a high rate of cervical cancer, needs research-driven healthcare policies, which could improve medical outcomes for Nigerian women.

In a keynote speech, Professor Stefano Armenia, a renowned expert in system dynamics from Italy, revealed that systems thinking is a qualitative method that examines the interactions within a larger system, providing a framework for addressing complex issues, drawing from his work with public administrators across Italy, South Africa, Nigeria, and in Asia.

The systems expert and scientist also identified the limitations of rational decision-making, which is often constrained by limited information and influenced by mental models—personal beliefs and assumptions that shape how individuals and institutions interpret information.

Professor Armenia advocated for the use of system dynamics to address these cognitive limitations, which would enable more objective and informed policy decisions not only in Nigeria but in Africa at large.