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| Director General Francis Gurry (Credit – Dhillon Photographics)?? |
People whose innovations transform lives, and even the way society operates will be the focus as Barbados joins the rest of the world to celebrate World Intellectual Property (IP) Day tomorrow, Thursday, April 26.
This year, the focus will be on those whose innovations shaped lives, changed societies and even created history, under the theme: Visionary Innovators.
In his statement to mark the day, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organisation, Francis Gurry, said: "In the arts innovation revolves around new ways of seeing things. A visionary artist or a composer or a writer is able to show us a different way, a new way of looking at the world".
He further described World IP Day as: "An opportunity to create greater understanding about the role of intellectual property as a balancing mechanism between the competing interests which surround innovation and cultural creation; the interests of the individual creator and those of society; the interests of the producer and those of the consumer; the interest in encouraging innovation and creation, and the interest in sharing the benefits that derive from them".
Among innovators highlighted by the Director General were, Cai Lun, from China who laid the foundation for the manufacturing of paper, and Johannes Gutenberg of Germany with his invention of the printing press.
"We are dependent upon innovation to move forward. Without innovation we would remain in the same condition…," Mr. Gurry said.