Minister of Commerce and Trade, Senator Haynesley Benn (right), presenting this year’s National Innovation Award to Shannon Clarke for his innovation, Clever Grocer. Clarke will also received a cash prize of $75 000.
Way to go
5/7/2012
Developing countries such as Barbados must use innovation for the society to maintain and surpass the current standard of living.
This from Acting Director of the National Council for Science and Technology (NCST), Charles Cyrus, who delivered the opening remarks at the National Council for Science and Technology and the Enterprise Growth Fund Limited 2011/2012 National Innovation Awards held on Saturday night at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.
According to him, the ability for Barbados to tap into the global and technology systems through the use of innovation will determine to a large extent how competitive Barbados will be and the quality of the country’s survival.
According to him, “The focus of this competition has been on providing an opportunity for Barbadians, whether individuals or groups, to use their creativity and innovative potential to come up with ideas that can be commercialised. With its emphasis on potential for commercialisation, the competition seeks to encourage entrepreneurship.”
Noting that the number of applications declined from close to 200 last year to about 100 this year, he stressed that throughout the years, a number of business enterprises have emerged as a result of this competition, not only from the winners but from other individuals who have participated.
While urging all finalists to make every effort to commercialise their ideas, Cyrus affirmed that programmes such as the National Innovation Competition must be supported and encouraged. The competition seeks to encourage, highlight and celebrate innovation at the level of the individual or the group while at the same time, providing a catalyst for entrepreneurship.
This year’s winner of the fifth National Innovation Award, Shannon Clarke, said he was speechless and humbled to receive the award for his innovation, “Clever Grocer”.
“I first got the idea from the Ministry of Commerce and Trade’s list. I think it is almost not appreciated how innovative that list in itself was because more so than just being a price index, it also gave the individual prices for several items at the specific locations and at a specific time,” said Clarke.
“I noticed that while it is great to be able to look at that, it would be better to be able to use it in stores. Shopping is a lonely experience and you only know how much you will spend when you get to the cashier. How many times do we see people leave items at the cashier? That is happening way too often. What we are trying to do is to get the collective knowledge and experiences of all shoppers together so that when you go shopping, you would know how much you would be spending before you get to the cashier,” he explained.
Clarke stressed that it is important to foster the spirit of innovation in Barbados, the competition should be used as a springboard and those persons who didn’t win should be encouraged to develop their ideas as well.
The “Clever Grocer” is a hybrid software application, designed to maintain an accurate and current database of the prices of items for sale via information collected from grocery receipts. It will reduce the impact of the high cost of living on consumers, yet will encourage spending.
