Director-General of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Dr Audrey Smock Amoah, has commended Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology’s (KNUST) role in advancing innovation and policy-relevant research aimed at deepening collaboration for equitable social transformation.
This, she said, will also intensify the bridging of gap between evidence and decision-making that remains a national obligation.
She said this at the opening of the 2025 KNUST Research Week and Scientific Conference yesterday.
She indicated that NDPC’s 2014 citizen-led assessment of the Capitation Grant exposed systemic weaknesses in basic education financing, prompting reforms that increased per-pupil funding, improved equity targeting, and strengthened monitoring mechanisms.
However, Dr Amoah acknowledged persistent structural barriers, that included limited institutional capacity for evidence translation, weak data systems, and inadequate funding for policy-relevant studies.
Despite these challenges she highlighted encouraging results that included a rise in research commercialization, with 150 findings adopted by industries while 32 technologies brought to market in 2024, alongside targeted research grants issued by MESTI to address national issues.
She highlighted NDPC’s efforts to institutionalize evidence used through the National Public Policy Formulation Guidelines and the impending Policy and Legislative Almanac, made to systemize policy development and strengthen coordination.
She also called for better alignment of studies with policy priorities, improved accessibility of findings, and greater use of AI, data analytics and encouraged Policymakers to create dedicated evidence units, enhance data management, and foster multi-sectoral participation.
She reasserted NDPC’s commitment to partnering with academia and civil society, emphasizing that effective governance depends on the timely and purposeful integration of research into national development planning.
Deborah Narkie Nartey, ISD
