The National Center for Innovation

The National Center for Innovation (NCI) has been established in accordance with the Law No. (90) of 2018, for the purpose of applying the
recommendations of the National Innovation Strategy for the years (2013-2017) as one of the affiliated centers with The Higher Council for
Science and Technology (HCST), to be an observatory of science, technology and innovation, and a national umbrella for Jordan’s innovation
activities within the ecosystem. The NCI aims to organize and coordinate the efforts of all stakeholders within a comprehensive and
integrative framework that provides the business environment with clear directions and guidelines for economic opportunities and
investments, and promotes participation in line with the standards of the innovation ecosystem, in a way that ensures the organization,
coordination and control of inputs and outputs for the purpose of improving the entrepreneurial environment to reach the best global
practices.

The NCI provides its main services through the Jordan’s Open Innovation Platform (JOIP), which is built to guide all activities in a unique
way, providing opportunities for cooperation among stakeholders in Jordan’s innovation ecosystem and entrepreneurship. The NCI also
About NCI
aims to assist in executing tasks quickly and smoothly, and to promote Jordan as an innovation hub, achieving the national ambition
towards contributing to the development of an innovative Jordan.

The following domains constitute the main pillars of the NCI's strategic plan, which emanates from the innovation value chain:

1. National policies and strategies in the field of innovation.

2. Research, development and innovation.
3. Human resources in the field of innovation.
4. Financial support.
5. Scientific and technological programs, activities and services in the field of innovation.
6. Quality assurance.

Vision To be the national umbrella and innovation hub that catalyses innovation in Jordan.
 To establish the national innovation ecosystem by providing stimulating environment for innovation, entrepreneurship and business sector
through innovation hub and marketplace that enhance the collaboration and partnership opportunities among stakeholders, and facilitate
Mission utilizing technology in innovation practices in a unique way to achieve sustainable development, support the national economy and
enhance its competitiveness.

1. Formulating and activating national innovation policies and strategies.

2. Establishing a national reference and key provider for innovation ecosystem information and activities.
3. Contributing to building and spreading an innovation culture through activating cooperation and catalysing collaboration among
Strategic Goals stakeholders in innovation ecosystem.
4. Empowering untapped Jordanian innovators and entrepreneurs in various innovation and entrepreneurship fields at the national,
regional and international levels.
5. Facilitating innovation practices by providing networking opportunities and funding sources.

The innovation The innovation ecosystem includes the following eight main categories:

ecosystem in 1. Research Centers & Academics

2. Public Policy Sector
Jordan, and 3. Financial vehicle
current 4. Incubators
5. Support agencies
challenges
6. Clusters
7. Business enterprise sectors
8. Diaspora Communities

Challenges:

In 2018, a mapping study was conducted by the consulting firm (OHK), which aimed to evaluate the innovation ecosystem and
entrepreneurship in Jordan. This study resulted in identifying and highlighting the most prominent challenges and constraints that face the
innovation ecosystem and limit its progress towards knowledge. It also managed to outline the NCI’s role in filling the gaps and overcoming
challenges that arise within the ecosystem. Some of these challenges are:

1. Multiplicity of strategies
Multiplicity of innovation policies and strategies amongst the stakeholders within the ecosystem led to misidentifying the main
priorities at the national level, as well as the lack of competitive executable alignment between supply and demand for the
international rivals, which resulted in reducing the impact on the national economy, as well as limiting its ability to evolve into a
knowledge economy that’s built on innovation.
2. Lack of R&I law
The lack of laws that regulate research and development and innovation resulted in the absence of an outline for tax incentives as
well as the absence of legislative laws related to start-up companies and their funding.
3. Lack of innovative culture and entrepreneurship and low empowerment of human resources:
The absence of innovative culture, and the lack of sufficient knowledge and innovation modules that work to appropriately
disseminate innovation and its concepts, have resulted in restricting innovation and development within specific sectors. Moreover,
the lack of qualified stakeholders to empower the capabilities of human resources has led to the inefficiency of human resources
and resorting to personal diligence in dealing with such matters.
4. Confusion around innovation
Lack of a clear and a concise definition for innovation, and difficulty in measuring it at the national level.
The absence of a clear definition for innovation has resulted in difficulty in measuring and evaluating the innovation activities
among the stakeholders within the innovation ecosystem in Jordan, which consequently resulted in redirecting the financial and
technical resources that have been specified for innovation in other fields.
5. Lack of effective stakeholder coordination, and gaps within the innovation value chain:
The lack of effective stakeholders’ coordination within the innovation ecosystem has led to duplication and putting-in doubled
efforts with the granting entities, even in the presence of competent professionals concerned with policymaking, funding, business
incubators, and other innovative activities. This has resulted in losing the opportunity to commercialize innovation outputs at the
national level.
6. Lack of proper public fund for R&I
The scarcity of local funding sources allocated by both the private and public sectors, and mixing the grants and loans allocated for
research, development and entrepreneurship, as well as spending the largest amount of funds on theoretical scientific research
instead of spending them on development and commercialization, all are factors that led to poor innovation outcomes at the
 national level.

Services Jordan Open Innovation Platform (JOIP):

The Jordan Open Innovation Platform (JOIP) represents an online platform that is the first of its kind in Jordan and the MENA region. It
collects all Innovation activities and connects the innovation ecosystem stakeholders within a Cloud-based (PaaS) Platform as a Service by
collecting data and information related to innovation from internationally authenticated and verified sources and databases, exchange
ideas and experiences, share knowledge, and activate a greater cooperation between science, technology and innovation (STI).

JOIP also contributes to providing online services by facilitating access to information and creating opportunities for partnership and
networking among public and private sector institutions, universities, research centres, business accelerators and incubators, researchers,
experts, and other innovators with local, regional and international funders to support national innovation.
The Jordan Open Innovation Platform (JOIP) will provide the following services:

1. Data Clearinghouse:
This is achieved through creating, managing, governance and developing databases for Jordan innovation ecosystem to include Jordanian
researchers and experts in universities, research centers, support funds, government institutions, companies and others.
The information and data are synchronized simultaneously to form the main source for dynamic statistics and quantitative and qualitative
performance indicators related to innovation activities through the following:
 National ID number for individuals (JRIN - Jordan Research Identification Number) and organizations (JOIN Jordan Organization
Identification Number) linked to internationally authenticated and verified sources and databases.
 A profile page for Jordanian researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs, containing their CVs, researches, statistics ... etc.
 A profile page for the organizations concerned with innovation and individuals who work with them, which contains all the
information of the organization, as well as the projects and researches that have contributed to.
 A forum that allows stakeholders within JOIP to present and discuss all matters and topics related to research, development and
innovation.
 Share JOIP posts with social media platforms.
 JOIP Leader Board for users, updated regularly, aiming to encourage them to participate in innovation activities to increase their
chances in networking, funding and partnership.
 Provision of information and data related to the innovation ecosystem in Jordan through different visualization tools (Data
Clearinghouse).

2. Referral & Matchmaking:

To build partnerships between the public and private sectors by connecting academic institutions, research centers, researchers,
entrepreneurs, business incubators and accelerators by guiding them about the market requirements, as well as local, regional and
international donors and funders through:
 Connecting the stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem through JOIP, based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms that work based
on specialization, field of research, … etc.
 Allowing stakeholders to benefit from the referrals to increase their opportunities for cooperation and partnerships.
 Connecting with the local, regional and international donors and funding agencies, knowing their conditions, and how to apply for
them.
 Creating opportunities to commercialize research and innovation ideas among researchers and organizations, leading to a knowledge-
based economy depending on innovation to achieve sustainable development.

3. Monitoring & Evaluation:

To evaluate the innovation ecosystem according to international standards by designing measurement, metrics, KPI’s and performance
tools to calculate the innovation indicators that will be activated accurately on JOIP in a way that will positively affect the national economy
through:
 National and international KPI’s.
 Information related to indicators through different visualizing tools.
  Calculation of performance indicators and quantitative and qualitative measurement of development activities.
 Issuing reports and recommendations about gaps in the innovation ecosystem, and providing decision-makers with recommendations.
 Coordination with the global indicator’s owners for the exchange of data and information within JOIP.

4. Surveying Tool:
To conduct surveys and studies by the NCI to come up with the policies and strategies that support the Jordanian innovation ecosystem.
To allow JOIP users to communicate to conduct the necessary surveys and studies in a scientific and practical way.

5. Grants Management:
This is accomplished through funding application, reception, review, and follow-up of grant applications. This enables the donors and
funders to build and manage the grant workflow program in accordance with their policies and regulations and not to commit them to a
fixed application model.

6. Reform advisory:
To study the legal obstacles that face the innovation ecosystem, evaluate the law enforcement, find solutions for the problems that hinder
the harnessing of innovation for development purposes, provide legislative expertise (Ombudsman), and advise and consult the
government and the private sector in all areas of innovation to reach the enabling environment.

 Huda Al Rawabdeh – Director of The National Center for Innovation

 Hasan Al Zu’bi – Information Technology Manager
The Team  Sa’eed Nazmi Al-Sa’eed – Marketing manager
 Faten Al-Nsour – Executive Secretary

Contact Tel.: +962 6 5340401

Cell: +962 799 237 447
Information Email: info@nci.jo
Address: The Higher Council for Science and Technology/ The Royal Scientific Society Campus / Jubaiha 11941/ Ahmad Al-
Tarawneh Street / Amman-Jordan.
Website: www.nci.jo