South African National System of Innovation (NSI)

Derek Hanekom, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, Republic of South Africa

14 February 2007

SOUTH AFRICAN ECONOMY AT A GLANCE

Population of 47 millionGDP of $227bn (22nd largest economy)GDP growth of 4.9% (8 years of consistent

growth) High level of business confidenceDiversified economy

BUT ……. High level of inequality - Gini coefficient of 0,58 High unemployment (25% of work force) HDI ranked 120 out of 177 countries (2003) Life expectancy of 51 years HIV prevalence: 1 out of 6 of all people aged 15

to 49 years 24% of adults over 15yrs are functionally

illiterate

PRE 1994 SCIENCE ENVIRONMENTCHARACTERISTICS OF THE SCIENCE SYSTEM PRE 1994

Exclusion of black people from SET careers; and Isolationist approach: R&D expenditure mainly on defence and energy

APARTHEID EDUCATION "Native education should be controlled in such a way that it

should be in accord with the policy of the state…If the native in South Africa today in any kind of school in existence is being taught to expect that he will live his life under the policy of equal rights ,he is making a big mistake…There is no place for him in the European community above the level of certain forms of labour…".

Dr Hendrik Verwoerd, Minister of Native Affairs, 1953

LEGACY IS STILL WITH US Black learners remain disadvantaged in Maths and Science Out of 740 000 learners wrote matric exams last year, less than 10%

wrote Maths in higher grade – almost 50% FAILED

Accelerated & Shared Growth Initiative:

2014 targets

Halve poverty: from 1/3 of householdsdown to 1/6

Halve unemployment: from 30% to 15%

Raise growth to 6%

The evolution of policies underpinning the NSI

R&D STRATEGY

2002

BIOTECHNOLOGYSTRATEGY

2001

ADVANCED MANUFACTURING

TECHNOLOGYSTRATEGY

2003

NANO-TECHNOLOGY

STRATEGY 2006

INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE

SYSTEMSSTRATEGY

2004

INFORMATION AND

COMMUNICATIONTECHNOLOGY

STRATEGY 2007

Comprehensive Implementation Plans

Vision ofReconstruction and

Development 1994

WHITE PAPER ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, 1996

INNOVATION Key to economic growth and competitiveness Quality of life for all

Human Capital Development

Addressing the legacy – top priority Science Centres Maths/Science Development Camps Maths and Science dedicated schools

Alignment and Delivery

Provides strategic direction and support through the NSI Research Chairs Centres of Excellence

PILLARS OF THE NSI

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY LANDSCAPE

Economic GrowthPoverty reductionQuality of Life

Vision 2014

Indigenous Knowledge

Systems Strategy

Information & Communications

Technology Strategy

Nano-technology Strategy

Advanced Manufacturing

Technology Strategy

Biotechnology Strategy

National R&D Strategy

White Paper on Science and Technology

InternationalPartners

Government

ScienceCouncils

EducationInstitutions

NGOs

Business

StateCorporations

ResearchInstitutions

Social

OBJECTIVESOBJECTIVES

Economic

S&T ACTORS AND STAKEHOLDERS

1. Some areas are absolutely necessary for national competitiveness, for any size of country, e.g. information technology, biotechnology. Omit these at your peril!

2. Other areas present some “geographic” advantage, e.g. astronomy & “human origins” for South Africa.

4. Self-selected areas representing “critical problems”, e.g. HIV/AIDS and Malaria.

3. Other areas present a “knowledge” advantage, e.g. traditional knowledge or deep level mining for South Africa.

WHAT GUIDED US IN CHOOSING PRIORITY AREAS

National Competitiveness : BIOTECHNOLOGY STRATEGY

INNOVATION CENTRES Finance & business support Technology Platforms/infrastructure Cluster development / networking

ENABLING ENVIRONMENT Public engagement Inter-departmental coordination Policy review/development

FRONTIER BIOTECHNOLOGY Frontier programmes International science participation

STRATEGIC ADVICE Biotechnology Advisory Committee

THIS IS WHAT YOU GET….

South Africa recently won the bid to host the third component of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), which will be hosted by the Institute for Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine at the University of Cape Town

The other two components are housed in (Trieste) Italy and (New Delhi) India ICGEB’s primary focus in the field of Biotechnology is on HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria – an

enormous contribution in meeting the MDG goals

National Competitiveness : ICTCURRENT SITUATION The country’s investment in ICT in general and

ICT R&D (10%) specifically is far below that of its OECD counterparts (30%)

High telecommunication costs and poor bandwidth

Tele-density of fixed line is low by worlds’ standards

MEASURES INTRODUCED Establishment of the Centre for High

Performance Computing Open Source Software promotion SANReN – a high speed network that will

enable the exchange of research data between the country’s research institutes and counterparts around the world

GEOGRAPHIC ADVANTAGE

Fluorine technologyBiodiversityHuman originsAstronomy

ASTRONOMY – THIS IS THE RESULT…

SOUTHERN AFRICAN

LARGEST TELESCOPE (SALT) The single largest optical telescope in

Southern Hemisphere, and is a culmination of multilateral partnerships between SA, New Zealand, Germany, Poland, United Kingdom, India, Russia and the US.

A gateway through which we can observe our earliest stars, learn more about the formation of our galaxy.

ON THE WAY …..

SQUARE KILOMETRE ARRAY (SKA)

A €1.5 bn international project to create receiving surface of a million square metres

The SKA will provide data for a whole range of astronomical investigations

South Africa short listed along Australia for the hosting of this world’s largest radio telescope

Bid winner is to be announced in 2011

AND MORE…..

SUMBANDILA SATELLITE Will be launched in Russia in June this

year Building Africa’s capacity for earth

observation data Constructed locally, this low earth

orbiting Satellite is part of multimillion rand integrated capacity building and satellite project

SumbandilaSat will generate imagery that will support decision making areas such as natural resources, agriculture, urban planning and other applications

HUMAN ORIGINS

PALAEOANTHROPOLOGICAL

RESEARCH The earliest evidence of the

origins of life on the planet at the Vredefort Dome World Heritage Site

The most prolific evidence of early human ancestry anywhere in the world at the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site

THIS IS THE RESULT…

CRADLE OF HUMANKIND Major sites of research Scientific visitor

interpretation centre Public awareness

HIV VACCINE South Africa is actively engaged in HIV/AIDS vaccine

development The South African Aids Vaccine Initiative (SAAVI) was

established in 1999 and is tasked with the development of an affordable, effective vaccine for the country

SAAVI enjoys close collaboration with many other global players in the field, including the US’s National Health Institute and International Aids Vaccine Initiative (IAVI)

The vaccine is going on the Phase 1 clinical trial at the end of the year

CRITICAL PROBLEM AREA

CRITICAL PROBLEM AREA SOUTH AFRICAN MALARIA INITIATIVE

(SAMI) Malaria kills over 3000 children each day in Sub-

Saharan Africa SAMI was established in 2006 and aims to bring

together key researchers in the country with a focus on molecular aspects of malaria drug and insecticide discovery

Outcome of the SAMI programme will lead to enhanced intellectual and human capital in the country

KNOWLEDGE ADVANTAGE

Technology for poverty reductionIndigenous knowledgeTechnology for deep miningSelected human health technologies

CRITICAL TECHNOLOGY MISSION REQUIRED TO ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE INCLUDING Toward Zero Emission Strategies Energy efficiency strategyReducing fossil fuel dependenceNuclear and Renewable sources Carbon credits Ecosystem and biodiversity managementInnovative mitigation and adaptation measures

NEW CHALLENGE – CLIMATE CHANGE

OUR R&D INVESTMENT

1991 1993 1997 2001 2003 20040

0 .10 .2

0 .3

0 .4

0 .50 .6

0 .7

0 .8

0 .9

11 .1

0.7470.68

0.760.81

0.87

G R O S S E X P E N D IT U R E A S % O F G D P (2 0 0 5 )

% O F G DP

% o

f GD

P

Target : 1% of GDP by 2008

55% is Private Sector R&D Spend

SA VS OECD COUNTRIES

INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS OF GERD AS A % OF GDP

2.33

1.93

1.53

1.090.96 0.87

0.5 0.42

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

USA OECDaverage

EU average Australia China Spain SA Malaysia Argentina

PE

RC

EN

TA

GE

OF

GD

P 2

00

5 USA

OECD average

EU average

Australia

China

Spain

SA

Malaysia

Argentina

STRENGTHS AND CHALLENGES of SA’s NSI

STRENGTHS Fiscal incentives for R&D Strong government support Policy and strategies Indicators and institutionalised R&D survey International Cooperation

50 Bilateral partnerships OECD – Observer status on the Committee for Science and Technology

Policy SA Co-chairs the Group on Earth Observation

CHALLENGES Human Capital Weak link between knowledge generation and the real economy

CONTINENTAL INTITIATIVES

SOUTH AFRICA HAS A VANGUARD ROLE IN ADVANCING S&T IN THE CONTINENT

AFRICAN MINISTERS’ COUNCIL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (AMCOST)

THE AFRICAN PLAN OF ACTION EARLY SUCCESSES:

AFRICAN LASER CENTRE (ALC) AFRICAN INSTITUTE FOR MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES

(AIMS) WATER SCIENCES INITIATIVE BIOSCIENCES INITIATIVE

THE FUTURE

Foundation for Technological Innovation (FTI) Moving towards the establishment of the FTI - an agency that will be

responsible for stimulating and enhancing technological innovation Address the innovation chasm

Functions of the FTI Promote innovation and economic development by increasing capabilities

and network linkages of key players in the NSI ; Develop management information system of all government funded

innovation projects Improve the transfer of knowledge; and Evolve the development of new institutions e.g. Nanotechnology Institute.

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FTI WILL COMPLETE THE INNOVATION FRAMEWORK; CONTRIBUTE TO HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT, SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH AND IMPROVED QUALITY OF LIFE FOR ALL

“Steadily the dark clouds of despair are lifting, giving way to our season of hope. Our country, which for centuries has bled from a thousand wounds, is progressing towards its

healing”. Thabo Mbeki, President of the Republic of South Africa.

THANK YOU