The Minister of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research of Australia, my colleague, The Honourable Kim Carr
The Mayor of Banff, The Honourable Karen Sorenson
The President of the University of Calgary, Dr Elizabeth Cannon
Ladies and gentleman – partners and friends of the SKA project
Good morning.
It’s a great pleasure to be with you today.
I would like to express my appreciation, on behalf of the South African delegation, to Mayor Sorenson for hosting the SKA family in Banff, to Dr Cannon and her colleagues at the University of Calgary and to all who contributed to the organisation of the Forum and its associated meetings.
This morning I would like to provide an overview of the work that South Africa is doing to confirm its commitment to the SKA project. We have made noteworthy progress on the precursor telescope MeerKAT and will report on this too.
I also wish to emphasise the critical urgency of taking this project beyond conception to practical action. I hope the deliberations of the oversight committees have resulted in agreement that 2012 is confirmed as the year in which a final site decision will be announced. We are keen to move into the design and implementation phase.
Since the 2010 meeting of the International SKA Forum held in Assen, important progress has been made on the African bid led by South Africa.
In July last year, the African SKA project received political endorsement at the highest level. The Heads of State and Government of the African Union adopted a Declaration at its Assembly, expressing the African Union’s support for South Africa to lead the bid to locate the SKA in Africa.
This Declaration also committed Africa to participate in the global SKA project, putting at the disposal of the project the resources and talent of our continent. The SKA is also recognised as a flagship project by the African Ministerial Council on Science and Technology.
South Africa’s own national commitment to advancing the SKA project has been cemented in all spheres of our Government including at the provincial level.
I would like to restate South Africa’s firm commitment to support the SKA pre-construction phase. In this regard I can announce that irrespective of the outcome of the site selection, we will provide four million Euros for the funding of the SKA Project Office and its operations during the pre-construction phase. In addition we also stand ready to make substantial local contributions to the various pre-construction work packages.
Our commitment to the SKA is firm and steadfast.
Later this morning, Dr Bernie Fanaroff, South Africa’s SKA Project Director, will provide you with a comprehensive overview of developments regarding the SKA in Southern Africa. I wish to briefly outline some of the progress achieved in the past year.
We have chosen an exceptionally good site for the SKA in a remote region of South Africa, a region with very little economic activity. We have provided statutory protection for the site through the Geographic Astronomy Advantage Act. The Act covers existing activities and transmissions, not only new ones.
In this we are unique.
We have connected the site to the national power grid and to the national optical fibre backbone. The networks are scalable and some are now “SKA ready”. We are collaborating with our national Department of Energy, oue Electricity Supply Commission and German and Chinese agencies to provide renewable energy to the MeerKAT and the SKA.
To improve an already exceptional site, and as tangible proof of the South African Government’s commitment to radio astronomy in our country, recently my department concluded important new agreements with our national Department of Communications, as well as with the national regulator - the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa, and with the national communications signal distributor – Sentech and the National Association of Broadcasters.
Dr Fanaroff will elaborate on this later.
Reciprocating Government’s commitment, Vodacom, a subsidiary of Vodafone, has at its own cost developed new technology to significantly reduce any impact of GSM signals in the area.
Many of you are aware of the progress made with the MeerKAT, the South African SKA precursor. Over the past year all important milestones related to MeerKAT have been achieved, many of them ahead of schedule. Our progress has allowed us to plan to publish tenders for Meerkat at the end of this year.
I am also pleased to confirm that the commissioning of the KAT-7 Array will be completed by the end of 2011.
KAT-7 is not only a test bed for MeerKAT. It is also a scientific instrument in its own right and is in demand for scientific work by African and international astronomers.
Five years before the MeerKAT Array goes online for science operations in 2016 – we have already allocated 43 000 hours of observing time, including to consortia led by many internationally renowned astronomers.
Dr Fanaroff will elaborate on this in greater detail.
Suffice it to say that South Africa is committed to providing the world with the largest and most sensitive radio telescope in the Southern Hemisphere - until the SKA is completed. We hope that the immense potential of MeerKAT will not be ignored when the most efficient and cost-effective roll-out for the Phase One of SKA is considered. South Africa stands ready to discuss how our investment could best contribute to ensure Phase One of the SKA is implemented without significant delay.
It is not only the MeerKAT preparations which are progressing apace. Africa is now ready to fill a major gap in the global VLBI network. Plans are far advanced, and we have also taken decisive steps to create an African VLBI Network together with several partner countries in Africa
Dr Fanaroff will detail the exciting start to this project.
In addition to infrastructure, South Africa and Africa are also contributing that most precious of resources, people, to the global SKA effort.
The South African SKA Project Office alone has awarded close to 300 grants and scholarships. Students and scientists from several African countries have benefited from these grants through a dedicated programme which has already spent €15 million. Many of these young scientists are pursuing training and research opportunities at international institutions but have announced that they will return to Africa to work on the MeerKAT and SKA.
Some of these African students, on returning to their home countries, have been instrumental in assisting their government institutions to establish new radio astronomy and related undergraduate courses. These are now offered at universities in Kenya, Mauritius, Madagascar, Mozambique, Botswana, Ghana and Zambia.
Earlier this year a special workshop in the Karoo brought together more than 50 scientists from all the Africa partner countries, with astronomers from Europe and the USA, to specifically consider the training of future astronomers on the continent.
I am pleased to indicate that five new Research Chairs, dedicated to the African SKA project and established at leading South African universities, have been filled by eminent international astronomers and cosmologists. Sustainable, long-term funding for a period of 15 years has been committed to these positions.
The attraction of international talent confirms that Africa is the continent of future opportunity. Several leading international economists and consulting firms have over the past year heralded Africa’s impressive economic growth and the rich trade, investment and other cooperation opportunities offered by the continent.
The SKA is well-positioned to benefit from this renewed global interest in Africa. Already multinational companies such as INTEL are fostering ICT, energy and other research and innovation partnerships with the South African SKA Project Office.The SKA continues to inspire and amaze.
I wish to conclude by referring briefly to a few administrative and policy matters.
I have been admiring of the leadership provided by Prof Womersley, Prof Schilizzi and their teams. I wish to request them to devote increased attention to three areas of specific concern:
First, whilst we recognise that progress has been made in the preparation of the various legal texts, we believe the project cannot afford much more delay in the establishment of the legal entity. We hope that a substantial number of partners will soon be ready to join us in making the necessary commitments to enable signature of the members’ agreement.
Secondly, it is important that the site selection process is duly implemented, in a transparent manner according to the agreed provisions, with a site decision being made no later than June 2012. Some people refer to the project having entered the turbulent phase due to an intensification of the bidding process. Should this be so, we should head for calmer waters as soon as we can.
Thirdly, the question is sometimes asked whether the world can afford the SKA. This is a hard, but unavoidable question, which must be answered if we are to succeed in providing the world with an instrument of this significance and importance. We need to provide convincing responses to this question by showing the world our concrete plans.
As an elected public representative I have no doubt that the SKA will only progress if cost is recognised as a critical criterion, to be fully and appropriately taken into account for all important decisions related to the further development of the project.
It is fair to say, looking back over the past year, that there is new momentum driving the SKA project forward. This momentum will, however, only be sustained and the important milestones looming will only be met, through an even stronger commitment to the global project.
Critical in South Africa’s view in this regard will be to enhance the participation and support of the bidding governments. We need to consider how the two Departments can support and oversee the process as we finalise the legal entity.
We are determined that this significant scientific endeavour should succeed. The two core bidders have worked hard to illustrate their commitment. They require decisions and a clear indication of the future of the project. I am hopeful that this Forum will provide a definitive roadmap to implementation of the SKA.
I thank you for your attention and look forward to a fascinating day of learning from the eminent speakers who will follow.
