Minister Pandor's speech in the debate on the cooperative effort by government, business and labour to avert a national credit-rating downgrade
Government has recognised that research-led innovation has immense potential to support job creation, new company formation and economic growth.
The Department of Science and Technology (DST) is working with science councils, universities and the private sector to ensure effective implementation or our RDI contribution to growth.
I set out a few examples that contribute to governments 9 point plan.
CSIR investment in innovation
Over the past four years, the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR's) R300 million Technology Localisation Programme has assisted over 140 manufacturing companies. An example of the success of this programme is the R6.3 million Casting Simulation Network that was launched in 2015 at the Vaal University of Technology.
The majority of South African foundries are SMEs, which are often family-owned businesses. The cost of the simulation software is outside the means of most of these SMEs.
The CSIR's R500 million Industry Innovation Partnership encourages the private sector to invest more into R&D. It includes satellite manufacturing, titanium powder development, ICT, and nanotechnology. The new Nano-materials Industrial Development Facility provides the capabilities the industrial-scale production of nano-structures and nano-applications required for industrial testing.
The CSIR's Industry Innovation Partnership also enables strategic partnerships with small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs)). Biotechnology SMMEs are using the recently launched R90 million biomanufacturing facilities at the CSIR. Support from CSIR scientists and engineers ensures that products meet the needs of the market.
Examples of products developed are cosmetics incorporating natural extracts, magnetic microsphere technology used in life science applications, extracts from olives that are used in cosmetics and nutraceuticals, porridges that incorporate beneficial natural ingredients and cell culture reagents.
Square Kilometre Array (SKA)
Government innovation interventions include global initiatives.
The SKA project is a stirling example of the value of global science partnerships.
The SKA is a €1.5 billion collaboration between South Africa and Australia to build the world’s largest radio telescope.
Whilst 10 member countries are the cornerstone of the SKA, around 100 organisations across about 20 countries are participating in the design and development of the SKA.
World leading scientists and engineers are designing and developing a system that will require supercomputers faster than any in existence, and network technology that will generate more data traffic than the entire Internet.
Funding for the SKA project in 2016-17 alone (mostly for construction of Meerkat) is R1 billion from the DST budget.
SKA works with international partners to build its dishes and develop its big data infrastructure.
The R630 million tender for the manufacture of the 64 MeerKAT antennas was awarded in 2014 to Stratosat Datacom (Pty) Ltd, a South African company, in a joint venture with US firm General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies.
Almost 75% of the contract value will be spent in South Africa, including qualification testing, tooling design, and virtually all of the manufacturing, resulting in benefits and opportunities for local industry.
In 2015 the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, in Bonn, Germany, invested €11 million (R150 million) in building new sets of radio receivers, which will be deployed on the MeerKAT antennas.
SKA SA and NMC Civils announced last month that they have partnered with Absa in a R34,5 million enterprise and supply chain initiative to develop and support SMEs in the Northern Cape through the SKA programme. Specifically this involves building the road between Carnarvon and the SKA SA Losberg construction site.
Foreign investment in science and technology
The Department of Science and Technology supports government’s efforts to make South Africa a preferred destination for foreign investment in science, technology and innovation.
The work being done to encourage international companies to establish their research and development facilities in South Africa is achieving positiveresults.
We applaud General Electric its R500 million investment in a customer innovation centre in Gauteng.
We welcome its decision to invest a further R200 million to support South African SMMEs through technology transfer.
We also applaud IBM for its R700 million investment over 10 years in ICT research and development.
We applaud Cisco for its R66 million investment to increase the company’s R&D activities in South Africa.
Government will continue to work hard to promote relationships with global partners and to leverage foreign investment in science and technology in South Africa.
Next week the National Advisory Council on Innovation is holding a symposium on STI business investment in R&D.
