Mjwara, at the launch of the Allied Technologies Academy
8 November 2007
Programme director
Mr Craig Venter, Chief Executive Officer of Altech and Patron of the Altech
Academy
Dr Bill Venter, Chairman of Altron
Mr Robbie Venter, Chief Executive of Altron
Mr Johan Klein, Group Executive of Human Resource and Information Resource and
director of the Altech Academy
Members of the Altech Academy Board
Professor Roy Marcus of the Da Vinci Institute
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
I am privileged to be allowed to say a few words during this important
occasion of the launch of the Allied Technologies Limited (Altech) Academy.
This is further evidence that organisations such as the Altech Group and its
empowerment partners continue to honour their end of the bargain in making
South Africa a better place for all its citizens.
It is particularly noteworthy that the launch takes place against the
background of yet another outstanding contribution by Altech in the nation's
collective battle against crime. I refer here to the South African Police
Service Altech-supported R600 million high-technologies Radio Communication
Centre officially opened by President Thabo Mbeki a few days ago, not far from
where we are today.
By all accounts this Radio Communication Centre is the biggest in the
southern hemisphere and would rival the best centres in the world while
employing the best resources there is in telecommunications to fight the
scourge of crime.
Not to belabour the point, there is nonetheless significant recognition by
President Mbeki and other government leaders of Altech's contribution to the
technology industry in South Africa as well as partnering with government and
civil society for the common goal of a better quality of life.
It should thus come as no surprise to us that Altech was the recipient of
the 2006 Technology Top 100 Minister's Awards for overall excellence (Large
Enterprises). Nevertheless, as we launch this academy, we must caution Altech
never to rest on their laurels but take full advantage of the many
opportunities for investment and public-private partnerships made possible by
the prevailing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) landscape,
including our hosting the Federation of International Football Association
(Fifa) World Cup in 2010 and the move to digital broadcasting by our national
broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).
Programme director, one of the reasons I avidly accepted the invitation to
be part of this launch is that it ties in neatly with the Department of Science
and Technology's Human Capital Development Strategy and a number of efforts
focused on ICTs. In other words, we at the Department of Science and Technology
(DST) have long recognised that ICTs are essential tools in generating economic
growth, and therefore creating jobs, fostering social development and improving
the quality of life.
In fact, all around us, new advances in ICTs are changing life as we know
it, mostly for the better, and in the process are also transforming the way
business is done, including government business.
In particular, my department, in collaboration with the Meraka Institute of
the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), is pursuing a number
of interventions to optimise the environment for the creation and
commercialisation of technology.
I would therefore strongly urge the Altech Academy to work in close
collaboration with the Meraka Institute not only in skilling our nation in ICTs
but also in the provision of solutions to diffuse and absorb ICTs into our
society.
We have an obligation to ensure that today's privileged digital generation
continues to relish the fruits of innovation and scientific breakthroughs all
around the world and it are opportunities such as those occasioned by the
launch of this academy that will pit our own youth among the best in the
industry.
Among others, we will rely on the students who grace the classes of this
academy to assist South Africa and the rest of the developing world in
addressing head-on the challenges of:
* a lack of critical mass in ICT research, development and innovation
* inadequate access to telecommunications in general, and broadband in
particular
* limited ICT skills.
The last of these challenges, limited ICT skills, should give us all
sleepless nights. I am heartened therefore that Altech has begun to address
this challenge by establishing this academy. For there is no doubt that, as
former Secretary-General of the United Nations puts it, Mr Koffi Annan, "ICTs
have the ability to empower people with knowledge, support faster economic
growth and thus strengthen material basis for development".
Accordingly, my department gives due recognition to the importance of ICT
research, development and innovation as key to harnessing the knowledge economy
towards which the whole country is striving. The Department of Science
Technology programmes will therefore continue to infuse ICTs in all aspects of
South African society.
In addition, and critical to the building of an information society, is the
adoption by the South African government earlier this year of a Free and Open
Source Software (Foss) policy. In particular, the Foss policy mandates all our
government departments to start considering alternatives to proprietary
software as a way of mitigating the high cost of ICTs and of stimulating local
innovation.
These interventions include directed research, development and innovation
programmes in specified ICT domains such as mobile and wireless technologies,
open source software, human computer interaction, human language technologies,
high performance computing, and information security, as well as ICT
application areas like e-health, e-education, ICTs for independent living and
e-government.
However, despite these and many notable successes in the ICT research,
development and innovation realm, we are still faced with the enormous
challenge of ensuring that our research, development and innovation efforts
translate into useful and usable new technologies, products and services, which
can be commercialised and thus boost the local ICT industry.
In this regard, I am pleased to report that Cabinet has approved the DST Ten
Year Plan for Innovation, by far the most forward-looking and clearest signal
of our commitment to a prosperous South Africa where all citizens benefit from
the fruits of our investment in knowledge, and its exploitation for the good of
our people.
One of the major initiatives proposed by the Ten-Year Plan is the urgent
establishment of the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA). Through TIA, we hope
to close the gap between the formal knowledge base and the real economy. The
TIA will therefore work towards removing the main barrier to the
commercialisation of technological innovations by consolidating the fragmented
funding instruments as we have today. Most importantly, TIA is destined to
stimulate the development of technology-based products, services and
enterprises.
I must now close my address by inviting all other business people to join
hands with government and co-invest in ICT research, development and innovation
programmes that have the potential not only to create markets and business
opportunities, but also to have a positive impact on the lives of ordinary
South Africans. Let us blaze new trails with a common good in mind: economic
growth for a knowledge economy and improved quality of life for all our
citizens.
With the powers you have bestowed upon me, I would like to now officially
launch the Allied Technology Academy.
Thank you.
Issued by: Department of Science and Technology
8 November 2007
Source: Department of Science and Technology (http://www.dst.gov.za)
