Science and Technology
26 May 2006
Cape Town - Science and Technology Minister Mosibudi Mangena today outlined
the 2006/7 budget allocation for his department, which has seen an inflow of
R1,2 billion of new money for the country's publicly funded science and
technology (s&t) system.
The Department of Science and Technology's (DST) budget over the Medium Term
Expenditure Framework (MTEF) has seen an increase of 26% to its budget
allocation, most of which will be used to fund new scientific research
infrastructure such as the Centre for High Performance Computing (CHPC).
During his budget vote speech in Parliament this morning, Minister Mangena
said that "the [CPHC] will function as a national innovation platform and
deliver a significant return on investment for the country by harnessing the
application of high-performance computing for positive social impact."
The Minister added that this will "foster research with particular reference
to major infectious diseases such as HIV/Aids, climate change and new research,
including amongst other things, semantic and grid Web application simulations
for the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) design as well as for promoting advanced
manufacturing technology through computer simulation of design and
manufacturing."
Top priority on Minister Mangena's agenda is the need to increase the speed
of delivery when he said that "technological and scientific innovation can be
viewed as the accelerator that allows our economic growth to increase its
speed. The more we can do and the faster we can do it, the richer our lives
will become."
South Africa is involved in a number of s&t initiatives and
international partnerships aimed at creating s&t platforms especially in
information and communications technology (ICT). One major initiative in this
regard is the South African Research Network (SANReN) - a high speed network
that will enable the exchange of research data between SA research institutions
with counterparts around the world.
At the end of three phases of implementation and operationalisation it is
envisaged that SANReN will connect approximately 45 institutions through a
10-20 Gigabyte national backbone and a 2,5 Gigabyte international connection to
similar research network across the world. Phase one has already begun with a
total funding of R178 million over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework.
Skills development in s&t remains a challenge for the DST a key focus of
which is to popularise mathematics and science related careers at high school
level. The number of students enrolling for science, engineering and technology
(SET) related studies at higher learning institutions remains low compared to
other fields. A number of interventions have been identified, including the
Youth into Science Strategy, which will be presented to Cabinet during this
year.
In closing Minister Mangena said that the "DST has once again delivered on
its core mandate. To be precise, DST spent 99.84% of our budget in the previous
financial year. This ability to deploy resources, even with a growing budget,
is one of the hallmarks of this Department. I think it demonstrates how hungry
we are for these allocations, and how quickly we can put them to use."
For media enquiries contact:
Nhlanhla Nyide, General Manager: Science Communication, Department of Science
and Technology
Cell: 082 871 6767
E-mail: nhlanhla.nyide@dst.gov.za
Kristin Klose, Director: Communication, Department of Science and
Technology
Cell: 082 902 9503
E-mail: kristin.klose@dst.gov.za
The Ministry of Science and Technology:
Nelvis Qekema, Ministerial Liaison
Cell: 082 571 2571
E-mail: nelvis.qekema@dst.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Science and Technology
26 May 2006
