Minister Pandor’s remarks at the Innovation Bridge showcase and Matchmaking event opening plenary, Gallagher Estate in Midrand
Our National Development Plan recognises science, technology and innovation as central to our efforts to achieve higher economic growth.
It seeks to ensure that South Africa's public policy fosters socio-economic growth and industry-science linkages through increased investments in research, human capital development, intellectual property and trade in high-technology industries.
Our various policy and strategy documents have identified the existence of what is called an "innovation chasm" in our system. To address this in 2008 we established of a new institution, which we called the Technology Innovation Agency, or TIA.
In establishing TIA we envisaged a public institution that would strengthen the country's capacity to translate local research and development into technology-based products and services for socio-economic development.
TIA's primary focus is to provide "early" and second-stage funding, combined with non-financial support, taking into account that existing funding institutions typically focus on late stage funding, such as the Industrial Development Corporation and the Development Bank of Southern Africa.
TIA is intended to build capabilities within the national innovation system, to better understand business risk, to conceptualise appropriate financing instruments, and to provide broad technological innovation incubation support and coordination across all sectors of the economy.
The creation of strategic local and international partnerships by TIA is essential to leverage capital inflow for technological development, technology transfer and translation of research results and intellectual property to useful products and services.
In addition, Offices of Technology Transfer (OTTs) have been established at 23 South African universities and 10 science councils. These Offices are responsible for the development and implementation of policies for disclosure of all IP created; identification of IP; appropriate protection as well as the commercialisation of the IP and benefit-sharing provisions for the creators.
Highly skilled individuals within the OTTs function as the connectors responsible for, among other things, identifying research opportunities that have potential and ensuring that these are explored so that the ensuing IP is utilised to ultimately result in products, processes or services that reach the market and have an impact on the lives of South Africans.
OTTs generally manage relationships with funding parties, particularly with industry, and are responsible for broad scale IP awareness. OTTs may also drive a number of entrepreneurship activities and may manage seed funding to take an idea closer to the market – for example in the development of a prototype or pilot.
The IB initiative is the realisation of one of the Department’s objectives of creating an enabling environment where there is an opportunity for technology developers, private and public sector, HEIs and science councils, funders and financiers to have an opportunity to meet, network, formulate partnerships and showcase some of South Africa’s best publicly funded technological innovations.
