Africa 2009
Grahamstown, Eastern Cape
26 March 2009
The programme director
Representatives of the Makana Local Municipality
Chairperson and members of the SciFest Africa National Advisory Committee
Deputy Vice chancellors of Rhodes University
Executive Director and Council members of the Grahamstown Foundation
Official representatives of the embassies
Group General Manager of SASOL Limited
General Manager and representatives from Old Mutual
Representatives from other official sponsors
Presenters and contributors
Ladies and gentlemen
SciFest Africa is the first science festival to be established in South
Africa after the release of the White Paper on Science and Technology in 1996.
It is now in its 12th year. During this period, we have also seen the growth of
a number of other science festivals in our country. And this is good news. The
more people are exposed to the marvels of science, technology, engineering and
mathematics, and the advantages they can bring through innovation, the more
people will want to be involved, and want their children to be involved.
However, more festivals do not necessarily translate into better quality
experience for the people who attend them. It takes a lot of work and knows how
to organise a successful science festival, and thatâs where SciFest Africaâs 12
years of experience shows. We hope the organisers of newer festivals will take
careful note of what goes on here, and equally hope that the SciFest organisers
will be generous in sharing their experience with the newcomers. We need more
scientists, and we need to raise interest levels in science among our people.
This is a national priority.
I learn with great interest that SciFest Africa intends to expand to other
parts of the continent. This is in line with the public science awareness
agenda of both the African Union and the Southern African Development Community
(SADC). As a region, we have now agreed to launch and promote an SADC Science
Week, and officials of the member states are currently engaging with one
another.
South Africa needs to have a national science, technology, engineering and
innovation public awareness strategy. Several components of this already exist,
both inside and outside government, and further progress towards the national
strategy will embrace the work that has already been done. The process will
bring together initiatives by all the role players, with my department playing
an important co-ordinating role.
Programmes and festivals designed to encourage public interest and
participation such as this one, are a very useful means of communicating with
the public. But it is equally, if not more important, to think carefully about
the range of activities included in such programmes. A balance must be struck
between activities designed to create a âwowâ reaction, and those that show the
impact of science, technology, mathematics and engineering on peopleâs daily
lives. For example, it is one thing to show why Eskom must impose load-shedding
when parts of its system are closed for scheduled maintenance, but it is
arguably more important for people to understand how this electricity is
generated; what resources in terms of coal, hydro-electric and nuclear power
are needed; why coal and water are finite resources and what steps our country
is taking to establish renewable energy supplies.
The question of electricity supply involves aspects of science, technology,
engineering, maths and innovation. Engineers build massive dams to support
hydroelectric schemes. Geologists work out where coal mines should be operated.
Engineers plan how to drill mine shafts and build the railway lines and roads
to transport the coal. Mathematicians plot how loads can be most effectively
spread through the national power grid. Scientists are working on alternative
supply choices, like thin solar panels, hydrogen engines, and improvements to
the lithium battery. Technologists are figuring out ways of improving atomic
reactors, and how to achieve less pollution in feasible ways. All these
professionals are looking for innovative ways of improving the performance of
their systems. And that is only in electricity and just a small part of it.
The aim of events like SciFest Africa is to enhance the publicâs
understanding of science and the important role it plays in modern society. Our
National research and development strategy encourages government to take a lead
in supporting initiatives to exploit scientific areas in which our country has
knowledge, or geographic advantage, or both.
For example, we are custodians of the coelacanth. Specimens of this living
fossil, a creature long thought to be extinct, were discovered off our East
Coast, near the Chalumna River, in 1938. The fish has an ancestry going back
millions of years, to the Cretaceous period, but has remained relatively
unchanged. We have a responsibility to ensure its continued existence. Here in
the Eastern Cape, the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity has been
hosting the African Coelacanth Ecosystem Programme since 2002. Significant
progress has been made, and the programme has now moved to a second phase,
which is mainly concerned with the delicate question of suitable levels of
involvement, by ordinary people, with the coelacanth fish and the ecosystem
programme in general. As far as the coelacanth is concerned, we have both
knowledge and a unique geographic advantage.
As already indicated, we are moving towards the development of a national
science, technology, engineering and innovation public awareness strategy. In
order to face a knowledge intensive future with confidence, we need to develop
a scientifically aware public. For this reason, organisers of events and
festivals with broad scientific content should be on the alert for developments
and issues of vital interest to the nation.
Ideally, we would like a mechanism to be developed, outside of government,
by means of which organisers are kept abreast of developments in new national
priority areas. It is the only effective way of engaging ordinary citizens in
ongoing debates over science and technology policy, instead of confining such
discussions to academics, professionals and government officials. A society
that understands the implications and impact of different science and
technological advancements on the environment and our daily lives will be in a
better position to deal with global challenges such as climate change and drug
addictions.
My department has developed a ten-year innovation plan that outlines the
manner in which we propose to promote innovation to drive our transformation
from a resource-based economy to a knowledge-based economy. In this plan, we
have identified five priority areas we wish to pay particular attention to.
These include strengthening our bioeconomy, developing space science and
technology, improving our energy security, increasing our ability to respond to
human and social dynamics, and dealing with global changes such as climate
change.
Careful implementation of this plan will go a long way in assisting the
department in its attempts to coordinate and steer the national system of
innovation towards the achievement of common objectives. We have great hopes
for this plan, and we want to infuse the same enthusiasm in more people to make
it work better.
I want to commend the organisers of SciFest Africa 2009 for representing
science as the global activity that it is, and for highlighting South Africaâs
role in the international community. The strong astronomy content, not only
demonstrates support for the International Year of Astronomy, but also bears
testimony to the fact that South Africa is a strong global player in this
field. We are bidding to host the most powerful radio telescope, the square
kilometre array, together with a number of African countries. If we succeed,
this will make Africa once again the global hub of astronomical activity that
it so richly deserves.
Since the beginning of this year, I have been involved in a number of
activities in which the private sector plays a forceful role in the development
of vital human resources. Once again, the strong support of SciFest Africa 2009
by the private sector is a clear demonstration of the collective determination
to build South Africa into a knowledge society. We thank and commend all the
companies that are collaborating in this noble effort.
We hope the people who are visiting SciFest Africa 2009 will become infected
with the enthusiasm for science. If you are a learner, give your imagination
free rein, and revel in the quality of the science showcased here. What more
motivation do you need to follow a science-based career? You can do much in
life with a science degree. And a career in science, engineering or technology
provides great intellectual and emotional rewards. As an academic in science,
you might even collaborate in changing the world hopefully for the better!
Fortunately, this science festival contains all the clues for making your
dreams come true.
That is why it gives me so much pleasure to declare SciFest Africa 2009
officially open. Have a great time!
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Science and Technology
26 March 2009
Source: Department of Science and Technology (http://www.dst.gov.za/)
