Deputy Minister Buti Manamela: 2021 Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators webinar

Address by the Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Mr Buti Manamela, on the occasion of the 2021 Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators webinar, 26 August 2021

Dr Mlungisi Cele, Acting CEO of NACI;

Dr Shadrack Moephuli, Chairperson of NACI;

Mr Dhesigen Naidoo, NACI Council Member and CEO of the Water Research Commission;

Mr Isaiah Engelbrecht, NACI Council Member and Divisional Head of Innovation and Knowledge Management at the City of Tshwane;

Dr Boitumelo Phakathi, NACI Council Member and Clinical Head of the Breast and Endocrine Surgical Unit at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital;

Ladies and gentlemen:

Science, technology and innovation (STI) are critical in supporting short, medium and long-term plans for inclusive and sustainable socio-economic development and improved quality of life and well-being.

As you may be aware, the South African STI Indicators Report is produced annually by the National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI) to monitor the performance of the national system of innovation (NSI).  The report provides information on the state of STI in South Africa over time and within a global context, indicating both strengths and weaknesses in the system.

The release of the 2021 report coincides with the global COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused many deaths and exposed the inadequacies of many countries' national systems of innovation, especially where these intersect with the health sector.  The pandemic has exacerbated global social and economic inequity.

In the South African context, this means that the challenges of inequality, unemployment, poverty and ecological degradation require even more urgent attention.  There is global consensus that progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals has been affected.  Difficulties in transforming energy systems and meeting globally agreed carbon-reduction targets mean that temperatures are likely to increase more than two degrees Celsius above pre‑industrial levels.  Developing countries and emerging economies will be most exposed to water shortages, food insecurity, premature de-industrialisation, and failures in health and social welfare systems.

These challenges make the need for robust and resilient scientific and technological capacities and capabilities even more critical.  In an interlinked but inequitable world, domestic systems of innovation are crucial for transforming science and technology into socially useful products and practices.

Arguably the best measure of the country's performance in various STI areas is provided by the Global Innovation Index (GII).  South Africa ranked 60th on the 2020 GII, an improvement from 63rd place in 2019.  The Innovation Inputs pillar remains a strong area for the country.

Among the BRICS group of countries, China is the most innovative, ranking 14th on the GII, with an especially strong 6th place for Innovation Outputs.  South Africa's ranking for Innovation Inputs is above that of Brazil and India, although it scores lowest within the BRICS group for Innovation

Outputs.  Among the most developed economies, the United States and United Kingdom perform very well on Innovation Inputs, while Singapore is the leader in this area.

Ladies and gentlemen, the opportunities offered by the recent consolidation of the Department of Science and Innovation and the Department of Higher Education and Training under the shared political oversight of a single Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation should be seized.  The emergence of the new Ministry facilitates a perspective on the NSI that focuses and mobilises the complementary roles of the various higher education, science, technology and innovation institutions in knowledge generation and technological innovation.

As part of this, the Minister has requested the National Advisory Council on Innovation to undertake an exploratory study focusing on the state of innovation in the country's Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges.

We believe this study will help us to situate the TVET sector in the larger context of the national system of innovation; to understand the significance of TVET college innovation activities; and to clarify how the TVET colleges contribute to innovation by other actors in the NSI, primarily through linkages between the TVET sector and other NSI actors.

This is important for our efforts to strengthen our skills development interventions through the post-school and training sectors, and thereby to enhance the performance of our national system of innovation.

In addition, there continue to be misconceptions about the TVET colleges and their importance in society.  We therefore see this study as enhancing our current efforts to promote and position the TVET colleagues as central players in our country's skills development drive, particularly for skills related to science, technology and innovation.

Congratulations to NACI and to all those who contributed to this study.  We look forward to the presentation of the detail of this study, but most importantly, we look forward to hearing what practical steps we can take to translate the findings of the report into practice.

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