Academy of Sciences of SA, Africa Institute of SA 2012 Annual Performance Plans

Meeting report

Academy of Sciences of South Africa 2012 Annual Performance Plan
Professor Robin Crewe, President, Academy of Sciences of South Africa, presented the Annual Performance Plan of the Academy (ASSAf) for 2012. He noted that in a country that aspired to move to a knowledge economy, it was important to have a well functioning Academy of Science, and to assign specific roles to it, as set out in the goals that ASSAf would present.

He noted that the primary function of ASSAf was to recognise and award excellence in all the fields of scholarship in the country. The word “science” was used in the generic sense and was not limited to the natural sciences, and the Academy’s membership was broad and multi-disciplinary, including those working in engineering, law, the health sciences, the humanities and the social sciences.

One of the primary functions of ASSAf was recognition and reward of excellence, and the promotion of innovation and scholarly activities. ASSAf also provided effective, evidence-based scientific advice to policy makers and to civil society, whilst another important function was the promotion of interest in and awareness of science education, ensuring that school learners received a very solid foundation in science education. It also promoted national, regional and international linkages with other science academies.

ASSAf was aligned to government’s goals of strengthening skills and the resource base, as well as regional development and the development of academies on the Continent. The Academy also focused on improving the health profile, rural development, food security, and environmental assets and natural resources.

A new Council and new President would be elected in October 2012, as the recent amendments to the legislation reduced the term of office to two years. There had been significant engagement with the Auditor-General (AG) in the last few months, and audit requirements were being implemented.

The Scholarly Publishing Programme, consisting of a number of activities, was a major intervention in the knowledge environment. The strategic goals of this programme were to enhance the capacity of individuals to produce and publish research, and to increase the quality and the visibility of South African research publications. The programme was initially funded, under a three-year contract, by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) but ASSAf was looking at supporting the programme even further.

ASSAf, following a request from the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), was currently peer reviewing all South African scholarly journals, in order to make recommendations on subsidy recognition for various journals. The fields already reviewed were listed (see attached presentation), and only high quality journals would be taken onto the Academy’s Open Access Platform.

Prof Crewe gave more details on the Open Access Platform, which was offered through the Scientific Electronic Library on Line (SciELO), and noted that journals were being uploaded whilst the accreditation applications were being considered. He tabled the access figures of SciELO, which illustrated how the Open Access Platform had grown over the past 18 months, as well as the international impact. The Open Access Programme was started in collaboration with Brazil and then successfully transferred to South Africa. This Programme allowed showcasing of South African scholarship internationally. ASSAf was negotiating an agreement with Thompson Reuters, who owned the Web of Knowledge (WoK), on which all scholarly publications internationally were placed, and this would give huge visibility to South African scholarly publications, and be of great importance for the development of indigenous knowledge in this country. A BRICS network of academies was developing, and should be launched later in the year, in conjunction with
DST and the Brazilian Embassy.

Another component was the online scientific writing course, funded by the International Academies of Medical Practice (IAMP), and the ASSAf had recently hosted a workshop for young medical science graduates, based on those online modules.

DST and DHET had both requested ASSAf to review access to commercial scholarly databases, and negotiate a national subscription so that all universities would have equal access to databases.

Prof Crewe then turned to the Policy Advisory Programme, which gave advice on issues in health, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education, Science for Poverty Alleviation, Biosafety and Biosecurity, Humanities, and Water. ASSAf placed emphasis on policy commentaries, and in the previous year had commented on the Department of Energy’s Integrated Resource Plan. Its members were able to supply commentaries speedily, and ASSAf intended to localise the information in a number of reports from various international academies to the South African context.

He outlined some aspects of the Policy Advisory Programme in each category. In the Biosafety and Biosecurity area, he noted the major controversy around synthetic laboratory generation of flu viruses, but said this was a very important emerging technology that needed funding and further research. The main focus in the area of Science for Poverty Alleviation, was the dissemination of a policymakers’ booklet on ‘Regulation of Agricultural Biotechnology in Africa’, focusing on genetically modified organisms (GMOs), setting out their risks and advantages. The work on the Energy IRP led to a workshop on Nuclear Energy Safety, attracting speakers from France, Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Prof Crewe noted that Sydney Brenner, a South African who had won a Nobel prize, donated part of his Nobel prize winnings to ASSAf for establishment of a post-doctoral fellowship, on condition that the holders could be nationals from any country, but must do their research in South Africa. ASSAf was seeking additional funding for the fellowships. It was also engaging with the Academy of Science of the Developing World (TWAS) to attract more TWAS fellows, and DST was committed to funding six post-doctoral fellowships.

A South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS) was launched in October 2011, and the annual meeting of the Global Young Academy of Science (GYAS) would be held in South Africa in May 2012, bringing young global leaders and senior scientists to engage with South Africa’s young scientists, and encouraging development of their careers and ensure succession within ASSAf.

Prof Crewe listed ASSAf’s activities and liaison internationally (see attached presentation for details), noting that these included liaison of the African Union Science and Technology Minister’s group, joint activities in the Southern African Development Community, the G-Science Academy (G8 countries plus BRICS).

The Chairperson interjected that another four countries considered were South Korea, Indonesia, Columbia and Australia.

Prof Crewe said it had always been an anomaly that some countries, like Australia, South Korea, Argentina and Morocco, were not part of this group, particularly since Morocco was very involved in the area of energy development.

He continued that ASSAf also had long ongoing collaboration with the German Academy of Science, with whom a workshop would be held on ‘Technologies for a Low Carbon Future’.

Prof Crewe finally outlined the financial statements, noting that the baseline allocation for 2012/13 was  R13.47 million, whilst anticipated expenditure amounted to R17.2 million, giving a projected deficit of R2.76 million. ASSAf had plans to deal with some financial challenges, including exploring separate funding for the Open Access Platform.

Discussion
Ms S Plaatjie (COPE) asked if there were specific areas on which the Academy was working, especially around improvement of rural development and food security.

Prof Roseanne Diab, Executive Officer: ASSAf, responded that the Academy looked at the overarching role of government, and tried to align with areas where it felt it cold contribute. In 2008, ASSAf had published a report how rural subsistence agriculture could be promoted, and in 2009 had published another report on local economic development in small towns. In future, it would be working on revitalising education in the agriculture sector, was making a proposal for a consensus study, and hoped that would be completed before the end of 2012. In addition, ASSAf was focusing on GMOs in African agriculture, for both South Africa and the region, which should contribute towards food security and rural development.

Ms Plaatjie asked about how ASSAf would address its financial challenges, and also asked about staffing.

Prof Crewe responded that the Academy had 21 positions, of which 19 were filled. A conscious decision was taken not to fill the other two posts, but to address the financial challenges.

Ms Plaatjie asked whether DST had given any positive response to funding requests.

Prof Crewe noted that ASSAf was still in discussions with the DST, and that was likely to be resolved during this financial year.

Ms Z Ndlazi (ANC) asked for clarification on alignment with government goals, and how rural development could lead to improvements in food security.

Ms Ndlazi asked for more detail on the Young Scientists Conference, and how this was communicated to the communities.

Prof Diab responded that the conference was normally held in October each year, and that notices were circulated to the Academy’s membership and universities, but she would also notify the Committee.

The Chairperson noted that he had attended the World Science Forum, but did not see any representatives from ASSAf.

Prof Crewe said he had attended the World Science Forum in 2010, as well as the meeting for the Presidents of Academies of Science. ASSAf had to make a choice what meetings to attend, and in 2012 had decided to attend the TWAS annual conference, in Beijing, during which there would also be a meeting of the Presidents of the Academies of Science.  

The Chairperson asked if ASSAf was looking into the challenges facing soil science, water scarcity and water stress in South Africa, which seemed not to be receiving enough focus.

Prof Diab responded that some members of the Academy had expertise in soil science and would probably make out a good case for focusing attention on this area, but ASSAf could not focus on every area. It had touched on soil science through its committee on Science for Poverty Alleviation, but had not yet specifically promoted this field, other than recognising its importance to ground water, through the study on the state of water in Southern Africa.

The Chairperson said Prof Maxwell of Stellenbosch University had done a lot of work on soil science, including the consequences of neglect over the years, and suggested that ASSAf should collaborate with him, as it had important ramifications for food security and the land question.

Prof Crewe added that perhaps ASSAf should extend the discussions with the Agricultural Research Council to include this issue well.

The Chairperson asked that the Committee to be invited to the conference on the La Main a la Pate Project in South Africa at the end of the year.

The Chairperson asked for clarification on the controversy and significance of synthetic generation of flu viruses in the laboratory.

Prof Crewe clarified that, in an attempt to understand flu pandemics, there had been an attempt some years ago to reconstruct the flu virus of the early 1900s. More recently, laboratory scientists were investigating the reconstruction of the H5N1 virus (Avian ‘flu virus), and whilst it was possible to do so, for the purposes of producing vaccines, there were concerns about biosafety, as it was not yet known whether this would result in a mild or aggressive form of flu.

The Chairperson further noted that he had also attended the Astronautical Congress, as well as the Scientists Forum of Japan, but again had not seen an ASSAf representative there, and asked why.

Prof Crewe responded that the Academy tried to identify members of the Academy who would be attending, and ask them also to represent ASSAf. He pointed out that many South African delegates would be representing both their own institutions and ASSAf.

The Chairperson asked what Mauritius offered in the science field.

Prof Diab responded that the Mauritius Academy of Science and Technology, with whom ASSAf had collaborated, was new but quite active, despite not receiving funding from the Mauritian government. ASSAf had useful interaction in a number of areas, particularly water and GMOs. This country was also active in the fields of agriculture, energy, particularly renewable energy, and the well established sugar industry.

The Chairperson asked for more information on what ASSAf had done in nuclear energy and safety, noting that he would be participating in the South African International Nuclear Conference at the end of May. ASSAf would be central to guiding institutions of government in that respect.

Prof Crewe responded that one aspect concerned safety of the plants themselves, which was quite well established, but the other aspect concerned the critical safety controls over nuclear fuels, from production, to use in the reactor, through to disposal, and this would be the main areas of focus. A number of ASSAf members, and one of its Council, would attend that conference.

The Chairperson said consideration also had to be taken in the design stage and one of the papers to be presented at that conference was concerned with design and relative safety, cost and ease of maintenance of the various options.

Prof Crewe agreed that essentially the question came to whether the design of the reactors was inherently safe and would allow for automatic shut down. In Japan, twenty reactors that all had automatic shut down facilities, but in Fukushima, the tsunami had destroyed the power supply that controlled the safety features.

The Chairperson said TWAS was one of the organisations very active in the World Science Forum in Budapest, along with another newer organisation operating in the Islamic countries, and asked if ASSAf had relationships with these.

Prof Crewe responded that ASSAf would engage via other members of the African network who had dual membership, such as Uganda and Morocco.

The Chairperson asked if there had been collaboration with Prof Janice Simpson, who used to edit science journals.

Prof Crewe responded that Prof Janice Simpson produced a web-based publication, called Science for Africa, which summarised some of the scientific discoveries in South Africa in a more popular format. Whilst the South African Journal on Science was a peer review scientific journal, Prof Simpson’s Science for Africa had a different audience, and was not peer reviewed, although there was interaction.

The Chairperson asked for more details on the status of African Science Academy Development Initiative (ASADI)

Prof Crewe responded that ASADI was coming to an end, and after its last annual meeting in Nigeria, in November 2012, its functions would be transferred to the Network of African Academies of Science (NASAC), who would then run the annual meetings from 2013, with the support, in 2013, of the Ethiopian Academy of Science, the Royal Society of London, Leopoldina of Germany and the Canadian and US Academies of Sciences.

The Chairperson wondered if this would be similar to the ESAC network.

Prof Crewe replied that ASSAf currently was engaging with ESAC, who had a well developed mechanism for interacting with the European Union, from which ASSAf and NASAC could take lessons.  

The Chairperson commented that South Africa should perhaps also try to establish more links in the African Union, and the AU must take a greater part in the World Science Forum.

Africa Institute of South Africa (AISA) 2012 Annual Performance Plans & Strategic Plan
Dr Matlotleng Matlou, Chief Executive Officer, Africa Institute of South Africa, tendered apologies on behalf of Dr Hlatshwayo, Chairperson of the Council. He noted that the Africa Institute of South Africa (AISA) was a statutory body, that aimed to provide research and policy development support for programmes that contributed to the development of the African continent, as well as researching and offering training programmes that fostered patriotism, awareness and understanding of the African continent. It also established and participated in networks, both in Africa and globally, that would contribute to the peace, development and prosperity of the Continent. Its strategic objectives included producing and encouraging knowledge production and dissemination on African affairs, increasing the number and quality of researchers, building visibility of AISA, developing a performance led culture within AISA, and improving the control and governance environment and compliance with legislation.

Dr Matlou outlined the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, both internal and external (see attached presentation) and said AISA took active steps to deal with both. It aimed to strengthen its niche in dealing with African issues, look at recommendations from the 10 Institutional Review, develop greater visibility through communication and marketing strategies, seek more partners in and beyond South Africa, and seek further funding.

Challenges that were common to all African states included the state of development in Africa, and the need to improve public services, health care and access to quality education. Africa needed to ensure cohesive and sustainable communities without conflict, crime and corruption, and achieve sustainable use of resources, rural development, food security and land reform.

Key business drivers were the South African government priorities of education, employment creation, health, rural development, and safety and security. He also tabled a vision for the African Union, mentioning dignity, development and prosperity, and making Africa a dynamic force internationally.

Dr Matlou summarised some of the work in which AISA was involved, tied in with the research agenda. In the past year it had published a book on the divide between North Africa and Sub Saharan Africa, primarily looking at the Arab Spring, and would continue to look into lessons learned and the current Sudan conflicts. It had researched the decisions of the ICC in Ivory Coast and Libya, continued to research elections and post-election violence in Nigeria and DRC, and was following up on the growth of inter-Africa trade, and publishing a book on South Africa and BRICS, with authors from each BRICS country.

He noted that AISA partnered with other organisations in Africa, and participated in a broad fellowship programme of authors. AISA constantly engaged monitoring and evaluation exercises to check the relevance of its plans.

AISA had met most of the targets for the last year, and, in response to suggestions, had produced more policy briefs and produced a number of books (see attached presentation for details). It had held a conference at the University of Venda for young graduates throughout South Africa, as well as some European students, and another conference in conjunction with a US foundation, and universities of Venda and Uganda, and was planning another at University of North West for the following year.

AISA also dealt with a number of monographs, and was hoping to publish a special edition of the Africa Insight journal to mark the tenth African Union anniversary. A conference would be held on 23 and 24 May, as a side event of the Africa Diaspora Summit.

In respect of the programme on governance and democracy, Dr Matlou said that AISA had done research into Senegal, Mali, Guinea Bissau, and was watching developments in Angola, Kenya and Zimbabwe. It was doing work comparing issues in the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and Southern African Development Community (SADC), and regional economic communities in Africa. Smaller countries such as Swaziland and Lesotho relied heavily on customs revenue.

AISA also continued to work on 21^st Century Global Governance, and was working on special economic zones, and reviewing FOCAC plan 2009 to 2012 and researching Africa’s relationship with China.

In the area of Peace and Security, AISA was undertaking a book project entitled ‘Peace from Within’, and noted a conference dealing with issues of child soldiers, rehabilitation and reconciliation.

AISA collaborated with Mauritius on water issues, and the impact of climate change on islands, both in terms of fresh water and rising ocean levels.

In the education field, The Archie Mafeje Memorial Lectures were held on 28 March, dealing with African centred education, and a further conference would be held, in conjunction with the Human Sciences Research Council later in the year. The Archie Mafeje Memorial Institute would be launched by UNISA. again, recognising a widely known South African scholar that made an input in the country. It was also investigating Ghana and Tanzanian systems, the use of Swahili and the legacy of Julius Nyerere.

AISA was also researching rights of indigenous people, and cited a court case in which the Kenyan government was ordered to take indigenous rights into account when planning development. In South Africa, it was linking this to the Traditional Courts Bill, recognition of indigenous knowledge systems and the balance between modernity and traditional processes.

AISA investigated organic farming in Uganda, a small country that practised organic agriculture. Its Geo-Information Systems programme continuously collated and generated data used in maps and books, and last year administrative boundaries across Africa ha received focus. In conjunction with the National Research Foundation, there had been investigation of ecological systems, including complex socio-ecological systems in South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. DST had invited AISA’s engagement on green issues, and this was an area of possible development.

It was noted that AISA worked with a number of external partners, including Standard Bank, who had a large footprint on the African continent, and wanted to understand more about the communities where it worked. Seminars were held covering issues not only in Africa, but also Russia, Brazil and China.

One of AISA’s researchers was working with the African Standards Organisation on food in the tourism industry, and it was interesting to note that Mozambique, Thailand and Hong Kong tourists were offered “informal food sector” meals, without any suggestion that this was in any way inferior to food prepared in expensive restaurants.

Research outputs in the last year had matched the targets for the most part, but some journal articles were still undergoing peer review. AISA sought to grow young researchers and publish their papers. The State of Africa was one of its flagship publications. In 2012/13 it would publish chapters on the Second Decade of Education, whilst Africa at a Glance and Africa A-Z would be updated.

Summaries were given of a number of partnerships in Venezuela, Swaziland, the Ambassadorial Forum, DRC, and with musicians. DST was collaborating on publications and on studies on use of water from the Nile. It also would partner with China, Brazil, and the North-South Institute (Canada) on natural resource usage on the African continent.

Special projects and initiatives for the current financial year would include the electoral monitoring project in Sudan, work on the second book about the divide between North Africa and Sub Saharan Africa, lecturing to various armed forces, and hosting the highest-ranking female officer in Sierra Leone, through a project on Women and Defence. It would also co-host a two-week training programme on Managing Global Governance. It was waiting on the government of Southern Sudan to release its first annual figures on population, GDP and other matters, to prepare for cartography.

AISA had visited schools in the last year, reaching over 1 000 young learners, following up with some attending the programme ‘Man in the Making’, and it continued to build its library and use conferences and seminars to network.

Ms Elsie Maritz, Chief Financial Officer, AISA, tabled the financial statements, and noted that the main source of income was the grant allocation from DST, which contributed 90% of the total revenue, whilst the remainder was derived from sale of books, maps, special project income, partnerships, membership and royalty fees, as well as interest. AISA’s employee costs and running costs accounted for 70% of expenditure, which meant that only 30% was left for research and delivery of outputs. It had managed, in the last year, to reduce employee costs from 63% to 51% of budget, although this had resulted in restrictions of human capital. It projected no deficit and no surplus and would try to save costs wherever possible, although this was a challenge, given that it had received only a 4.3% increase in the grant for 2012/13. Costs saved were put towards research.

Dr Matlou summarised that AISA would continue to build quality assurance, and reconstitute the editorial board of the Institute’s journals, under Professor Chris Landsberg as editor. AISA would be strengthening its relationships with Fellows, was looking to produce more policy briefs and changing the ways it communicated, including blogs and social media. It aimed to foster a growing interest in science, apart from the Science Week, and adopt best practices from other countries

Discussion
Ms Plaatjie asked how the promotion and knowledge of African affairs could be enhanced, particularly if AISA had insufficient IT and assets.

Dr Matlou responded that the younger researchers, in particular, tried to publicise their work on the social media, and internet was used as much as possible. All policy briefs were uploaded to the website, and AISA reduced its production via the print media, concentrating rather on radio, including African language stations.

Ms Plaatjie asked how AISA identified schools for its programmes, which areas it targeted and whether rural areas were included.

Dr Matlou responded that AISA would work with provincial and district levels of the Department of Basic Education, to target a number of schools in one area.

The Chairperson noted that AISA had a number of foreign researchers, including those from other African countries, and he had heard rumours that these researchers were sub-contracting their research work to academics in their own countries, for a portion of the research funding. He asked if there was any truth in this.

Dr Matlou responded that similar questions had been raised in the previous year, but this was not the case. AISA had two researchers from Zimbabwe, one from Cameroon who had joined in March 2012, and one from Senegal, who had not gone into the field. The two from Zimbabwe had then gone to Uganda and DRC, whilst the one from Cameroon was working in Rwanda. AISA’s Research and Publications Committee would study the research agenda and proposals, before deciding whether to fund them. It was unlikely that any researcher could spend time away from AISA on holidays, as they spent a maximum of two weeks in the field, and had to deliver seminars on their return. This, and the peer review process, would soon isolate problems if the person had not attended personally to the research. He suggested that a formal request to look into the matters be lodged, so that the facts in each case could be outlined.

The Chairperson said that there was also an allegation that there were no criteria for determining salary increments, and these were given without assessment of abilities.

Dr Matlou responded that there was a set system for salary increases, passing through the HR Committee, the full Council, and taking into account DST recommended increases. AISA could not implement increases until they were signed off by Council. A moderating committee dealt with performance management, and researchers had to meet their research output requirements before being considered for performance bonuses. There was also a process for appeal if researchers were not satisfied.

The Chairperson noted that in future, when such complaints were noted, he would call for written reports or affidavits.

The Chairperson noted that the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) had informed the Committee of its research surveys, including one analysing sustainability of communities, and another on HIV and Aids, on the Continent. He asked if AISA collaborated with HSRC on these surveys.

Dr Matlou responded that AISA collaborated with the HSRC on other projects, but not necessarily on these. It would participate in the Social Sciences Conference in September, had participated in the 80^th anniversary of Prof Ben Magubane in 2010, and had worked with HSRC in the China / Africa Researchers Forum.

The Chairperson noted a recent radio interview that noted that reconciliation dialogue was vital, lest South Africa “sit on a time bomb of artificial freedom”.

Dr Matlou responded that the issue on South African dialogue had come to the fore since events in the previous month, and the increasing violence during strikes. He agreed that AISA could draw lessons from other countries, and their processes of restorative justice. Discords arose through differences in culture, power relationships, and gender, as well as through perceptions of corruption and wealth.

The Chairperson mused that many parents today were activists in the 1970s, and neither they, nor the schools, were disciplining their children enough to achieve a stable society.

Dr Matlou responded that this was not only found in South Africa, and although the form that violence took differed, it had been seen in the riots in the UK, whilst Twitter and IT revolutions had offered advantages, but also disadvantages in easy access to undesirable sites, including pornography. He noted that parents were faced with many constraints, including single parenting, and government, schools and parents had to work together.

Other business: International Study Tour
The Chairperson stressed that Members who did not attend meetings and did not take an interest in the work of the Committee would not be included in the study tour.

He noted a personal invitation to the Chairperson from the German Deputy Minister, to mark the Year of Science in Germany, adding that the dates for this fell within the planned dates for the Korean trip. It was agreed that the Committee Secretary indicate the acceptance of the invitation for July.

The meeting was adjourned.