Question NW4165 to the Minister of Science and Technology

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18 December 2015 - NW4165

Profile picture: Madisha, Mr WM

Madisha, Mr WM to ask the Minister of Science and Technology

(a) Whether the National System of Innovation was resulting in a year-on year increase in the respect of (a) productive research, (b) economic and professional exploitation of knowledge in South Africa, (c) leveraging of private sector and international funding for innovation, (d) building knowledge-generation and knowledge-exploitation capabilities in rural and historically disadvantage higher education institutions and (e) developing and strengthening regional and provincial innovation systems and capabilities to meet community and industry demands; if not, why not, in each case; if so, what are the relevant details in each case?

Reply:

a) Yes. South Africa's scientific output, measured by publications in internationally accredited journals, increased at an average rate of 10% per year from 2003 to 2012, representing an average growth of 624 publications per year. This is much higher than the world average, with a steady increase in the country’s share of the world’s journal publication (from 0.49% in 2003 to 0.73% in 2012).

Several reports (Africa Innovation Outlook -2012; Global Research Report – 2010, and UNESCO Institute for Statistics Information Bulletin) confirm that South Africa leads the continent in for example, the largest proportion of researchers per employed population in Africa, spending on research and development (R&D) in US dollar terms (based on purchasing power parity, and the number of internationally recognized research outputs).

b) Yes. Trends from the National Intellectual Property Management Office (NIPMO) provide indication of progress with regard to the economic and professional exploitation of knowledge in South Africa. NIPMO has now been in place for five years and systems are in place to collect information on invention disclosures (in the form of patents, designs, copyrighted work, new software, plant breeders’ rights and trademarks) arising from scientific and technological research activities as well as formation of new enterprises and technology transfer activities.

For example, invention disclosures arising from publicly funded R&D, statistics collected by NIPMO indicate a growth in these activities with over 1000 disclosures having been reported to NIPMO since 2010 starting with 96 disclosures during 2010/11 financial year and increasing progressively to 252 disclosures during 2014/15.  During 2015/16 disclosures are on track to exceed the figures of 2014/15 financial year.  These disclosures are being tracked to monitor whether the intellectual property is being protected in terms of a granted patent, design, trade mark, etc. and the status of commercialisation/exploitation of this intellectual property. 

Furthermore, it is noted that since 2010 the number of granted patents being managed by an office of technology transfer has doubled while the number of licenses granted has almost tripled.  Over 5% of more than 1000 disclosures have been commercialised with revenue in excess of R2,5 million accruing to the institutions.  Based on an internationally accepted 5:95 rule this means that R47.5 million has accrued in terms of economic growth to the country as a whole.  These are very encouraging figures considering the early days of this piece of legislation, having only celebrated its five year anniversary in August 2015.

c) Yes. In the 2014/15 financial year, the DST was able to secure R354 600 000 of foreign funds from international partners through agreed science, technology and innovation instruments for knowledge production, technology transfer, enhance innovation, and STI human capital development.

To ensure that the DST is leveraging private sector funding for innovation, the 2015-2020 Strategic Plan now includes a specific indicator to monitor the level of investment in research, development, and innovation (RDI) partnerships by government and the private sector. Nevertheless, the current low levels of business confidence do impact on the willingness of the private sector to commit to long-term spending on RDI. The DST is however addressing this constraint in a number of ways. For example, the DST is utilising the R&D Tax Incentive, as well as the Sector Innovation Funds (SIFs) as vehicles to attract private sector investment.

d) Yes. The DST has various initiatives and programmes for strengthening knowledge generation and knowledge-exploitation capabilities of historically disadvantaged higher education institutions. For example, in the bioeconomy arena through the initiative of the DST a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Pfizer Inc. and the North-West University (NWU) was signed for the potential use of Pfizer's genetically modified animal models for evaluations in oncology, inflammation and immunology, as well as central nervous system and cardiovascular system disorders. Furthermore, other initiatives which are meant to empower the previously disadvantaged higher education institutions include the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) indicated in the Table below. The main goal of the Research Chairs initiative is to strengthen and improve research and innovation capacity of public universities for producing high quality postgraduate students and research and innovation outputs.

Table: South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI)

Research Chairs awarded

Previously disadvantaged institution

Computational Modelling of Materials

University of Limpopo

Biodiversity Value and Change in the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve

University of Venda

Nanotechnology

University of Zululand

Indigenous Knowledge Systems

Walter Sisulu University

Social Change

University of Fort Hare

Nuclear Engineering

North-West University

Astrophysics & Space Physics

North-West University

e) Yes. In terms of developing and strengthening regional and provincial innovation systems and capabilities, the DST supports the establishment of Regional Innovation Forums (RIF) to promote the development of regional and provincial innovation systems through the interaction of academia, industry/business, communities and government to support Provincial Growth and Development Strategies, Integrated Development Plans and development plans of local municipalities. The most active RIFs currently are in the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape and there is effort to scale up to other provinces.

Through the RIFs, the DST has supported hosting of strategy and planning workshops that led to regional innovation interventions with regard to the development of Regional/Provincial Innovation Strategies, feasibility studies and business plans for science parks or innovation hubs such as:

  • the networking, mentorship programme and innovation strategy workshops managed by the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) that led to  establishment of the Propella Business Incubator at NMMU. The Propella supports technology start-ups and accelerates existing SMMEs in the areas of energy  efficiency, renewable energy technology, advanced manufacturing and supply chain optimisation;
  • the Eastern Cape Provincial Innovation Strategy;
  • the Free State Feasibility study for the establishment of a Science Park;
  • the Science Park development in Southern Gauteng at the Vaal University of Technology (VUT);  and
  • support for networking and innovation forums in Western Cape.

 

Other areas planned for  receiving DST support for RIF and Science Park development include Kwa-Zulu Natal in support of the 4 Regional Technology Hubs that are currently being implemented, and  Science Park development in one of the Gauteng SEZs in collaboration with the Chinese Government.

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