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17 March 2009

Chancellor, Mr Tokyo Sexwale
Vice Chancellor, Professor Moutlana
Academic and support staff of the Vaal University of Technology
Grandaunts, parents and relatives
Honoured guests
Ladies and gentlemen

It is now five years since the Ministry of Science and Technology was established. This seems an appropriate occasion to review briefly what we have accomplished in this time.

In order to give some context to what I have to say, I would like to make it clear that I believe, with the rest of government, that the future of our country is inextricably linked to our understanding of science, our use of technology, our ability to produce high calibre scientists, and our encouragement of a national climate conducive to creative thought and an appreciation of innovative minds and ideas.

These days science is an all-pervading influence, permeating our lives in travel and transport, in every form of communication, in building and construction, in all tiers of government, in our diets. There is little left untouched by science. And in the future it is probable that science will have an even greater influence on the way we live. It follows therefore; that in the future we are going to need more scientists, and logically, that more people are going to be attracted to science. But in South Africa this may be a very tenuous assumption.

Firstly, let me briefly acknowledge the solid foundation laid between 1994 and 2004 by the then Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology. There were a number of important initiatives during this period, the most significant being the White Paper on Science and Technology, published in 1996, and the National Research and Development Strategy of 2002.

The White Paper perceived science and technology as an enabler to make South Africa economically competitive on a global scale. Science was part of a drive towards a successful national system of innovation. The White Paper recognised the growing influence of globalisation and the importance of access to information. It recommended the establishment of a number of new innovation entities, including the National Advisory Council on Innovation, and endorsed the concept of lifelong learning.

The National Research and Development Strategy articulated a vision, and proposed ways of attaining that vision. It placed a huge value on human capital, and proposed that the spirit and practice of innovation be treated as a national asset. The strategy rested on three pillars: (1) innovation, (2) science, engineering and technology human resources and transformation; and (3) the creation of an effective government science and technology system.

The document recognised the vital need for a substantial increase in South Africa's investment in research and development, which was a paltry 0,7% of gross domestic product (GDP) at the time – a worryingly low investment in our future compared to the 2,15% average for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. It also acknowledged South Africa's responsibility for more productive connections with Africa. Again, innovation was recognised as the engine of economic growth and wealth creation.

This, in very broad outline, was the framework that had been established when the Ministry was born in 2004.

At the time, it was recognised that there was a pressing need to interest more of our young people in the sciences. A number of human capital development programmes were launched, among them the centres of excellence, and the South African Research Chairs Initiative. Since then we have established 72 research chairs at our higher education institutions, 16 of which are in new disciplines. A further 15 chairs are in the pipeline, and our target is to establish 210 research chairs by 2010.

Although these initiatives are having a positive effect, our major challenge is at school level. The number of school leavers who have science as a Grade 12 subject remains stubbornly at about 5% of the total nowhere near enough. The number of those who continue with science after school is lower, and even fewer students go on to do masters and doctoral degrees in science.

The hard fact is that 94,7% of our school leavers are either not interested in science and technology, or do not think themselves capable of careers in these fields. And if this trend continues, our country's future will be compromised. We have to intensify our efforts to interest young people in the sciences at an early age, or risk losing more of our brightest and best minds to the scientific disciplines forever.

It is partially to address this problem that the Youth into Science Strategy was launched. A network of science centres is being established across the country, and this initiative is being supplemented by the annual National Science Week events, maths and science camps for learners, programmes for educators, increased support for existing science centres, and the mobilisation of the corporate sector in backing science awareness campaigns. The number of science centres has increased from nine to 17 in the past three years, and our long-term goal is to have a science centre in every district.

What is at stake here is nothing less than the future of our society. Without the required number of scientists, technologists and engineers, our National System of Innovation will be rendered completely ineffectual, with disastrous effects on our infrastructure, the environment and the economy. We cannot allow our young Einstein to be overlooked. We must fight for their attention.

South Africa continues to play an important role in the development, integration and unification of Africa, principally through our participation in New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), and science and technology is a critical element in this effort. Our clear duty is to share our strategies and our knowledge with our fellow Africans, so that they too can enjoy the increasing benefits that the sciences have to offer. South Africa served as Chair of the African Ministers' Council for Science and Technology for the first two years after NEPAD came into existence, and our country currently chairs the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Science and Technology Committee.

There are many challenges, but there are also windows of opportunity, and we have had some significant victories. A good example is in the field of astronomy, where we have been particularly successful. This is due, not only to the accident of our geographic position, but also to the excellence of our scientists. As you know, the Southern African Large Telescope, or SALT, was launched in 2006, and this brought us a step closer to creating a hub of astronomy research in southern Africa, helped by international initiatives such as the Group on Earth Observation. Our leadership role in this progressive multilateral body has ensured that our satellite ground stations at the CSIR become central to the downloading and processing of China-Brazil Earth Resource Satellites imagery and its distribution cost-free throughout Africa. The data assists greatly in agricultural planning and resource management for significant areas of the continent.

As many of you will know, we are hoping to take our activities in the field of astronomy further by co-ordinating an international bid – which includes several African partner countries – to host the extraordinary new radio telescope, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). The SKA will give the world insights which no other telescope has been able to provide. With it we will be able to examine the birth of the universe, and look for life in distant galaxies. To prove South Africa's expertise, we are currently in the process of building a smaller, demonstration telescope which we have named the MeerKAT, and which is coming on famously. This country, and our friends, the Australians, are the two remaining bidders. Of course, we believe we have the better site and the better plan. Our cricket and rugby teams have enjoyed many victories over the Aussies in the past year, and I'm sure our astronomy team is equally competitive.

In order to gather intelligence on our country's progress towards a knowledge economy, we have made it our business to publicise the statistics on our R&D spending as a percentage of GDP, and have set ourselves a target to increase investment. Our current target is 1% of GDP, and we are very close to achieving this. Once we have reached it, we will set a new target, as we are still far behind our competitors. Nonetheless, there has been a significant increase in the past few years, with two of the major beneficiaries of research funding being biotechnology and nanotechnology. These disciplines are beginning to flourish in South Africa, and clearly demonstrate that, with the right support, we can succeed in taking South Africa's economy beyond the resource-based activities it currently depends on.

Encouraged by these and other positive developments, my department has taken a number of bold steps. One of these is the creation of the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) a new public entity designed to provide financial assistance to enable individuals or groups to develop and commercialise their technological innovations and inventions. The agency will also draw together and integrate the management of disparate technological innovation initiatives at the early development stage.

Through the Innovation Fund, which will now become part of TIA, we are already backing several promising innovations initiated by private enterprises. In Cape Town we are supporting optimal energy, the developers of the country's first electric car, the pollution-free, six-seater Joule. In Paarl, we are promoting a pilot plant to produce thin-cell solar panels, following the original work done by Professor Vivian Alberts and his team at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) on photovoltaic cells, essentially a more robust, less costly and more effective solar panel.

In Durban, we are involved with the production of the world's lightest and most fuel-efficient light aircraft engine. In Krugersdorp, we have supported an initiative that will enhance the country's ability to beneficiate more of its abundant zircon, adding value to the raw material to create zirconium products for the world market. In Pretoria, we have backed the development of an artificial eye implant that has great psychological benefits for the visually impaired. And these are just a few of many worthwhile initiatives that have received my department's backing. We hope for many more.

Through the Technology Innovation Agency, we plan to connect the research and development performed at our higher education institutions and science councils to real industrial opportunities. In this respect, I must acknowledge the help my department received from the Government of Finland. Finland is widely regarded as a leader in innovation, and my department has established partnership projects with the Finnish government to strengthen South Africa's National System of Innovation by harvesting knowledge generated through our research and development for deployment in rural development, poverty alleviation and sustainable development.

The Technology Innovation Agency concept is closely aligned with another initiative, government's policy on intellectual property rights derived from publicly financed research and development. This has been a grey area for far too long, and bitter experience has revealed the importance of establishing clarity on the issue. A policy document and relevant legislation were concluded last year.

The 2008 Intellectual Property Rights from Publicly Financed Research and Development Act provides for the development of clear obligations related to the ownership of such intellectual property. It articulates clearly defined benefits for researchers who disclose their inventions to the institutions for which they are working, and provides for access to skills and funding for the commercialisation of such inventions. It provides for an enabling environment for intellectual property creation, protection, management and commercialisation.

It also gives greater clarity on the ownership of intellectual property generated from publicly financed research. It provides a framework for establishing the capacity to ensure that South African institutions have the ability to identify, protect and commercialise intellectual property arising from research conducted at these institutions. All these interventions will be supported and guided by the national intellectual property management office, established under the same legislation.

These initiatives are all part of a larger plan, the Ten-Year Innovation Plan for South Africa, which charts the course for enhancing innovation and its enormous potential to contribute to sustained economic growth over the next decade. Key development focus areas are identified in the plan as Grand Challenges.

These include:
* the challenge of developing our bio-economy. We plan to capitalise on our luck, which is to live in a country with the world's third-largest biodiversity resource base, and on our solid foundation of expertise, to establish globally competitive nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industries

* the challenge of space science and technology. We will establish a national space agency to grow and manage our satellite industry and a range of innovations in space sciences, earth observation, communications and navigation. In this way, we hope to provide substantial socio-economic benefits

* the challenge to provide energy security. As an emerging economy we are dependent on a secure supply of safe, clean and affordable energy. Working closely with industry, we are exploring opportunities in clean coal technologies, nuclear energy, renewable energy, and hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, as well as other promising possibilities

* the challenge of global climate change. South Africa's geographic position, unique biodiversity and a large base of expertise enables us to play a leading role in climate change science. Given our proximity to Antarctica, the Southern Ocean, and the confluence of the Agulhas and Benguela currents, we are positioned to serve as a unique laboratory. We plan to make a major contribution to the understanding of climate change and its implications, and to offer the world workable, modelled solutions

* the challenge of human and social dynamics. This is probably the greatest challenge of all. It deals with increasing our ability to anticipate the complex consequences of change; and to help people to manage change better.

This will be our initial focus. We are conscious of the fact that there are many more challenges, but we have prioritised them in terms of our unique capacities and circumstances. The central challenge remains that of integrating those outside the scientific loop with those who are benefiting from and contributing to it.

Our country enjoys a high standing in various multilateral organisations like United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the OECD, and our reputation opens the door to further opportunities. For example, we now host the African component of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Cape Town. In addition, we have forged a strong partnership with the European Commission through which South African and European scientists are collaborating to address a wide range of problems, including diseases like tuberculosis, malaria and AIDS. In all this, South African scientists and technologists are increasingly empowered and holding their own. We also rank as a priority recipient in funding under the European Framework Programme.

In the past five years, our strategies and activities have been closely aligned with the objectives of a modern, democratic society. Modernising and democratising our society poses both challenges and opportunities for research and innovative technologies.

To some extent we can take pride in what we have achieved. But when we see that there are still food production problems, education problems, health problems, energy problems and, increasingly, environmental problems, we realise that our scientists need to do a lot more research and development to find solutions for our predicament. In fact, science offers our only hope of finding a way out of these difficulties.

So, all in all, we must give ourselves a mixed report. We continue to believe in the ability of science and technology to bring about the changes our country so desperately needs. But we are short of both financial and human resources. We have millions of people so disadvantaged that putting a roof over their heads and ensuring they have enough to eat takes priority over longer term goals, something our competitors in the OECD countries do not have to contend with. And who can blame a young learner whose parents have never had a job for deciding to study something more commonplace than science, like business or banking?

These are the realities. They are big problems, and we have to find a way to solve them soon, or we will fall further and further behind. So, it is up to graduates like you to find more workable solutions. We can only encourage you and wish you luck.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Science and Technology
17 March 2009
Source: Department of Science and Technology (http://www.dst.gov.za)