NC Innovation Forum to be launched

THE DEPUTY Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Buti Manamela, is set to deliver the keynote address at the virtual launch of the Northern Cape Innovation Forum (NCIF) today.

The NCIF will be launched by the Department of Economic Development and Tourism, together with Sol Plaatje University (SPU), in recognition of the importance of innovation as a means to increase social and economic development in the Northern Cape.

Northern Cape Premier Dr Zamani Saul and Professor Andrew Crouch, the Vice-chancellor and Principal of SPU, are expected to preside over the virtual launch.

The NCIF will be established as a platform for academia, government, business and civil society to develop the Northern Cape’s system for innovation.

It is tasked with sparking creative thinking and stimulating innovation, as a catalyst to advancing the Northern Cape’s development in a modern and changing technological world.

The NCIF was conceptualised in 2019, under the Department of Science and Innovation, Regional Innovation Support Programme, with SPU being awarded a grant from the CSIR’S Technology Localisation Implementation Unit to seed.

With a matching grant from the Northern Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism, the NCIF, led by SPU, is lauded for having gathered momentum from key local stakeholders. The Office of the Premier, Sol Plaatje Municipality, the Black Management Forum, the Northern Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Petra Diamonds and the Renewable Energy Entrepreneurs Forum have all come on board.