MAKING GRASSROOTS INNOVATION WORK
Tinkering in the garage is a hobby for many, but for Phumalani Ntloko and Skhumbuzo Ndlovu the tinkering in the latter’s garage resulted in the development of a Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine which has the ability to test prototypes.
The young men, both engineering enthusiasts, are keen on inventing things, and for many years sought assistance to facilitate the incubation of their work. The pair were interested in developing new technologies like an oscilloscope, a device that can test various signals like sound, electricity and light.
“We knocked on several doors, more than 10, including those of financial institutions, but there was just was no help out there. No one was interested because it was obvious that our machine was built in a garage,” said Ntloko.
However, in 2015, they got their breakthrough, after landing on the doorstep of the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
Through its Grassroots Innovation Programme, the DST assisted the pair to secure high-tech computer software and a 3D printer, and financed training for them and their team. Ntloko and Ndlovu dropped the idea of the oscilloscope and opted to develop their CNC machine concept, which had a better chance of economic success.
Last year, Minister Naledi Pandor announced during her budget vote speech that R2 million would be spent on a pilot programme that allowed the likes of Ntloko and Ndlovu to leverage social and economic value from their innovations. The need for the pilot was evident in the amount of young and unemployed people who use local resources to develop promising technologies and solutions outside formal innovation institutions. The initiative has established a database of grassroots innovations to help it identify support needs.
A year later, Ntloko and Ndlovu sat in the gallery in the National Assembly
when Minister Pandor presented this year’s budget. The pair were accompanied by other grassroots innovators like Nkosana Madi, who developed a motorised bicycle, and Melusi Ntuli, who developed a chargeless electric engine. These innovators show that the DST initiative is bearing fruit.
The Grassroots Innovation Programme is aimed at identifying innovators and inventors that do not have a formal education or access to formal facilities. Through this programme individuals are linked to subject experts and advanced facilities where the innovations can be developed towards a commercial model.
The grassroots innovators also receive training in order to assist them to understand their subject matter better and to give them the entrepreneurial skills to help them commercialise and market their inventions.
Formal, structured industry and academic institutions offer access to expertise, facilities and financial resources that make innovation activities comparatively easy. However, as the world changes, even large multinational companies are finding it harder to fund innovation.
By its nature, innovation is not restricted to particular environments. Clever ideas pop up everywhere, and with social media allowing for more active brainstorming, faster and more cost-effective innovation is made possible.
The DST is leveraging these trends to support and grow innovation in order to foster the economic development that South Africa desperately needs, and hopes that more grassroots innovators will approach it.
For more information, visit http://grassroots.tliu.co.za.
“WE KNOCKED ON SEVERAL DOORS, MORE THAN 10, INCLUDING THOSE OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, BUT THERE WAS JUST WAS NO HELP OUT THERE. NO ONE WAS INTERESTED BECAUSE IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT OUR MACHINE WAS BUILT IN A GARAGE,” SAID NTLOKO.