Time to source funding for agricultural projects
As President Cyril Ramaphosa is on a crusade to attract investment which has culminated in an investor conference in Sandton recently, Science and Technology Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi Ngubane says tomorrow’s summit on the white paper on Science, Technology and Innovation will mobilise various sectors to exploit innovation to create jobs
On Friday, the Department of Science and Technology will convene a national summit on the White Paper on Science, Technology and Innovation. The summit, to be held in Pretoria, will be attended by about 200 delegates from government, business, labour, academia, organisations of people living with disability, youth and women movements.
When planning the summit, we deliberately targeted specific groups of people with a clear intention of making the summit as representative of the South African publics as possible. We wanted to ensure that there is broad representation from all sectors of society, including those in the margins of the socio-economic spectrum.
The main idea is that at the end of the summit, we should have developed a position not only of the Department of Science and Technology but of the country on Science, Technology and Innovation.
The summit is designed in such a manner that there would first be plenary session, where all delegates would have the benefits of sharing and understanding the broad issues that the summit would be dealing with.
After plenary, the delegates would break-away into smaller groups of focussed discussions, looking at issues such as the fourth industrial revolution, transformation and capacity building. We will also use the summit to look at the gaps that the white paper failed to fill adequately. For instance, some people are saying that they have looked at the White paper but there is little that deals with indigenous knowledge. They argue that given my public comments on the critical role that indigenous knowledge can play in growing the economy and creating jobs, the subject was supposed to be explored in some greater detail in the White paper.
Of course there is great potential that could be exploited through indigenous knowledge. This sector was a victim of colonialization when people were made to believe that all their systems and knowledge such as traditional medicine was backward and primitive and that they should embrace only western ways.
As we continue with our journey to decolonise our country, we have to dig deep in our indigenous knowledge and take those things that can help us address some of the challenges that we face today.
It is in this context that the summit should address the gaps in the White Paper and concerns from various interest groups. We want to enrich the document to the satisfaction of the country.
One of the primary objectives of the summit is transformation. It is a fact that corporate South Africa is still dominated by whites, white males in particular.
We need to use the summit to understand the innovative aspects that we can drive collectively as a country to address transformation, which is a national imperative. For as long as the majority of our people are on the periphery of the mainstream economy, we will not be able to achieve our full economic potential as a country.
So people must understand that transformation is not just the replacement of whites with blacks but the radical expansion of the economy so that there is more meaningful participation by the majority of the people. When we do this, we would also increase our own domestic markets and stimulate demand of our good and services.
The summit will also explore the issue of how science, technology and innovation can play a pivotal role in the realisation of the objectives of the National Development Plan.
Over the years, since the adoption of the NDP, we have been occupied with the three challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality. We have done well in terms of research and development but innovation has fallen short.
If we are to achieve the objectives of the NDP, innovation and commercialising of that innovation would have to be increased so that we can create new industries and boost manufacturing capacity.
We are hoping that the summit will address the issue of uptake by government of new technology and also assist South Africans to be receptive of new technologies. For example, we have a problem of sanitation in the country, particularly in rural areas where there is limited running water. There is new technology that addresses the sanitation problem without using water. But the question is – do people understand this new technology. Some people might look at it as inferior.
We have to work with our people through various arms of the state to help our people appreciate new technology and new ways of doing things. People should be educated to view a toilet that can be used without is not inferior.
The NDP has correctly identified the shortage of PhDs in the country as one of the factors contributing to lack of innovation. The White Paper deals with this matter but we also want to summit to help us educate the broader society that we need to channel more funds into Science, Technology and Innovation.
Currently, our spend on Science, Technology and Innovation is 0,82% of the GDP. Global studies show that countries are doing well to grow their economies spend at least 1,5% of the GDP on innovation. While we appreciate that the country has many competing priorities, there is no doubt that spending on innovation is a good investment, although the benefits may only be realised in the long term.
We have been speaking a lot about beneficiation. Unless we increase our production of PhDs, we will continue to chant this slogan of beneficiation. One option of ensuring that we increase our capacity to produce new knowledge would be to ring-fence funds that are allocated towards science, technology and innovation.
Before we can ask for more funds from the fiscus, we should ensure that the money allocated to innovation is not spent on anything else. Then we should gradually mobilise for more resources to be channelled towards science, technology and innovation.
The summit should also come up with strategies to remove barriers to innovate. For instance, how can an innovator from Mutubatuba ensure that his innovation is supported and funded. We should use experiences from the grassroots innovators to ensure that we assist more people to commercialise their innovations.
The over-riding theme of the summit should be about making science and innovation a societal thing.
MMAMOLOKO KUBAYI-NGUBANE