Increased investment in innovation

Johannesburg, 15 Jun 2009

The Department of Science and Technology (DST) has increased funding for its innovation and research projects and says it will continue to increase spending over the next four years.

In its medium-term expenditure estimates for 2009/10, the department says it will spend R4 234 111. This is a R37 051 increase from the 2008/09 budget estimates. The department's research, development and innovation programme, which is key in developing new areas of focus for local research and innovation, received R1 142 883.

The human capital and knowledge systems programme, which develops and implements national programmes to help develop the skills base, got the biggest boost with R1 598 038. Socio-economic partnership programmes, which promote strategic partnerships within government and industry, were allocated R1 190 653.

The DST says the budget increases were due to substantial additional allocations for projects in the research, development and innovation programme, human capital development initiatives and increases in funding organisations. In its budget vote, the DST emphasised the importance of its 10-year innovation plan; commercialisation of research; regional and international cooperation; research and development and infrastructure development.

The DST will spend R3 821 112 on science and technology services, education and training and technological innovation. While funding for public institutions has dropped from 2008/9 estimates, the DST says it will increase again in 2010/11. The department has seven institutions reporting to it, including the National Advisory Council on Innovation, the National Research Foundation and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.

Innovation push

The DST says increases in its research, development and innovation programme are due to additional allocations for research programmes and the introduction of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project. The department also emphasised its commitment to ensuring SA wins the bid to host the SKA project by constructing the demonstration telescope MeerKAT by 2012.

Increased expenditure is also due to implementing the 10-year innovation plan and includes an additional R80 million allocated to the Innovation Planning and Instruments sub-programme. Spending in the space science programme also grew significantly and will continue to rise to R688 million in 2011/12 to fund the establishment of the National Space Agency.

The department says it will continue to promote technology commercialisation through the establishment of the Technology Innovation Agency, centres of competence, the National Intellectual Property Management Office and the South African National Space Agency. The successful commercialisation of the Joule electric car was also named as one of the department's key objectives.

Knowledge boost

Allocations for the human capital and knowledge programme grew at an average annual rate of 11.6% over the medium term. The DST says this is driven by additional funding of R50 million for postgraduate bursaries and R150 million to the National Research Foundation for the research chair initiative.

The programme will continue to build human capital for research, development and innovation by developing an innovation-enabling skills strategy - which the DST hopes will be approved by Cabinet by September.

The DST says it will also increase the number of researchers and the rate of knowledge production by placing 210 research chairs in the national system of innovation by 2010/11, and producing 3 000 science, engineering and technology PhDs a year by 2018.