South Africa’s science and innovation ministry will now be known as the Department of Science, Technology andInnovation (DSTI).
This, after it was renamed from the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), as proclaimed in the Government Gazette, on 27 September.
According to a statement, the new name highlights the department’s technology focus.
It also follows the splitting of the higher education, science and innovation ministry into the ministries of higher education and training; and science, technology and innovation under the seventh administration.
The DSTI says its name has undergone several changes in the past years. In 2021, government renamed the then-Department of Science and Technology to the DSI, putting greater emphasis on the need for the department to drive innovation through its work.
The most recent name incorporates all the elements of the department’s mandate to lead enhanced productivity, economic growth and societal development through science, technology and innovation, it states.
Professor Blade Nzimande, minister in the department, welcomed the renaming, saying: “Putting ‘technology’ back into the name is an acknowledgement of the role that technological advancements play in driving scientific progress, economic growth and societal development.”
The department notes it retains its strategic focus on promoting innovation through cutting-edge technologies, fostering a digitally-empowered society and enhancing South Africa's competitiveness on the global stage.
Its priorities include climate change and environmental sustainability, human resource development, and addressing poverty and inequality.
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