Higher Education, Science and Technology Minister Blade Nzimande wants science and technology to play a role in the economy as part of a just transition to support sustainable living.
Nzimande was addressing the inaugural Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy Colloquium hosted by the National Advisory Council on Innovation at Protea Hotel in Menlyn, Pretoria.
The colloquium was about the backdrop of inadequate and uneven development in South Africa and globally.
Discussions touched on education, training, innovation, development, transitions, sustainability, science, technology and innovation investments, Covid-19 and future pandemics and entrepreneurship.
Nzimande believes that the policy colloquium will reflect on their progress in implementing science, technology and innovation policies and will bring people closer to a common understanding of the work that confronts them.
"Our policy colloquium is aimed at all stakeholders within the National System of Innovation (NSI) to engage on the role that STI should or must play to make the lives of our people better by creating an inclusive society and economy," he added.
He said the department has established a ministerial-level STI structure to enhance the coherence of the NSI at a system level.
He mentioned that the ministerial STI structure would comprise the relevant STI-intensive departments, the chairpersons of the government clusters, National Treasury and the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation.
"Under the guidance of the Ministerial STI Structure, a whole-of-society innovation approach is promoted to ensure that the various policies that affect innovation are aligned – establishing in effect a South African innovation compact," he said.
He indicated that the committee would focus on setting a high-level public agenda for the NSI, approving decadal plans on innovation for South Africa, committing public resources to research and innovation and reviewing reports on the performance of the NSI over three-year cycles.
He highlighted that the Ministerial STI Structure would lead the government in ensuring that the environment for innovation is optimal.
"As a department, we will be working with the Presidency and National Treasury to facilitate the integration of the STI agenda and plans into government planning, under the auspices of the Ministerial STI Structure," he said.
Furthermore, for the economic recovery plan, the minister stated that the departmental STI has three phases of the South African Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan (ERRP).
The recovery plans included:
* Engage and Preserve. This includes a comprehensive health response to save lives and curb the spread of the pandemic;
* Recovery and Reform. This includes interventions to restore the economy while controlling the health risks; and,
* Reconstruct and Transform. This entails building a sustainable, resilient and inclusive economy.
He further said that the department was focusing on the role of science and innovation in the ERRP, specifically on the innovation response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
kamogelo.moichela@inl.co.za
Current Affairs