ADDRESS BY THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND EDUCATION ON THE OCCASION OF THE 29TH SESSION OF THE ICGEB BOARD OF GOVERNORS MEETING
Department of Science, Technology and Innovation
Our Vision is to increase well-being and prosperity through science, technology and innovation.
ADDRESS BY THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND EDUCATION ON THE OCASSION OF THE 29TH SESSION OF THE INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR GENETIC ENGINEERING AND BIOTECHNOLOGY BOARD OF GOVERNORS MEETING, 10 MAY, 2023
Dr Lawrence Banks, Director-General of the ICGEB;
Prof. Luiz Zerbini, Director of the ICGEB Cape Town Component.
Dr Dinakar Salunke, Director ICGEB New Delhi;
Ms Marianna Maculan, Chief, External Relations, ICGEB;
Mr. Victor Smirnov, President (Russian Federation);
Mr Dumisani Mthembu, Director, Multilateral Cooperation, DSI;
Mr Dowelani Ndiitwani, Assistant Director, Multilateral Cooperation;
It is my honour and privilege to deliver this opening address to the 29th Session of themeeting of the Board of Governors of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology.
As you are aware, the ICGEB is dedicated to advanced research and training in molecular biology and biotechnology, advancing knowledge, applying the latest techniques in the fields of biomedicine, crop improvement, environmental protection, biopharmaceuticals, biopesticide and biofuel production.
Since inception, the African Component of the ICGEB has been producing high-calibre and globally competitive scientific work that has been of great benefit to South Africa and the African continent.
Its focus on new approaches that are aimed at integrating the Component with key national and regional innovative institutions to promote transformation, inclusivity, and partnerships are in line with the objectives of some of South Africa’s key science policy instruments such as the White Paper on Science Technology and Innovation, the Decadal Plan for Science, Technology, and Innovation and our National BioeconomyStrategy.
I wish to briefly focus on a few strategic research areas that the African Component of the ICGEB focuses on and also form part of our country’s key research priorities. The first one is health innovation.
Our Health Innovation Directorate has been coordinating the implementation of the health component of the Bio-economy Strategy, by building strategic partnerships with a range of stakeholders within our the National System of Innovation (NSI).
The Directorate has played a key role in putting in place the building blocks for an effective health innovation system in South Africa. A key instrument in our implementation of health innovations has been our Strategic Health Innovation Partnerships (SHIP) programme that is managed by the Medical Research Council.
To date, our Health Directorate has supported a portfolio of initiatives to build and strengthen South Africa’s capabilities in health R&D. Part of our mandate as the Department of Science and Innovation, also includes coordinating and building capabilities for local production of pharmaceuticals and biologics, providing leadership and strategic management of key institutions such as the ICGEB.
Towards this end, through our agency, the Technology Innovation Agency, we are facilitating the strategic positioning of Biovac and the API Technology Innovation Cluster Programme, and the mRNA Vaccine Technology Transfer Hub.
Our Health Innovation initiatives also contribute to the development of high level and scarce skills and the expertise required for an effective health R&D ecosystem.
The second area I wish to focus on is agricultural innovation. Our Decadal Plan prioritises the revitalisation of traditional sectors of the economy such as agriculture. It is for this reason that we view agricultural innovation as key to solving the food security challenges of our country and continent.
In South Africa, our agricultural sector is a significant contributor to national GDP. It contributes to 2.4% of our country’s GDP and 4.4% of total employment. However, this sector faces a myriad of challenges that include the loss of arable land, high input costs for seeds, machinery and pesticides, low technological innovation, and inadequate advisory services.
The additional burden faced by our agricultural sector is a divide between the first and second economies, which reduces productivity and ultimately, stifles sustainable rural economic growth.
To help address these challenges, one of the key instruments we have developed is our Agricultural Bio-economy Innovation Partnership Programme (ABIPP), which is managed by our agency, the Technology Innovation Agency.
ABIPP is responsible for the funding, co-funding, coordination, facilitation, and management of multidisciplinary, multi-institutional research programmes focusing on agricultural bio-innovation, product processes and services contributing to increased productivity, food security and sustainable rural development.
Our interventions under our ABIPP programme have resulted in approximately R298million being leveraged from industry to its programmes.
The other area is biotechnology. Biotechnology is one of the tools which is key to enabling our country to become more competitive on a global scale and it contributes immensely to the Green Economy.
Through our country’s Bioeconomy strategy, we outline key mechanisms for coordinating innovation efforts across the innovation value chain and ensuring roles players can contribute – rather than compete – for opportunities, resources, and outcomes.
Our Bio-economy Strategy commits our country to technological innovation and its potential to unlock the innovation chasm, though not only using biotechnology but adopting a value-chain approach to implementation that contributes to socio-economic impact.
This is particularly important as we are looking to develop technologies to leapfrog our development and contribute to national imperatives of food security, poverty alleviation, job creation and socio-economic development.
The last issue I wish to focus on is inclusivity and transformation. The African Component of the ICGEB is also deliberate in strengthening and expanding research, especially with historically disadvantaged institutions, training, and technology transfer to industry to promote sustainable global development.
This is why we thought it useful to contribute additional funding for funding for capacity building and training at Historically Disadvantaged Institutions in South Africa as well as fellowships for women in South Africa.
This deliberate focus on inclusivity and transformation is in line with our new policy shift as articulated in our White Paper for Science, Technology and Innovation and Decadal Plan, which emphasises the need to channel the development of an innovation driven society, to support cohesion of efforts, support transformation and entrepreneurship and ensure revitalisation of productive sectors of the economy, of which agriculture and health are key sector identified.
This is coupled with the need to build the knowledge base to respond to societal grand challenges such as climate change, future-proofing education and skills, and the future of society. All this we believe is attainable not just for South Africa, but for Africa and the rest of the developing world.
In conclusion, one of the critical enablers for the attainment of all this, includes deliberating forging strategic regional and global partnerships that will enable us to benefit from a wider pool of high-calibre scientific knowledge and empower the governments of member countries to be better equipped to address the development needs of their citizens.
As the Department of Science and Innovation, we are greatly appreciative of thecollaboration and support we have enjoyed from the ICGEB -Cape Town and believe there is stronger potential for more networking and cross-pollination to reposition the ICGEB to enhance the African continent’s capacity to solve its development challenges through research.