>From secretive parastatal to private-sector partner, the metamorphosis of the CSIR has been significant. New challenges of funding and resources lie ahead, writes Madeleine Wackernagel
CONSIDER that the world’s top 30 companies together spend more on research and development than South Africa as a whole and you get an idea of the challenges facing the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
The international competition is indeed scary, says Dr Geoff Garrett, president of the CSIR. “It’s do or die time,” he says. “During the dark days of apartheid we had little opportunity to compete, except with each other – consequently, the walls between all the various research centres were very high.
“But now we’ve realised we have to work together, in order to be able to compete internationally – creating “team South Africa” is what it’s all about.”
The CSIR, which turned 50 last year and this week launched a book of its history, with particular emphasis on the past decade – Passage to Progress: The CSIR’s Journey of Change 1945 to 1995 by Nicoline Basson – is in the midst of its second significant metamorphosis.
The first was a dramatic rationalisation launched in1986, designed to bring the organisation in line with modern research operations. The shake-up saw the organisation shift towards a market-oriented approach, and the scientists coming down from their ivory towers to really apply their knowledge in the market-place.
“The refocus of the CSIR as a contract-based research organisation came as a big shock to many,” says Garrett. “Scientists are not used to marketing themselves, but it was no longer enough to write lots of papers – we had to make the theory work, to put ideas into practice.
“With the cuts in government funding, there was no alternative. We had to commercialise or else the institution – and indeed the country – would have suffered enormously.”
If the first leg of the reforms was market orientation, the second was implementation – effective technology transfer to get the outputs of science really working for the benefit of industry and society as a whole. Both objectives are still robust today, says Garrett; there is no room for complacency.
Proof that the restructuring has paid off lies in the financial statements. The CSIR now derives almost 60% of its revenue from external contracts – a rise of 15% on 1994/95 – out of a total turnover of R563- million (1994/95: R498-million).
The early 1990s saw another dramatic shift in the CSIR’s priorities. The then- president, Dr Brian Clark, anticipating the political changes ahead, in 1990 embarked on a campaign to underline the importance of maintaining Africa’s strongest science and technology institute, with a concomitant shift in emphasis from high-tech to low- tech.
It has not been an easy journey. To this day, there is a high level of ignorance surrounding the operations of the CSIR – an impression that Garrett is working hard at changing. But the mistrust built up over decades of apartheid has been difficult to break down.
“It was a forbidding place,” concedes Garrett, “often perceived as rather secretive and highly conservative, doing mysterious work for the government. But along with our re-orientation towards working with the private sector, we’ve been trying to improve our image, based on building a track record of delivery with quality and value addition.”
That has entailed a radical shift in priorities. It became clear even before the new government took power in 1994 that the CSIR would have to focus more on our society’s basic needs, in line with the Reconstruction and Development Programme.
“The CSIR,” says Garrett, “has actively changed direction to meet a two-pronged challenge – how to remain technologically competitive on the international scene, while at the same time getting to grips with the huge challenges of poverty and quality of life issues.
“Our so-called rocket scientists are being redirected,” he explains. “After initial scepticism, they now get a big kick out of making a real impact on a much larger number of people. It’s often a matter of applying high-tech solutions or thinking to a lower- tech situation – and it’s getting results.”
These “technology for development” initiatives include support for small, medium and micro enterprises by piloting projects with the potential for replication; as well as research and development in housing, water and sanitation, food, energy, transport, nutrition and healthcare.
This shift in the external priorities is mirrored internally, with an active programme of “regstellende aksie (corrective action)”, the preferred term for fast- tracking black professionals.
Although blacks and women comprise half the staff of 3 200, as yet only 10% are black professionals, a situation the organisation is struggling to change.
Says Dr Namane Magau, executive vice- president, human resources: “Fast-tracking, whether through internships, our advanced leadership programme, or the career enhancement programme, can only go so far in changing our demographic make-up. The real problem is that historically, blacks were not encouraged to follow the sciences.
“We have to redress that imbalance by building awareness among the public and changing perceptions among schoolchildren. We have to get them while they’re young, before the mental block against studying the sciences sets in.”
Making science sexy is not a uniquely South African challenge; worldwide, the humanities attract the most students. But the CSIR hopes that by organising many more school visits to its Pretoria head office, helping to run nationwide science competitions and sponsoring bursaries, it will boost its intake of bright young stars.
Certainly, the brain drain has taken its toll, although even this cloud has a silver lining, says Garrett. “We can tap into the communities of ex-South African scientists overseas to share our knowledge and make new contacts.”
The organisation is well aware of the need to foster its pool of talent. Says Magau: “Our staff have been very positive about our programme to redress the balance. But we cannot just appoint people for the sake of colour; our promising white employees also have to be fostered.
“As much as we are aggressively looking for new people to bring in, we are also building up leadership and skills among our existing staff. There is no point in firing a white aeronautical engineer, for example, when there is no black person to take his place.”
Growth is the key, adds Garrett. Without it the CSIR cannot afford to employ more people – of any colour – nor build on its expertise. So it is also looking beyond South Africa’s borders and the opportunities it sees in our neighbourhood are very “exciting”.
Closer to home, many more private companies are beating a path to its door to make it work for them. The future, says Garrett, is certainly bright.