On the way to a function in Pretoria to celebrate his safe return, South Africa’s first man in space, Mark Shuttleworth, stopped at a red robot and was approached by a street vendor selling world globes made of wire. “He made me realise two things,” recalls Shuttleworth of the incident.
“One was that entrepreneurship is alive and well in South Africa because he tried to sell me two globes. The other came to me when I noticed the globes he was trying to sell me were upside down, with the south pole on top. I realised that there is no sign in space saying north should be up and south down. In space, up is whatever direction you want it to be. I think it is time for the southern hemisphere to be on top.”
Shuttleworth’s tale and his own entrepreneurship sum up the general feeling that South Africa is no longer following where technology is concerned, it is beginning to lead in many spheres of industry.
Helping to put South Africa on top with world-class research, innovation and growth is the Technology and Human Resources for Industry Programme (Thrip).
This is a partnership programme that aims to improve the competitiveness of South African industry by supporting research and technology development activities and enhancing the quality and quantity of appropriately skilled people.
Managed by the National Research Foundation (NRF) on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry, Thrip issues a challenge to the private sector, calling it to match, rand for rand, government funding for innovative research and development.
Industry and the trade and industry department share the costs and, therefore, the risks of developing commercial technology.
In the process the students, researchers and scientists working on Thrip-funded projects are receiving on-the-job training, making them sought after in the employment market in their chosen — often highly specialised — areas of industry. This development of industry partners for research and development projects has been revolutionary in its ability to link researchers, academics and industry to ensure that skills being developed are carried through to the industries in which they will have most effect. In this way technology benefits on a national and, in some cases, continental level.
The programme’s key objectives are:
to improve and enhance the number of appropriately skilled people in the development and management of technological industry;
to promote interaction between industry, higher education and specialist institutions with the aim of building skills for the commercial exploitation of science and technology, and, in particular, to promote the mobility of trained people among other sectors; and
to stimulate industry and government investment in research, innovation and technology development and diffusion.
Thrip has a social conscience, too. Priorities are to increase the number of black and female students pursuing careers in the technology and engineering spheres, and to promote the involvement of small, medium and micro-enterprises (SMMEs). In addition, Thrip facilitates joint-venture projects where companies collaborate and share resources while enhancing the competitiveness of black empowerment enterprises.
Industry benefits from Thrip in a number of different ways. Most valuable of these benefits is the movement of researchers and students between participating industries, higher education institutions and science, engineering and technology institutions, all of which facilitate the transfer of technology from initial concept stages to fully-fledged commercial enterprises.
One of the most vital elements in the programme is the Technology Innovation Promotion Through the Transfer of People (Tiptop) placement mechanism, which ensures a free flow of expertise between industry and academia. Tiptop is crucial to the continued success of projects supporting SMMEs.
It works in four different avenues within Thrip. For example, it can place graduates in companies while they are working towards higher degrees or joint research projects, or it can place graduates in SMMEs. It can also place skilled industry employees within higher education institutions or science, engineering and technology institutions.
Thrip promotes research in historically disadvantaged universities as well as in all technikons.
Strict criteria are used when considering funding applications. For example, a project’s science, engineering and technology research must be of a high quality, with outputs focused on improving the relevant industry partner’s competitive edge.
In addition, there must be at least one South African student involved in a project and the project must have clearly defined, expected technology outputs or benefits for industry.
A minimum of one higher education institution and one industry partner must be involved in a project, and the industry partner must divulge to Thrip its investment commitment and how the project will be of ultimate benefit to the company.
Key to the funding process is whether a project will be of relevance to South Africa and its people, and its social and economic sustainability.
Funding takes place on several levels. For example, companies and Thrip invest jointly in research projects where project leaders are on the academic staff of South African higher education institutions. Thrip also matches investment by industry in projects where science, engineering and technology institutions-based researchers or experts serve as project leaders and students are trained through the projects.
During 2003 Thrip supported 263 projects to the combined value (industry partner plus the Department of Trade and Industry) of R367-million.
A total of 407 companies benefited through this support, of which 269 were SMMEs. Thrip’s support enabled the industry-focused training of 2 655 Seti students, of whom 1 003 were black and 739 women.