Science, Technology and Innovation Deputy Minister Dr Nomalungelo Gina says innovation is the lifeblood of any forward-looking country and industrialisation.
“...All fast-growing economies are driven by strong investments in research and development (R&D) and a robust system for commercialising prototypes,” Gina said at the opening of the South African Innovation Week (SAIW) 2026 held at Nasrec, Johannesburg.
Further, the Deputy Minister said all countries that innovate, rather than import technology solutions, are "the strongest".
“The department’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Decadal Plan (2022-2032), a government strategic roadmap to place innovation at the heart of the country’s socio-economic development, sets an ambitious target to increase funding for research and innovation to a Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD) of 1.5% of the GDP, an improvement from the current 1%,” Gina said.
Gina said R&D has been under-funded and industries have not been investing enough in R&D to develop new technologies.
“Another hurdle we face is that agencies like the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and universities host many technology demonstrators as prototypes that have not been translated into the economy.
“In other words, the private sector is not taking up these technologies, which are ready for diffusion into the economy. It is these innovation gaps that we seek to address through industry partnership engagements as the DSTI. The Decadal Plan further defines key priority areas as grand challenges to be addressed through our efforts,” she said.
Gina said another challenge the country faces is that the future economy, driven mainly by new technologies, including AI, is confronted with a skills deficit.
“We have a skills mismatch as a country. More graduates are unemployed because they have skills that this gig economy doesn’t really need, yet we need to develop these skills and capabilities very quickly to be critical players in this emerging economy.
“At the heart of our efforts is building the new pipeline of STEM-related professionals, who will be key players in the new economy, including future innovators.”
Gina told delegates that innovation is an engine of industrialisation and development, and that government is making a call for a coordinated approach, instead of different players functioning in silos.
“Part of this coordination is pooling funding instruments to support research, development, and commercialisation, including the registration of Intellectual Property (IP). Ecosystem-wide coordination is fundamental to the system's success.
“Our adopted mantra is 'Placing Science, Technology and Innovation at the Centre of Government, Education, Industry and Science'.”
The SAIW26 brings together the energy, talent and capital of the innovation ecosystem into one shared showcase, networking and dialogue platform. It is designed as a week-long national programme to feature provincial innovation engagements across South Africa. – SAnews.gov.za
