https://www.engineeringnews.co.za
Industrial|Innovation|Paper|System|Systems|Technology
Industrial|Innovation|Paper|System|Systems|Technology
industrial|innovation|paper|system|systems|technology

International science cooperation benefits South Africa – DST

23rd May 2019

By: Rebecca Campbell

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

     

Font size: - +

International cooperation has been most beneficial for the development of scientific capacity in developing countries, and South Africa is no exception. So pointed out South African Department of Science and Technology (DST) acting deputy director-general for research development and support Dr Daniel Adams in his address to the first day of the fourth South Africa-Japan University Forum Conference, at the University of Pretoria, on Thursday.

He pointed out that the twenty-first century had been marked by the proliferation of global systems for research. This was happening across many disciplines, in some (such as physics) because of the huge expense of the required experiments, but in many others it was because many of the problems needing to be addressed, such as climate change and HIV/Aids, were international.

In parallel, the complexity of many problems was requiring interdisciplinary research programmes. And, increasingly, the results of research programmes were being published in open access sources.

Regarding South Africa, he reported that the DST oversaw what he described as a "rich and diverse portfolio" of cooperation with some 500 international partners. Such cooperation provided a platform for skills transfer, and helped address the issue of the lack of research supervisory personnel in South Africa, as well as producing actual research outputs.

He observed that South Africa's research system was still "very small", with a small budget, and had not yet been demographically transformed. These were among the issues the country's new White Paper on Science, Technology and Innovation, approved by the Cabinet earlier this year, sought to address.

Other important objectives were the development of the skills necessary for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the development of research capabilities at the historically black universities, and the development of a more science-educated and science-informed society. The White Paper also stressed the importance to South Africa of "science diplomacy" and international cooperation.

"International cooperation enhances South Africa's [scientific] visibility," affirmed Adams. Regarding such cooperation with Japan, the agreement underpinning this had been signed in 2003. Since then, "many successes have been generated".

"International scientific cooperation has tremendous potential to help solve the problems facing mankind," he stated. In fact, such cooperation was needed to address these issues.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

Comments

 

Showroom

Weir Minerals Africa and Middle East
Weir Minerals Africa and Middle East

Weir Minerals Europe, Middle East and Africa is a global supplier of excellent minerals solutions, including pumps, valves, hydrocyclones,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
John Ratcliffe
John Ratcliffe

At John Ratcliffe, we are aftermarket specialists for heavy-duty on and off-road vehicles. We engineer and retrofit advanced safety systems, engine...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Magazine round up | 08 November 2024
Magazine round up | 08 November 2024
8th November 2024
Value-adding titanium dioxide pigment under development
Value-adding titanium dioxide pigment under development
6th November 2024

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.065 0.116s - 171pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now