The 2019 White Paper on Science, Technology and Innovation, approved by the Cabinet on 13 March, was necessary because the previous White Paper on Science and Technology had been adopted in 1996 and global technological change and the development of "megatrends" since then had required an updated policy, explained Department of Science and Technology (DST) Senior Policy Specialist Urszula Rust on Tuesday. She was addressing the DST/Academy of Science of South Africa Stakeholders Awareness Workshop on the 2019 White Paper on Science, Technology and Innovation.

[R]eviews show that despite good progress by DST and other departments, there are still challenges within the STI [science, technology and innovation] system," she reported. A key aim of the new White Paper was "[s]cience, technology and innovation enabling inclusive sustainable South African development in  changing world."

"We need to instill a culture of valuing science, technology and innovation," she highlighted. The country's innovation culture had to be strengthened, for example by celebrating innovation role models. The aim was to build a science-aware society; this could include "training science journalists and expanding the network of science centres (with support from business)."

There were a number of major difference between the 1996 and 2019 White Papers, she pointed out. In 1996 there had been a focus on developing the National System of Innovation (NSI), while today the focus was on increasing the impact of STI on the country's national priorities, including economic growth. The 1996 White Paper was concerned with science and technology, whereas the 2019 White Paper broadened its concerns to science, technology and innovation -- including the development of an innovation culture, a whole-of-society approach and a Government Innovation Compact (which would align STI with other Government policies, such as trade). The 2019 document also had a much stronger focus on partnerships, encompassing Government, business, civil society and academia.

The new White Paper covered many aspects of STI. It sought to establish an NSI governance "environment" that was both inclusive and enabling. It wanted to facilitate innovation, increase and transform the human capital in the NSI, expand and transform the research system, expand the "institutional landscape" and increase "funding and funding efficiencies".

The improvement of NSI governance included the creation of an "STI Plenary" which would be an annual event, chaired by the Presidency, and including business, civil society, academia and Government. There would also be a Ministerial STI Structure, chaired by the Minister, which would be responsible for driving the Government Innovation Compact and the coordination and development of the decadal STI plans.

Other objectives included the employment of intellectual property from publicly-funded research and development to assist in the "transformation of the ownership of the economy", and the focusing of effort and resources on "sovereign" innovation priorities by incorporating them in the decadal plans. Greater utilization of the potential of the historically black universities and Universities of Technology, including the "silent majority" of lecturers who did no research, was also sought.

A research prioritisation process had to be institutionalised. And then the identified priority research areas had to be better funded. The Government wanted South Africa's gross expenditure on research and development to reach 1.5% of gross domestic product in the next ten years, but this could not be done by the Government alone. The creation of a Sovereign Innovation Fund had been agreed in principle, but the details were still being worked out. Alternative funding sources, including crowd funding, would be examined. There would also be a focus on encouraging STI-focused foreign direct investment.

"Up to now, a lot of effort has gone into the national level of innovation. ... What has to happen now is to increase the innovation footprint," to embrace the provincial and local levels, stated Rust. All in all, "[i]t's quite an ambitious agenda".