Post on 28-Jul-2020
Dr Chris Nhlapo Deputy Vice Chancellor
Research Technology-Innovation and
Partnerships
The Value of University and Business Collaboration
THE ROLE OF CHEC
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Facilitating inter-institutional
collaboration
Calico – Joint Library Information System
Promote collaboration, co-operation & partnerships amongst member universities:
Sharing of expensive research equipment
Regional staff training programmes
Regional Graduate Destination Survey
Communities of practice, such as TTOs
THE ROLE OF CHEC
Facilitating external
partnerships
Formal collaboration agreements with the Western Cape Government & City of Cape Town
Promote collaboration, co-operation & partnerships with external constituencies:
Strengthening knowledge partnerships for regional development, through, for example:
Joint research programmes addressing shared priorities in areas such as:
Climate change and sustainability
Digital innovation Social inclusion
THE ROLE OF CHEC
KEY CRITICALPOINTS
It is All about the Western
Cape Economic
Development – RIS
System-Wide Review
National System of Innovation
Traditional Role of Higher Education
i. In general, South African Higher Education Institutions(HEIs), has operated around three key pillars viz.Teaching, Research and Community Engagement.
ii. One of the key indicators of the health of a university isits research output. Academic researchers have beenspurred on over the years by a “publish or perish”imperative.
iii. Consequently the balance of forces, from a researcheffort perspective, has generally been inequitably skewedtowards the goal of publishing, with less effort toward thegoal of ensuring the uptake of research output.
National Development Plan 2030: A compass for sustainable growth
Three main functions of universities: First, universities educate and provide people with high-level skills for the labour
market. Second, they are the dominant producers of new knowledge, they assess and
find new applications for existing knowledge, and they validate knowledge and values through their curricula.
Third, they provide opportunities for social mobility and strengthen social justice and democracy, thus helping to overcome the inequities inherited from our apartheid past.
Convergence of HEIs mandate and the Human Resource Development Strategy for South Africa
HRDS COMMITMENT SIX
“We will improve the technological and innovation capability and
outcomes within the public and private sectors to enhance our competitiveness in the global
economy and to meet our human development priorities.”
HEI’s RTI TRAJECTORY
The higher education sector AND business
have a joint responsibility to drive the
knowledge economy in SA
Stages of Industrial and Economic Development
The Status Quo Cannot Prevail
i. Over recent years the parameters related to the practice of research amongst HEIs has widened.
ii. The National Development Plan of South Africa is critical of the Higher Education System for its “poor knowledge production that often does not translate into innovation”.
South Africa. South Africa-National Development Plan: Vision for 2030. The Presidency, 11 November 2011: 271.
SANSI: THE CONCEPT &
APPROACH
Definitions of NIS
i. “The elements and relationships which interact in the production, diffusion
and use of new, and economically useful, knowledge… and are either
located within or rooted inside the borders of a nation state” (Lundvall,
1992; p.12)
ii. “A set of institutions whose interactions determine the innovative
performance of national firms” (Nelson, Rosenberg, 1993; p.5)
iii. “The national institutions, their incentive structures and their
competencies, that determine the rate and direction of technological
learning (or the volume and composition of change-generating activities) in
a country” (Patel and Pavitt, 1994; p.12)
The Concept……
i. Business does not stand alone, government and
universities are integral part of innovation system
ii. Research and development (R&D) is investment
spent both to develop new ideas and science and to
transform them into commercial innovations
Systemic approach to innovation
According to Ingelstam (2002):
1. a system consists of two kinds of constituents: there are firstly, some kinds of
components and secondly, there are relations among them. The components
and relations should form a coherent whole (which has properties different
from the properties of the constituents);
2. the system has a function – that is, it is performing or achieving something;
3. it must be possible to discriminate between the system and the
rest of the world; that is, it must be possible to identify the
boundaries of the system. If we, for example, want to make
empirical studies of specific systems, we must, of course, know
their extension.
EXEMPLARS………
Borne out of a strong need
from the wind and solar
industry for specialist skills
not available in South Africa
COURSES OFFERED
Wind Turbine Service Technicians
(WTST) for wind farms (privately
owned)
Solar PV Technicians for solar
farms (privately owned)
Vestas
Nordex
Siemens
Enercon
General
Electric
Acciona
PRIMARY CUSTOMERS FOR TRAINING
CREATION OF SARETEC
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH BZEE
BZEE – Training Centres for
Renewable EnergyNon-profit organisation set
up by German Wind Energy
Association, Chamber of
Industry and Commerce and
wind energy companies
±100
members
GLOBAL TRAINING STANDARDS/ WORLDWIDE
RECOGNITION
Most
comprehensive wind
technician training
programme
Focus on learning
outcomes
Certified and audited
standards
Written to ISO
requirement (ISO
9000 high level
structure)
PRIVATE SECTOR
SUPPORT
GIZ
Nordex
DCD
Hansa Flex
Scancon
Garacon
Deutse Windtechnik
German Cooperation(Deutse
Zusammenarbeit)
Reetec
Hytorc
South African Photovoltaic Association
South African Wind Energy Association
OTHER INVOLVEMENT
MerSETA pilot
began in February
with 90% of the
class from private
sector
Assisting South
African Photo
Voltaic Industry
Association in
putting in place
standards for the
PV industry
Driving skills
development
working group
within the South
African Wind
Energy Industry
Association
Exploring partnerships
with private sector
solar PV short course
providers like Max
Solar Academy (Pty)
Ltd, MSC Artisan
Academy (Pty) Ltd and
DSG Solar Berlin
GmbH
Putting in place
bursary schemes
with private sector
funding from
Acciona SA (Pty)
Ltd and Globeleq
SA (Pty) Ltd
OUR GOAL
To be the
preferred training
provider for all
OEM’s and Wind
Farm owners
operating in South
Africa
TECHNOLOGY STATIONS
Agrifood Technology Station
Clothing and Textiles Technology Station
TIA Adaptronics Manufacturing Technology Laboratory
CELEBRATINGA DECADE OFRESEARCH EXCELLENCE