'Science a tool to achieve NDP goals'

Science will play a mayor role in achieving the objective of the NDP, that seeks to eradicate poverty by 2030.

Johannesburg - Science will play a mayor role in achieving the objective of the National Development Plan (NDP) that seeks to eradicate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030.

This is according to the Science and Technology Department's director-general, Dr Phil Mjwara. He also shed light on how the objectives of his department were aligned to the NDP, the government’s long-term plan.

He was speaking at the Science Forum South Africa yesterday as a panellist on how South Africa could harness science, technology and innovation in the NDP, and garner lessons from international experience.

“We have made a commitment to focus on the key areas - knowledge generation, exploitation, economic competitiveness and inclusive development,” he said.

Speakers echoed the sentiment that South Africa needed to cultivate the culture of innovation and collaborate with other countries.

Professor Robin Grimes, of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said academics should have a partnership programme with the medium enterprise sectors. “Innovation comes in many forms we make much progress when we work together.”

Professor Sylvia Schwaag Seger, of Sweden, said research and technology were critical in the national development of every country, and called for governments to invest in science projects. “Science can only work when it is located in the correct ecosystem, and I think it is what the NDP is trying to do.”

Petro Nunes, of the Eureka Secretariat in Belgium, said policies to improve human resources should be prioritised. “We need to be more innovative,“ he said.

Botswana Minister of Infrastructure, Science and Technology, Nonofo Molefhi, stressed the importance to invest in researchers and “to put more money into research to get the dividends”.

Mjwara said South Africa could learn from Germany, South Korea and Japan that emerged from wars to become technological powerhouses. “The trick lay in investing in people,” he said.

rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za

Pretoria News

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