Opening address by Minister of Science and Technology, Mosibudi Mangena at the Technology Top 100 Awards Ceremony, Sandton, Johannesburg

Programme director
Dr Phil Mjwara, Director-General of Science and Technology
Mr Seth Phalatse, Chairman of Da Vinci Holdings
Professor Roy Marcus, Chairman of the Technology Top 100 adjudication panel
Members of the adjudication panel
Award nominees and recipients
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen

Allow me to begin by congratulating the representatives of companies and organisations who took up our challenge to be put through a stringent Technology Top 100 adjudication process.

As we celebrate excellence tonight, we are also recognising the significant developments that have taken place in some of South Africa's private and public sector operations. In many respects, the stories of these organisations mirror the story of South Africa.

Through their innovative approaches, some of the companies have defied all scepticism and are today recognised global players. By overcoming all manner of obstacles, they managed to increase their market share, developed new products and processes, and taken on international giants on their own turf.

Innovation, which is a process that starts with a good idea which is taken further for development into a product or service with commercial or social value or both, is an integral part of these awards. Innovation is fundamental to economic growth and the improvement of the quality of life of our citizens. The real question, however, is whether we have been successful in making the drive to innovation a fundamental component of the national psyche. At the moment, it appears that knowledge and ideas that are generated in the domain of research laboratories and academic institutions still have a long way to go before they are fully integrated in industry as innovative goods and services.

There are important lessons we can draw from the story of tonight's winners and qualifiers. Their achievements tell the story of our country's potential for success. The Technology Top 100 Awards also provide us with significant information about what government needs to do to support our researchers and companies in their endeavours and enable them to achieve even greater success.

A matter of grave concern though, which has emerged from the adjudication process is the fact that most of the qualifying organisations interviewed do not make use of our university or national research laboratories. This means they are missing out on the valuable opportunities to capitalise on the tremendous intellectual and research capabilities of these institutions. One of my department's key challenges is to create a greater awareness of the benefits that could be derived from partnerships between these institutions and the organisations we are saluting tonight.

This particular challenge should be approached from two angles. First, I believe that state-funded institutions, if they are to fulfil their mandate, need to become more active in seeking partnerships with private and public sector organisations. Secondly, it is our responsibility to make you, the winners and qualifiers, more aware of the advantages of partnering our institutions of research and higher learning.

And, as we form such partnerships, we must increase our efforts to move the innovation process out of the research institutes and universities into the domain of the organisations that play a pivotal role in the economic growth of South Africa.

Government has identified a need to modernise and grow our economy through science and technology. As a result, my department is processing the legislation, through Parliament, to establish the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA). We hope we will be able to establish the TIA at the beginning of the next financial year. The function of the agency would be to support researchers and innovators to develop their ideas into prototypes, finance and assist them through the initial intricate processes of commercialising their products and services.

To ensure we harness the intellectual capital produced in our higher education institutions and research laboratories, we are planning to introduce the Intellectual Property (IP) Rights from Publicly Financed Research Bill to parliament during this year. Among others, the envisaged IP Bill will enable my department to establish an Intellectual Property Management Office to support inventors and innovators to manage their IP.

We are convinced that through these instruments, the private sector will be encouraged to utilise the intellectual capacity at our universities and research laboratories to produce even more innovative products and services.

I therefore urge companies big and small to take a leaf out of the Technology Top 100 Companies, and try to emulate their successes in their own organisations. The organisations we honour today are setting a positive example for South African companies to begin a process of developing a brand of innovation that is unique to our rapidly developing country with its challenges and possibilities. The winners are organisations that have moved beyond the rhetoric of innovation, and progressed to a clear understanding of the application of knowledge and ideas, and the empowerment of their staff to recognise opportunities and run with them.

These awards are an acknowledgement of the calibre of our people, and the skills of our science and technology managers and leaders. Digging a little deeper into some of the stories behind the Technology Top 100 programme, we find organisations that stand out from their local and international competitors in a number of ways.

One quality we see in all of them is a constantly questioning mindset. This attests to the reality that South Africans have a talent for asking the right questions in their environment. Another quality demonstrated by the winning organisations is their ability to create an environment conducive to innovation and a sense of ownership among their employees. Anecdotal evidence abounds about the inventive ways used by the companies to inculcate an innovative mindset within their organisations.

It is heartening to realise we are now using the quantitative data from the Technology Top 100 adjudication process to produce some useful information on trends. This is the beginning of an important process from which we can all benefit.

I understand that four master classes, which will be offering useful opportunities to build on the networking initiated tonight, will be held during the course of this year. These classes can also be used to gain insights into the inner workings of some of the winning companies, and we believe they should be of great value to those who attend. We need to ensure that the lessons learned from the adjudication process are passed on to the widest audience possible.

May I, in closing, once again congratulate all those who have come thus far. The process began with over 200 applicants, and has now reached the stage where the best of the best in South Africa have been identified. We thank you all for participating in the programme, and salute you for your courage in opening your company for scrutiny by our adjudicators.

We truly appreciate the sterling job done by the adjudicators and to the organising team for making tonight possible. Our special gratitude goes to the University of Johannesburg for its commitment and dedication to the Technology Top 100 programme.

Finally, allow me the opportunity to wish you all great success, and to encourage you to resubmit your credentials for the 2008 adjudication process.

Congratulations, and enjoy the evening.

Issued by: Department of Science and Technology
21 February 2008