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Address by Minister Mosibudi Mangena, at the opening of the 1st-Africa 2006 Conference
2006-05-03 13:35
Pretoria
Minister
False
Address by the Minister Of Science & Technology Of The Republic Of South Africa, Mr Mosibudi Mangena, at the Opening Session of The 1st-Africa 2006 Conference 3 May 2006 Venue: Pretoria “A Strategic African-European IST Partnership: Knowledge and Innovation for Sustainable Development” Mr Chairperson, Minister Massingue, My Fellow Speakers, Dear Colleagues and Friends The first IST-Africa Conference is indeed a historic event. I had the privilege to attend, in 2004, in The Hague, the annual European IST event. In 2002 and 2003, my predecessor, Dr Ben Ngubane also attended European IST events in Copenhagen and Milan, respectively. These fora presented valuable opportunities for policy dialogue with our European partners and positively advised the formulation of South Africa’s research and innovation strategies for information and communication technology. The Department of Science and Technology, therefore, views the convening of such an event, which focuses on Africa, as a contribution to the advancement of information society development in Africa. I have, therefore, chosen as a theme for my address this morning, the importance of fostering a strategic African5European partnership in information society technologies. This partnership should optimally harness the potential of knowledge and innovation as instruments to promote sustainable development. Information and communication technologies indeed have a pervasive influence in all aspects of modern economic and social endeavours and transcend regional and national borders. To grow and prosper, the global information society in which we live requires strong societal participation and international partnership. Elaborating on this theme, this talk will focus on three dimensions of the African-European partnership. Firstly, it will look at the role played by information society technologies as part of the African growth and development agenda, and specifically the need for an African research and innovation agenda for information and communication technology. Secondly, it will explain why international scientific and technological cooperation is essential, from a global sustainable development perspective, and how events such as IST-Africa can promote such collaboration. Thirdly, it will underline why research and innovation partnerships between Africa and Europe are of strategic importance, and sketch how such cooperation could be enhanced through, for example, instruments such as the Seventh Framework Programme. This impressive assembly of ICT professionals gathered here fully understands the critical contribution that information society technologies can make towards promoting growth and fighting poverty in Africa. All of you fully appreciate the urgent need for Africa to step up its investment in and application of these technologies. Evidence abounds of the impact ICT can make in supporting democratisation and good governance on our continent. There are many examples of e-Health and e-Education interventions, which will be discussed at this Conference, which are markedly improving the quality of the lives of Africans. Similarly, ICT has been at the forefront of the economic upswing and greater engagement with trade opportunities enjoyed by many African countries. The thematic focus areas of the IST-Africa Conference, of e-Government, e-Health, e-Education and ICT for Agriculture are, therefore, most appropriate. For Africa to optimally engage with the opportunities presented by these technologies, however, investment in strengthening the continent’s indigenous ICT research and innovation capacities is essential. It is therefore incumbent on Africa to increase investment in and leverage international cooperation and support for strengthening its ICT human capital and knowledge base. I am pleased to report that there has been a concerted African response to these challenges in recent years. One of the most salient developments is the African Ministerial Council on Science and Technology (AMCOST), which adopted Africa’s Science and Technology Consolidated Plan of Action in Dakar, Senegal, in September 2005. This Plan maps the efforts that Africa will undertake through national and regional investments, as well as international partnerships, to strengthen the continent’s research and innovation capacities. Significantly, the Plan has identified information and communication technology as one of its flagship research and development programmes. The Plan, therefore, proposes strategies to stimulate technical change and ICT innovation in Africa. A specific priority area is the focus on building software development skills, including the strengthening of Open Source Software capacities and their application in areas such as education and health. It also proposes indicative projects in the e-Health and e-Education fields, which are currently being advanced through regional processes. On the national front, South Africa has developed a National ICT R&D Strategy that is in the final stages of approval by appropriate authorities. The Strategy is geared towards building world-class ICT research capacities in South Africa, developing a strong and robust ICT national innovation chain, including the critical links with industry, and enhancing ICT human resource capacities. The Strategy articulates the efforts South Africa would have to undertake to achieve these objectives. These will include the development of effective research infrastructures, fostering vibrant international partnerships, creating an enabling ICT policy and institutional environment, and securing appropriate funding for ICT research and innovation activities. These advances sketch developments built on the global consensus that had emerged at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, and reinforced at the 2005 World Summit on the Information Society. Based on the belief that knowledge and innovation are essential instruments for growth and development, Africa has in recent years made resolute efforts to strengthen its science and technology capacities. These efforts will, however, only be successful when complemented by vibrant international partnerships. This brings me to the second focus area of my address – the critical importance of international partnership for Africa. South Africa’s National Research and Development Strategy, adopted in 2002, identified international cooperation in science and technology as a strategic imperative, highlighting the three objectives such cooperation should support: Firstly, global partnerships of mutually beneficial nature enable partners to share in each others’ experience through learning enabled by cooperation. Secondly, such collaborations also ensure much higher returns on national investments by leveraging greater resources availed through co-investments made by international partners. Thirdly, and most relevant for our discussion, South Africa places a high premium on African continental and regional cooperation. The progress achieved by African science and technology cooperation initiatives has indeed contributed to advancing overall continental and regional cooperation. Through international cooperation, progress within science and technology systems can be fast-tracked, while South-South cooperation permits the pooling of expertise to address problems which are specific to the developing world. There is indeed a diverse portfolio of instruments available to support international cooperation. These include the traditional peer-to-peer scientific cooperation, international development cooperation programmes, competitive international funding programmes, international investment initiatives, global policy forums, as well as regional programmes. Events such as IST-Africa have an important role to play in bringing together partners to identify opportunities for cooperation, and devise strategies on how to access the most appropriate instruments to support such cooperations. At this stage, may I recognise the consistent support of the Government of Finland for promoting ICT partnerships for Africa. Not only have our Finnish and other international friends also provided support for the organisation of this Conference, but within South Africa and other African countries such as Mozambique, rich and promising bilateral ICT cooperation programmes are being developed. Our continent can only benefit from engagement with the international best practice in ICT, and we are indeed most grateful for such commitment to our cooperation. In the third and final part of my address this morning, allow me to focus on how African-European cooperation should best be advanced. When speaking on African-European cooperation, it would be amiss not to point to the close, historical links between Europe and Africa which should, and could provide a foundation for concerted information society technologies partnerships. A prime focus of IST-Africa is, of course, the consideration of the preparations for the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). It is vital that we collectively seek to use this unique opportunity for dialogue and consultation to devise strategies which will ensure optimal African participation in the ICT activities of the FP7. It is equally important to bear in mind that such international cooperation does not only significantly contribute to enriching the global knowledge pool, but by strengthening the developing countries’ own knowledge generation capacities, also becomes a key enabler for sustainable development. It certainly merits our collective investment to ensure that the international cooperation agenda of the FP7 is optimally implemented. Although the results of the African participation in the IST activities of the Sixth Framework Programme had been disappointing, I would like to urge the research and technology organisations in Europe to exploit the unique opportunities provided by the Framework Programme for mutually beneficial collaboration with partners in the developing world. Similarly, I would like to pledge that in Africa we will continue to make the necessary national and regional investments to enable us to optimally respond to these opportunities. These will include the strengthening of our continent’s research networking capacities, and their connection to high-speed international networks such as the European Geant network. We should emphasise the mutually beneficial nature of the proposed partnership. The opportunities, challenges and threats of the 21st Century Information Society are global, and can only be adequately addressed through true global partnerships, which span geographic, political and economic divides. We live in a world where the well-being of all people has never been so closely interconnected. No society is able to enjoy safety and prosperity in isolation from the global challenges facing our planet. International collaboration and partnership is thus not only useful, but indeed imperative. Information society technologies provide unique instruments for all the citizens of the world to participate in shaping our future. Through the formation of strategic and global partnerships, we also assist the world’s transition to a new inclusive, equitable and sustainable information society. May I, in closing, congratulate the IST-Africa Consortium for organising this first event, which I believe would create a platform for a series of engagements in years to come. I thank you. |
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