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Keynote address by Minister Mosibudi Mangena, at the announcement of the results of the 2004/05 Survey on Research And Development
2006-06-22 13:35
Cape Town
Minister
False
Address by the Honourable Minister of Science And Technology, Mr Mosibudi Mangena, at the Announcement of the Results of the 2004/05 Survey on Research And Development 22 June 2006 Venue: Cape Town Director-General, Dr Phil Mjwara; Ladies and Gentlemen The release of the key high-level results of the National Survey on Research and Experimental Development, in this case for the period 2004/05, has now become a key annual event. The importance of measuring our system of innovation regularly and consistently can not be sufficiently underlined. The survey focuses on the sources of financing, the institutions doing the research, the focus of their research, and the people who do the research. For this reason, it is often called an input survey. But it is more than that; it is a relevant and important measure of the current capacity of the system and its dynamics. Since the first survey of 2001/2, we have now conducted three surveys, and have also recalibrated earlier surveys with new employment and Gross Domestic Product data. These surveys, therefore, provide opportunities to take stock of the national system of innovation and where it is heading, and today we unveil the high level key results of the 2004/5 fiscal period survey. From July last year, the Statistician-General recognised the R&D Surveys as Official Statistics. This means that the Surveys comply with the standards required by Statistics South Africa as laid out in the relevant legislation. Moreover, the South African R&D Survey data are regarded as robust enough to be included in the annual publication of “Main S&T Indicators” of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (the OECD), which is the most comprehensive and authoritative measure of patterns of global R&D spending and capacity. South Africa is one of a very small number of non-OECD states that have managed to comply with OECD requirements to qualify for inclusion in this set of indicators. This provides a sound basis for benchmarking our national competitiveness in relation to 40 other countries. We are delighted that we can do this, as evidence-based policy is likely to be more sustainable and goal oriented. Consideration of the trend in the last three surveys reveals that we are on track to achieve the goal of 1% of GDP by 2008, provided that both government and business continue to invest in the development of human resources, equipment and programmes that underpin our economic growth through innovation. Interestingly, from this year’s survey there are good indications that business R&D is benefiting from strong new inflows of research-intensive foreign direct investment. The economy has shown robust growth, and we can track new flows into R&D from local and foreign sources. More importantly, the surveys continue to draw in a wider sample of business R&D performers, because now more than 500 firms are participating fully in the survey. With the application of more precise measurement techniques, we are finally seeing a stronger buy-in. The issues I am referring to sound much like tax collection where the size of the fiscus depends on collection and compliance. And like the Commissioner for Inland Revenue, we appreciate compliance. To all those that participated in the 2004/05 R&D Survey, we thank you most sincerely. Earlier I mentioned that the Surveys are now Official Statistics. What this means is that completion of the questionnaire is a statutory requirement for those who receive the questionnaire. We encourage compliance with this requirement and have drawn on international good practice in working closely with those who submit returns. This brings me to the next important issue: This year, my colleague, the Minister of Finance, announced the introduction of increased tax allowances for conducting R&D by the business sector. This is an important development and an expression of government’s confidence in the private sector and its role in R&D and innovation. The regulations that will govern the way the allowance works will be gazetted later this year and my Department will work closely with relevant role players to ensure that we develop user-friendly and robust regulations. We know that some firms still do not routinely measure their R&D expenditures. So the time is now ripe for this to happen in the interest of both business and government. We want to ensure that smaller firms are able to benefit from this tax incentive in return for further increases in R&D activity. Now that there is an added incentive for business to track R&D, we would hope to see further improvement in the survey coverage. Now having recognised that the survey is an input measure let me talk to initiatives that investigate the performance and outputs of the National System of Innovation. As an agent of my department, the Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators (CeSTII) of the HSRC performs the R&D Surveys. Later this year, we shall release the results of the first official Innovation Survey, also being conducted by CeSTII. Together, these surveys provide a platform for deeper analysis of the effectiveness and efficiency of the national system of innovation. The National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI) has commissioned a set of studies that seek to answer ‘value for money’ questions. Among these questions are the following:
Interestingly the 2004/05 Survey shows that there is shortage of researchers and this in line with Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative (ASGISA) and the Joint Implementation Plan for Skills Acquisition (JIPSA) which has identified the shortages of technical and engineering as key constraint to economic growth. However we must recognise that improved R&D performance is possible only with the participation of additional researchers, and researchers are in short supply globally. To put it in context the European Union has set a target of GERD: GDP of 3% by 2010, for which an additional 500,000 researchers are required. As a country we are thus engaged in a fierce competition with the rest of the world for knowledge workers. In the case of researchers, there are no substitutes for providing attractive conditions and creating relevant opportunities. “From whence cometh this flock?” you may well ask. We must grow our own, retain those that we have, and recruit others where we can, and the signs are good. The graph slopes upward; we have confidence in the actors across our system of innovation, but much hard work lies ahead. We thank you. Re aleboga. Pula! |
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