The Deputy Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), Mr Raseriti Tau, believes that innovation hubs and science research centres could play an important role in South Africa’s efforts to advance towards the fourth industrial revolution.

Speaking during an oversight visit to the Innovation Hub’s headquarters in Tshwane in Gauteng on Tuesday, as part of the Taking Parliament to the People Programme, Mr Tau said the concept of innovation hubs and science parks could play a key role in advancing these efforts, through research and development of new technology products.

The fourth industrial revolution has been described as large-scale technology breakthroughs in a number of fields, which is expected the disrupt every industry in every country through digitisation. “The jobs that we are creating today might no longer be relevant tomorrow, based on the fourth industrial revolution, and we need to be innovative and think about the future, and it is through initiatives like innovation hubs and science parks that we can conduct research and develop new technologies that are needed for the future, which is going to be highly digitised,” said the Deputy Chairperson.

Mr Tau was part of a delegation of NCOP members and MPLs from Gauteng and Limpopo, visiting the Innovation Hub in Tshwane to gather more information on the concept of science parks and their contribution to economic development. He added that the concept of innovation hubs was a very important idea for economic growth and future development.

It must not only focus on Gauteng, but look into the other provinces as well. “As the NCOP, we can provide a platform for all the MECs for economic development, through our Select Committee on Economic Development, to see how can the provinces support this idea and spread it across the country,” he said.

He was echoed by NCOP Delegate from the North West Province Mr Olifile Sefako who supported the idea of expanding the concept of innovation hubs to other provinces. These innovation hubs and science parks can play a pivotal role to ensure that the country mitigates the challenge of joblessness. “The more we expand this product the more value it adds to the lives of the people, and it can help create jobs where people live instead of having people travel to Gauteng,” said Mr Sefako.

The Innovation Hub is an entity of the provincial Department of Economic Development, established in 2001 through a partnership between the Gauteng provincial government, the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the University of Pretoria to incubate entrepreneurs in the research and development field.

Advocate Pieter Holl, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Innovation Hub, told the NCOP delegation that it assists innovators, researchers and entrepreneurs working on innovative ideas to improve efficiency of government service delivery and increase competitiveness of the local economy. “We also help in identifying market appetite for a product, develop a business model and continue to incubate the entrepreneur until their product was fully commercialised,” said Adv Holl.

Mr Tsietsi Maleho, General Manager: Monitoring, Evaluation and Partnerships at the Innovation Hub, told the delegation that science parks are mushrooming all over Africa and the concept was also gaining traction in other provinces.

One success stories to come out of the Innovation Hub is that of the skin products made from marula fruit, by Ms Portia Mngomezulu, of Portia M Skin Solutions, which are available in major supermarkets and pharmacies countrywide.

Another success story is Ms Thuli Mthethwa, who has developed a personal safety alarm in the form of a key ring, which is directly linked to the police. The South African Police Service has piloted this product and is in the process of buying it from her.

Sakhile Mokoena

21 November 2018