The major shift in the science environment brought about by the adoption of the White Paper on Science, Technology and Innovation in March 2019 which promises a new science and technology landscape for South Africa will be the focus of a workshop hosted by the Academy of Science for South Africa (ASSAf) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST) on 2 July 2019.

Positioning the country for the wave of rapid global technological advancement and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the White Paper sets the long-term policy direction for the country to ensure a growing role for science, technology and innovation (STI) aligned to developmental challenges of the country.

Chapter 3 of the White Paper focuses on a coherent and inclusive National System of Innovation (NSI), which seeks to intensify the interactions and partnerships from different actors across society within the NSI and thus enhancing coherence amongst agendas of NSI actors.

Since the White Paper is not an implementation strategy, the policy actions proposed in the White Paper will be implemented in terms of a decadal plan which will be informed by technology foresight studies in consultation with implementation partners. The decadal plan will pay particular attention to technology focus areas, programmes to be implemented, institutional arrangements and funding required for the programmes. The decadal plan will also be informed by the analysis and foresight of government priority outcomes in the National Development Plan and the Medium-Term Strategic Framework.

The stakeholder awareness workshop entitled The 2019 White Paper on Science, Technology and Innovation will highlight policy intents and actions of the White Paper. Stakeholders, include business, government, public research institutions, higher education institutions and civil society.

The half-day seminar forms part of the Innovation for Inclusive Development (IID) learning interventions aimed at demonstrating how innovative technology solutions may be used to advance local economic development.

The programme for the workshop can be accessed here.