Issued by African National Congress - Parliament
17 February 2003
ROLE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE PURSUIT OF FREEDOM AND WEALTH
The pursuit of the goals of freedom from want, hunger, deprivation, ignorance, suppression of talent, fear and intimidation is fundamental to the guarantee of human rights and dignity. The potential role of Science and Technology in the pursuit of freedom and wealth is unquestionable. Confusion is often made that the development and the diffusion into the economy of Science and Technology is the sole responsibility of the government of the day. On the contrary, the importance of Science and Technology should be recognised by the society as a whole, be it industry, civil society, education sector, scientists, etc. Thus a people-centred approach to the development of Science and Technology is one that is rooted in the following outcomes and values:
On the other hand, the government has a responsibility to pursue technology policies that are geared towards focussing more on effective collaboration between partners with the purpose of technology transfer. Such technology policies should be able to provide better domestic skills, capabilities, supplier networks and infrastructure. Furthermore, the government should pursue institutional changes that are based upon innovation initiative and organisational knowledge as driven by processes of socio-economic transformation. Good technology policies should allow for the blending of traditional technologies with new, big with small, indigenous with foreign, etc. In order to complete successfully in a globally challenging environment, we also need to develop the ability to create and acquire technologies from all forms of available sources and resources. Furthermore, the adopted technology policies should be able to establish an effective access to relevant information and thus a mechanism should be devised which would allow for the effective diffusion of such information into the economy. Successful understanding and consumption of information by one party from another, coupled with an effective application of such information at the market place and at consumer level represents what is referred to as TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER PROCESS. The latter is central to the successful development of a technological infrastructure and base for our country which has the capacity of competing in a global context.
NATIONAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
The initiative by the Cabinet which saw the approval in 2002 of the National Research and Development Strategy and the creation of the new Department of Science and Technology is a clear demonstration by our government that Science and Technology is at the centre of the alleviation of poverty and the enhancement of freedoms amongst our suffering people. The strategy involves the allocation of new research resources to the key areas of technology such as biotechnology, IT, manufacturing, poverty reduction, resource-based industries, etc. It also emphasises at research level the exploitation of South Africa's key geographic and human advantages such as astronomy, biodiversity, antarctic research, indigenous knowledge systems, paleontology, etc.
The strategy further encourages international collaboration in Science and Technology in the fields of importance to the nation. It supports the national system of innovation which has to drive Southern Africa as a region of excellence in Science and Technology. An innovation fund has been created to promote larger scale consortium projects in which academia, science councils, industry, etc. can participate by focusing on major themes of government such as competitiveness, quality of life, environmental sustainability, information technology, etc so as to address the needs of our national economy. The strategy also encourages the establishment of programmes which act as technology diffusion stations such as GODISA PROGRAMME AND TSHUMISANO PROGRAMME. Poverty relief programmes such as bee-keeping programme and Phumani Hand Paper Making project are but all demonstrative indicators by which our government wants Science and Technology to be people centred in this country. It is indeed a comprehensive strategy which needs to be developed and enriched in the interest of our people and the country's wealth creation. In line with this latter statement we therefore need to consider the following technologies:
SCARCE SKILLS PROFESSIONS AND TECHNOLOGIES
If South Africa wants to be a measure player in World Technology affairs it has to begin now to monitor closely the international technological adventures and breakthroughs, as well as to do something about these. This may be in the form of establishing our own research centres around these technologies or sending people overseas to join such ventures as a way of technology transfer process in the scarce skills technologies. To augment my argument, I have in mind the following international technological research ventures amongst others, as for an example:
FUEL CELL TECHNOLOGY
In his state of the Union Address President Bush of the United States of America proposed a $ 1.2. billion worth of a programme to help build the infrastructure needed to revolutionalise the cars we drive. He had a vision of an American child born today driving a green car based on this technology in the next two decades.
Fuel cell technology is "space-age technology" that is now being brought down to earth. It dates back to the 1800s, but it was not until the 20th century that it was used successfully to provide electricity and water in spacecrafts. Gemini spacecraft missions designed by DuPont are a testimony to this argument. Fuel cells commonly used are categorised into three types according to the type of electrolyte (fluid medium for conducting electricity) they use. These are:
What President Bush did not deliberately add was that for his fuel cell programme to succeed, he would also need a Rustenburg child born today who in two decades to come will as a director of Angloplats, sell him the platinum metal desperately needed as a catalyst for his fuel cell technology venture. Fuel cell technology is indeed seen by the world today as a technology of the near future in power engineering and South Africa stands a good chance economically with the success of this technology, because of its platinum reserves.
VACUUM TECHNOLOGY AND CRYOGENIC ENGINEERING
This technology is based on temperatures of interstellar space (refrigeration temperatures). It has a wide range of applications in space, defence and civil commercial environments. Its emphasis is on oil-free systems of exceptional reliability. It can be applied in external combustion engines for small-scale power generation and for medical, scientific and refrigeration purposes.
NANOTECHNOLOGY AND NANOMACHINES
Nanotechnology is an umbrella term that covers many areas of research dealing with objects measured in nanometers. A nanometer is a billionth of a meter. The goal of nanotechnology is to manufacture goods at molecular level. Nature has best been able to demonstrate this. Our bodies, as build out of tissue cells of molecular structure, are a testimony to the success of nanotechnology in nature.
For nanotechnology to succeed at consumer level, scientists will have to manipulate individual atoms using nanoscopic machines called assemblers that can be programmed for this purpose. But such manipulation will still be only at nano-dimensional levels. Thus, to create enough assemblers to build consumer goods, scientists will have to develop yet another class of nonomachines called replicators for this purpose. Envisaged benefits of nanotechnology would be;
AEROSPACE ENGINEERING AND AIRCARS
A new family of VTOL (vertically taking off and landing) flying machines or air-cars is being developed by a company called Romeo Yankee Ltd in Tel Aviv, Israel. They are categorised into two; namely City Hawks able to carry two people with a maximum flying altitude of 8000 ft and the Turbo Hawks envisaged for use in rescue missions, power-line repairs, high rise buildings, bridge repairs, etc. It is most likely that the overriding purpose of this design is military aiming to address problems of regional conflict facing the state of Israel. These aircars can fly and run on the road and their size is adapted to fit in a normal garage and parking bays.
It is thus my view that ventures on the scarce skills based technologies should be monitored closely whilst scarce skill professions should be encouraged within our society so as to render us less dependent from consultants that reap our country of its scarce financial resources.
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Human resource development in Science and Technology is closely linked to the initiative as based on innovation in science education. Science and Technology education can respond to the real needs of our society and the country only when it is practical, relevant and appropriate. Our teaching methodology should emphasise on problem solving and decision-making. The curriculum should be made to relate to local context not only by way of the development of technical skills, but also by rooting in principles as based on militant philosophy and revolutionary science. We have to start preparing and producing doctors, engineers and scientists who understand the origins of historical and dialectical materialism; who understand the difference between idealist and materialist philosophy; who understand the difference between objective and subjective conditions in addressing challenges of our society; who understand where rice or cotton comes from. Indeed a technologist who is a true reflection of the success of our National Democratic Revolution. In a nutshell, a total transformation of mindset in our technical training approach is at the centre of the success of our innovation initiative in science education and human resource development in Science and Technology. But even more, the mindset and culture that Science and Technology is for White people and that Blacks are for sports and dancing around must be eradicated. Let alone the attitude that women are for nursing, social work, and romance. In this connection, Parliament through its relevant portfolio committees must begin to implement its oversight role of identifying those centres and institutions of Science and Technology which still remain the bastions of racism and the exclusion of black talent. Blending of White faces by Black faces who have no relevance in our socio-economic transformation processes has also become a new approach used in the many institutions of Science and Technology here in South Africa, since the establishment of majority rule in 1994.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT
At the core of the globalisation concept lies the reality of the unrestricted flow of capital across markets and national borders. In the African context and in line with the philosophy of African Renaissance, our challenge is to lead the African continent into becoming an economically competitive regional force by using our better developed Science and Technology infrastructure to provide essential services ranging from electricity, agriculture, communications, education and other products of human mind. Science and Technology is indeed a crucial instrument in all forms of human endeavour in this regard. It is part of our accepted international obligations to advocate the eradication of global poverty and marginalisation of developing countries that form two thirds of world community which is condemned to backwardness, superstition and disease by the so-called modern society. Cde President allow me to thank you for your NEPAD initiative. NEPAD provides a good springboard for an all African initiative and solution in advancing Science and Technology in our continent, whilst the formation of an African Science and Technology Commission is a step in the correct direction for the continent of Africa.