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Gerard

Gerard Ralphs

PhD Student
Name: Gerard Ralphs
Location: JBS Offices, Ground Floor Johannesburg Business School
SARChI TRCTI Phd Students  Staff Members

Contact Details:
Tel: 011 559 1808

Email: 220164261@student.uj.ac.za

About Gerard Ralphs

Position with the Chair 

PhD Candidate, Public Management and Governance

Qualifications/ Education

MPhil, Public Culture, first class, University of Cape Town (2008)

BSocSci, Economics & Historical Studies, University of Cape Town (2004)

Research interests

Innovation Measurement; Cultural & Creative Industries; South Africa; Autoethnography; Decoloniality; Transformative Innovation Policy

I am working on the measurement of innovation in the South African cultural and creative industries. Currently in my third year of the PhD, my focus is designing and carrying out three small-scale measurement experiments in the formal business, public, and household sectors, towards developing a systemic measurement framework to inform future applied research. Using a combination of existing empirical tools, such as innovation surveys and autoethnography, I am interested in advancing a reflexive measurement practice rooted in my experiences as both researcher and artist (Instagram: @gerardpatrick_capetown; Twitter: @gpatrickseatown). Theoretically, I am exploring the intersection of debates about decoloniality and transformative innovation policy in the context of South African innovation and cultural policy.

HSRC Seminar Series | 2 June 2020 | Measurement of Innovation in the Cultural & Creative Industries: A Methodological Challenge?

SEMINAR PODCAST > https://anchor.fm/hsrc/episodes/Measurement-of-Innovation-in-the-South-African-Cultural–Creative-Industries—HSRC-Seminar-et02fm/a-a500fl5

Short narrative bio

In addition to my doctoral studies, I hold a full-time position in the Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators (CeSTII) at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) as a programme manager and policy analyst. In this role I work on the production of South African STI indicators for use by policy and research communities nationally and globally. A key personal and professional goal is completion of doctoral work while maintaining a healthy work-life-family balance.

List of publications and conference presentations

  • Ralphs, G. 2021. After 2021: Reimagining South African shopping malls. HSRC Review. 19(4):30-31.
  • Ralphs, G., Plantinga, P. and Madisa, G. 2021. Surveys as a public service: The need for a two-way flow of data. HSRC Review. 19(4):28-29.
  • Mustapha, N. & Ralphs, G. 2021. Effectiveness of technology transfer in public research institutions in South Africa: A critical review of national indicators and implications for future measurement. African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/20421338.2021.1893467
  • Kruss, G. & Ralphs, G. 2021. The value of a ‘fixed’ mandate for the knowledge commons: A history of the HSRC’s role in R&D and innovation measurement (1966–2018). In: Soudien, C., Swartz, S. & Houston, G. (Eds.). 2021. Society, Research and Power: A history of the Human Sciences Research Council from 1929 to 2019. HSRC Press: Cape Town.
  • Sithole, M., Ralphs, G. & Buchana, Y. 2020. The pace and direction of innovation is critical to South Africa’s economic recovery. Daily Maverick. 28 July 2020. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-07-28-the-pace-and-direction-of-innovation-is-critical-to-south-africas-economic-recovery/
  • Cherry, A., Haselip, J., Ralphs, G., & Wagner, I. E. (Eds.). 2018. Africa-Europe research and innovation cooperation: Global challenges, bi-regional responses. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351258883
  • Molotja, N., & Ralphs, G. 2018. A critical review of social sciences and humanities R&D expenditure in South Africa, 2005-2014. South African Journal of Science, 114(7–8), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2018/20170407
  • Mustapha, N., Khan, F. & Ralphs, G. 2017. Technology transfer in South Africa: The road ahead. HSRC Review. 15(2):20-21.
  • Kruss, G., Bortagaray, I. & Ralphs, G. 2017. Innovation in informal settings: We have much to learn. HSRC Review. 15(1):10-11.
  • Ralphs, G. 2008. Memory, conscience and the museum in South Africa: The old Langa pass office and court. South African Historical Journal, 60(2), 258–274. https://doi.org/10.1080/02582470802416526
  • Ralphs, G. 2008. Green Point, globalization and the remains of the Prestwich Street dead. Archaeologies, 4(2), 344–352. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11759-008-9075-7