The Contribution of Innovation to Socio-Economic Development in South Africa

The DSI/NRF South African Research Chair in Industrial Development (SARChI-ID) conducts research, builds capacity and undertakes public and policy engagement in the field of industrial development. SARChI Industrial Development is hosted at the University of Johannesburg, where it operates as a centre located in the College of Business and Economics.  The funding support of the DSI and the NRF through Grant Number 98627 for the South African Research Chair in Industrial Development has made this working paper series possible.

The aim of this project is to analyse the potential contribution of the three Decadal Plan Science Technology and Innovation priorities, namely health innovation, energy innovation and a re-industrialised modern economy, to inclusive and sustainable socio-economic development.  

Virtual Research Sprint

The DSI/NRF South African Research Chair in Industrial Development (SARChI-ID), in collaboration with Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, with funding from the Mercator Foundation, hosted an eight-week “Research Sprint” with a cohort of fellows from various African countries. The Research Sprint was hosted within the framework of the Ethics of Digitalization project run by the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, the Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut, the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, and the Global Network of Internet and Society Research Centers (NoC), under the auspices of the Federal President of Germany and with funding from the Mercator Foundation.

The project advanced dialogue and action at the intersection of science, politics, digital economy, and civil society broadly. The Research Sprint hosted by SARChI-ID explores specific questions related to data colonialism, striking a balance between use of digital technologies and guarding against data commodification, and digital surveillance. This Research Sprint was one in a series that took place over a year and followed a Sprint hosted by the Berkman Klein Center on digital self-determination.