It has been five years since the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) launched its far-reaching Strategy, aiming to create strong partnerships with the private sector and innovation partners, and to date the organisation has recorded positive progress on its implementation.
The CSIR is “very pleased with progress made to date in the implementation of this Strategy,” CEO Dr Thulani Dlamini told a media roundtable discussion on 18 November.
The CSIR Strategy was launched to amplify the ‘Industrial’ component of the CSIR through research, development and innovation (RD&I) activities. Progress has seen the CSIR deepen partnerships with industry – in 2023/24, there was a 211% increase in the number of technologies localised for the organisation’s industry partners compared to 2019/20, an 82.6% increase in the number of joint technology development activities with industry partners. Staff exchange programmes with industry partners increased by 327% in 2023/24 compared to where the organisation was in 2019/20.
The organisation has shifted to focussing on higher technology readiness projects, and in 2023/24, realised a 108% increase in technology demonstrators compared to 2019/20. Other objectives reached in terms of the Strategy include deepening partnerships with higher education institutions (the CSIR has 15 relationships with South African universities) and collaborating with state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and government (in 2023/24, the organisation realised a 12.5% increase in the number of reports that support policy development compared to 2019/20, and a 175% increase in the number of projects implemented on behalf of government departments and SOEs).
An increasing focus on innovation and commercialisation saw the CSIR in 2023/24 realise a 160% increase in the number of technology licence agreements signed with industry partners compared to 2019/20, although the number of patents granted decreased by 24%.
The CSIR in 2023 officially launched its commercialisation enterprise, CSIR C3, to accelerate the pace and increase the scale of the commercialisation of its technologies and Intellectual Property (IP). “The standalone enterprise will hold all CSIR IP and act as an incubator for start-up enterprises underpinned by strong technical and non-financial support. It will enable the commercialisation of CSIR IP through the development of a network of investors and entrepreneurs,” Dr Dlamini stated.
Several other elements of Strategy implementation include the transformation of SET (science, engineering and technology) staff, investment in Property, Plant and Equipment (PPE), income diversification and good governance. In 2023/24, the total number of SET staff was 17.4% higher than it was in 2019/20, with double digit increases in the number of chief researchers and principal researchers. PPE investment in 2023/24 increased by 207% compared to 2019/20.
The CSIR has been making efforts to diversify income and this saw total revenue increase by 15.74% since 2019/20, despite a 5.77% reduction in the organisation’s Parliamentary Grant. Private sector income increased by 28.43% since 2019/20, and income from international sources as a percentage of total income doubled over the last five years.
The CSIR has seen growth in all areas of performance except for the number of patents granted and SET staff with PhDs and publications, although there is a healthy pipeline of priority patent applications.
“The good performance in the area of supporting a capable state means that the government trusts the CSIR as the go-to partner for the development of solutions for the state. Most of the CSIR’s contract research and development income comes from the public sector. In addition, the outstanding performance in the areas of technology localisation, SMME support and joint technology development projects with industry partners demonstrates the organisation’s relevance to both industry and government,” Dr Dlamini said.
“The outstanding performance in the areas of technology localisation, SMME support and joint technology development projects with industry partners indicates that the organisation has developed technologies for and with industry partners to increase their sustainability. Further, the CSIR has managed to sustain a steady growth in income as total revenue has surpassed the R3 billion mark for the first time in history.”
