Science and Technology Forum in Japan

Contents
［Keynote Address］ Minister of Science and Technology, at the Commemoration of South Africa-Japan Science and Technology Partnership
HE Minister Mr. Mosibudi Mangena 2
［Welcoming address］ Ambassador of South Africa to Japan HE Ambassador Dr. Ben Ngubane 4
［STP Forum Introduction］ Counsellor of Science and Technology, South African Embassy, Japan Mr. Vuyani Lingela 5
〈Keynote Address〉
1 「National System of Innovation: South African Challenges」
Deputy Director-General: South African Department of Science and Technology Mr. Dhesigen Naidoo
7
2 「Japan's Science and Technology Basic Plan and Strategy」

Deputy Director-General for Science and Technology Policy, Cabinet Office, Japan Mr. Bunro Shiozawa
12
3 「University-business-government cooperation in R&D in South Africa:Progress and challenges」

Deputy Director-General: Frontier-Science and Technology, South African Department of Science and Technology Dr. Bethuel Sehlapelo
18
〈Session：1〉 S & T Strategy – Its Impact on Innovation
4 「Introduction」
Councillor: National Advisory Council on Innovation, South Africa Prof. Tshilidzi Marwala
23
5 「Results of the evaluation of the achievements of Japan's Science and Technology Basic Plans」
Director-General: NISTEP, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan Mr. Hiroshi Nagano
24
6 「Interim assessment of the impact of the South African National R&D Strategy」
Deputy Director-General: Frontier-Science and Technology, South African Department of Science and Technology Dr. Bethuel Sehlapelo
30
●Q&A 36
〈Session：2〉 How to convert R&D findings into innovation
Deputy Director-General: Science and Technology Policy, Cabinet Office, Japan Mr. Bunro Shiozawa
41
8 「The utilisation of research fi ndings as contribution to bridging the innovation chasm」

Chief Director: National Advisory Council on Innovation, South Africa Dr. Bok Marais
42
9 「Measures for promoting collaboration between industry, academia and government

in the Technology Advanced Metropolitan Area (TAMA) in Japan」
Senior Fellow: Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI), Japan Mr. Toshihiro Kodama
47
10 「Efforts to enhance cooperation between universities and industry in Japan」

Executive Director: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Prof. Kenichi Iga
51
●Q&A 54
〈Session：3〉 Human capital development in new emerging technologies for innovation
Executive Director: New Business Development, National Research Foundation, South Africa Dr. Rocky Skeef
59
12 「South African Department of Science and Technology

S&T human capital development in SA:Priorities in the higher education sector」
Chief Director: Human Capital and Science Platform Ms. Anati Canca
61
13 「Measures for fostering Science and Technology human resources in Japan」

Director: Knowledge Infrastructure Policy Division, Science and Technology Policy Bureau, MEXT, Japan Mr. Yuji Sakakibara
67
14 「South Africa R&D human capital development in SA: Capacity building in service of excellence」
Executive Director: Innovation Fund, National Research Foundation Dr. Eugene Lottering
71
15 「Examples of activities of fostering science and technology human resources in Japan」

Professor: Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan Dr. Chihiro Watanabe
76
●Q&A 81
16 「Conclusions and the way forward」

President: Engineering Council of South Africa Mr. Bob Pullen
84
List of Participants 89
Contact information 92
1 STP Forum, Tokyo 2005

Keynote Address
Minister of Science and Technology, at the Commemoration of

South Africa-Japan Science and Technology Partnership
Mr. Mosibudi Mangena
Over the past years Japan has been viewed as a role institutions, research institutions, goverment and industry
model by many nations. This view of Japan is influenced by in all spheres of science and technology. In this regard we
the impressive development path it has taken. This path is also welcom the appointment of Mr Yoshinari Akeno, by the
marked by improvement in literacy rate to the current 100% government of Japan as an Advisor to our Department of
level, the transition from primary commodity based economy Science and Technology.
to the current industrial based economy. In this way the Since the signing of the agreement, we have taken
people of Japan gained the longest average life expctancy in significant steps to promote bilateral cooperation in the area
the world. of science and technology. Our two countries have agreed to
South Africa began to recognize Japan not only as a emphasise the following areas in our co-operation:
role model but as a partner to achieve our mutual goals. 1. New and Advanced Materials, including Nanotechnology
South Africa's quest for science and technology partnership 2. Biotechnology
with Japan was advanced at the fi rst Japan-South Africa 3. Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
Partnership Forum held in South Africa in 1999. The sixth 4. Infectious Diseases, and
Japan-South Africa Partnership Forum held in South Africa 5. Science and Technology Policy
saw the Science and Technology Agreement concluded Already we are realizing a growing intensity of
between our two countries in 2003. cooperation between universities and research institutions
It was brought to my attention that the science and in our two countries. This is indicated by the increasing
technology agreement between Japna and South Africa is the number of Japanese scientists and students visiting various
fi rst of its kind between Japan and an African country. universities and research institutes in South Africa, as well
I commend my predecessor, Ambassador Dr Ben as visits by South Africans to Japanese institutions.
Ngubane who was the Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and In an effort to advance exchange of researchers and
Technology at this period for his contribution in establishing know-how between academic and research institutions
a foundation for our bilateral cooperation in science and between our two countries, South Africa's National Research
technology. As a direct response to our science and technology Foundation (NRF) and the Japan Society for the Promotion of
cooperation agreement, the Department of Science and Science (JSPS) concluded a Memorandum of Understanding
Technology appointed Mr Vuyani Lingela, the Counsellor (MoU) in March this year. I congratulate Professor Ono, JSPS
for Science and Technology, to establish the Science and President and Dr Mokhele, NRF President for concluding
Technology Office at the South African Embassy in Japan the fi rst MoU between JSPS and an African institution. As
in 2004. With this new office, we confi rm South Affrica's a result of this MoU, NRF and JSPS will introduce a new
commitment to promote cooperation with Japanese academic joint research funding scheme this month which will benefit
2
scientists and students in our two countries. part of our national celebration of 10 Years of Democracy. The
Although there is growing cooperation, between university Exhibition enabled not only relevant researchers to discuss
to university as well as university to research institute, there opportunities for cooperation in science and technology, but
is a need to promote joint research efforts between Japanese also exposed young people to emerging technologies. Among
and South African scientists. There is also a need to involve organisations from many countries that participated in the
industry in joint innovation efforts. I urge the representatives exhibition, I was pleased with the presence of :
of the business community to consider opportunities for 1. Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST)
partnership with South Africans in this regard. 2. National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS)
South Africa is endowed with mineral resources and 3. RIKEN, and
Japan is the major importer in Asia of minerals from 4. The Earth Simulator Centre
South Africa, particularly platinum and aluminium. This South Africa is participating in the Aichi World EXPO
trade relation between our two countries presents a major 2005 under the theme "Rhythm of Life". This month we are
opportunity for cooperation in the automotive sector. organizing seminars in Tokyo, Kyoto, Fukushima, Nagoya
To promote cooperation in science and technology policy, and Yokohama where leading South Africans will make
we are organizing the Science and Technology Policy Forum presentations.
which will be held at the Tokyo Institute of Technology 1. Dr Tony Ribbink will present lectures on the African
on 8 June. Speakers and participants are invited from the Coelacanth Ecosystem Programme
government of Japan and South Africa, industry, research 2. Professor Phillip Tobias will present lectures on The
institutes and universities. With the Science and Technology Evolution of Mankind : the Significance of the Fossil
Policy Forum, we aim to broaden the understanding of the Hominid Discoveries at the Cradle of Humanity World
science and technology policy environment and exchange Heritage Site in South Africa, and
best practices in this regard amongst government officials, 3. Dr Gideon Smith will present lectures on South African's
business representatives, policy analysts, researchers and
Plant Life and Biodiversity
research managers in both countries.
Officials of the Department of Science and Technology
You are all invited to attend these events.
have benefited from the Science and Technology Policy
Analysis Internship Programme presented by the National
Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP), with
the support of the Japan International Cooperation Agency
(JICA) in November 2004.
On the multilateral sphere, South Africa and Japan,
worked together to build a Global Earth Observation
System of Systems (GEOSS) that will comprehensively and
continuously monitor, measure and facilitate mitigation of
the impacts of natural disasters. In this regard, I am looking
forward to visit the National Research Institute for Earth
Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED) tomorrow.
South African hosted the International Science, Innovation
and Technology Exhibition (INSITE) in November 2004 as

Welcoming Address
Ambassador of South Africa to Japan

HE Dr. Ben Ngubane
This forum was conceived as part of our contribution to The aging populations that are going to confront the world
the Expo that is taking place in Japan, to which almost all the in the 21st century will need special methodologies and
leading nations of the world have come to make presentations assistance for the aged, so that elderly people can continue
and contribute to the rediscovering of nature's wisdom, which to lead full, independent, and enjoyable lives. These are
is the theme of the Aichi Expo. the issues that we face. I hope those are the issues that the
It is said that the 20th century was about development, Science and Technology Forum will try to address. But for
and huge achievements were made in transportation and us, as South Africa, coming from the African continent, there
telecommunications, and in manufacturing. However, this has are even more urgent matters, because Africa continues to
not prevented serious threats to humankind and to the earth slide back. In the 1960s Africa was on par with the Southeast
in the 21st century, namely global warming, climate change, Asian countries; we were emerging from colonialism. But
the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the degradation of the in the 1980s the trajectories differed completely. Southeast
environment, the increasing gap between the rich and poor, Asia went on to bring in FDI to develop and industrialize,
the maldistribution of essential resources such as food and whereas GDPs in Africa continued to slide, and poverty and
water, and of course the reduction in those natural resources underdevelopment worsened.
that we need for industry and to maintain our quality of life These are some of the topics I hope will be discussed at
and standard of living. Therefore the philosophy behind Aichi here, so that even the ticket process itself can benefit from the
Expo is that we need to come together and share knowledge wisdom of this forum.
and wisdom on how to deal with these issues, and quite
clearly science and technology is the key to solving most of
these problems. So we ask to come to try and deal with the
issues facing human civilization and culture, because we will
have to develop new ways and new structures for addressing
social development and protection in the 21st century.
The emergence of recycling communities will go a long
way in dealing with the issues of natural resource depletion.
4
Science and Technology Policy Forum Introduction
Science and Technology Counsellor, South African Embassy, Japan

Mr. Vuyani Lingela
Good morning ladies and gentlemen. It is a great pleasure practices in this regard; to establish and enhance professional
to have friends of South Africa and colleagues from South scientific and policy networks between the people of our two
Africa this morning at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. countries. And it is to establish a platform for future possible
And to start with before we proceed, my name is Vuyani collaboration in the area of policy studies, collaboration
Lingela, the counselor for science and technology at the South between industry, academia, and government, human capital
African embassy. My role at this special event, the Science development and advancement of innovation systems.
and Technology Policy Forum, I will be the program director. We are very, very fortunate today to have distinguished
And you are indeed welcome on this special occasion here guests and speakers from all walks of South African and
at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Just a few remarks Japanese society. And to begin with, as you can see from
before I proceed. We have been advised and we appreciate our program which is in English and Japanese, fi rst we will
the guidance of the government of Japan. Because you are have our ambassador, Dr. Ben Ngubane, who will welcome us
welcome, it is a great pleasure to ask you to feel free to take all. Ambassador Ngubane will be followed by Mr. Dhesigen
off your ties and enjoy the occasion today. On this special Naidoo, the deputy director-general for international
occasion, The Science and Technology Forum, you are cooperation and resources of the Department of Science
welcome; feel free to take off your ties and enjoy. and Technology of South Africa. The next speaker will be
This occasion, as we all know, brings together government Mr. Shiozawa, the deputy director-general for Science and
off icials, business representatives, policy analysts, Technology in the Cabinet Office; and the last speaker in this
researchers, and resource managers from South Africa morning session unfortunately is not available to be with us
and Japan. It is a very unique opportunity for Japanese and this morning. For that, Dr. Sehlapelo of the Department of
South Africans to get together and share issues that concern Science and Technology will present Dr. Sibisi's presentation
science and technology policy. As you will notice in the this morning.
programs available at all the tables, the main purpose of this Ladies and gentlemen, indeed you are welcome to the
science and technology forum is to increase understanding of Science and Technology Policy Forum and the Tokyo Institute
science and technology policy environment in both countries, of Technology.
Japan and South Africa, and to facilitate exchange of best

6
Session 1: S & T Strategy – Its Impact on Innovation
National System of Innovation:

South african Challenges
Deputy Director-General
in the South African Department of Science and Technology
Mr. Dhesigen Naidoo
I want to give a little overview of science and technology talking about this relationship as beginning in a formal way
in South Africa today, particularly in the context of this in 2003. But last night, at the lecture given by Professor
valuable relationship between ourselves and Japan. I was going Phillip Tobias, he reminded all of us that technical and
to start by talking about the difference in the South African scientific cooperation between our two countries predates
environment pre-1994 and post-1994. Although it sounds like a that by a long time. Professor Tobias himself was already
strange thing to say, our country is really 10 years old. Before interacting with Japanese colleagues in the 1940s and 1950s,
1994 we had a kind of regime that many of us could not identify in particular in the important areas of anthropology and
with. It was a South Africa that was fairly isolated from the paleoanthropology. So I guess there should be a new third
rest of the world. And 1994 really saw the beginnings of South bullet point; that we actually have a long history to this
Africa's outreach to take its rightful place in the international relationship. But this formal relationship began with the
community. This relationship between South Africa and Japan signing of the agreement, and I am very pleased that we have
has been talked about in many, many forums, and in particular two of the people who were very fundamental in that here
by our heads of state. Because both President Mbeki and today. Mr. Ngubane, as he was before he was Ambassador
Prime Minster Koizumi have talked about this in the bilateral Ngubane, was the signatory from the South African side,
context; they have talked about the roles our respective and Mr. Nagano, who was one of the people at the signing
countries have played in bringing two regions together in the ceremony in 2003 that formally launched this relationship.
context of AZROK, and in the context of Tokyo International Subsequent to that, in addition to the various exchanges
Conference on African Development (TICAD). More recently that we have had between our two countries, we had the first
our two heads of state have been talking at length about Science and Technology Policy Forum in South Africa in
reform of the United Nations system and the roles that our May 2004. It was a very successful event; it brought together
countries can play as champions in that regard. a group of South African researchers in specific areas with
In the context of the South Africa-Japan arrangements their Japanese counterparts and the ideas that they generated
regarding science and technology, before last night this third a year ago have actually now become projects and active
bullet point (see diagram) was valid; I was going to start collaborations between our two countries, and are proliferating.

Keynote Address
And in that discussion with the Japanese delegation, which and technology efforts to achieve social change in South
was led by Mr. Maruyama, we talked about how different our Africa. We think we have one of the more successful
policy environments were, and in particular how we thought political democracies in the world but our ultimate aim in
that the mother lode of easy solutions lay in what the other South Africa is to uplift the quality of life of all our people
was doing. We then described our respective positions-and this so we can that we can have a real social democracy.
was the lunchtime conversation-and realized that there was an 3) Securing investment−investment from inside the country,
awful lot to work through and that the lessons that we could including investment from different partner sectors inside
learn from each other could be of enormous mutual benefit. the country, and investment from outside the country.
That really was the genesis of this STP forum, and we are So the national research and development strategy rests
very glad that we are able to hold it within the science month on the three pillars that we think will enable us to address
for the South African exhibition in Aichi this year. these challenges.
I will now give a short description of what we are The fi rst is innovation. Science and scientific efforts have
currently dealing with. The national research and to be organized to be innovative, so you can put together
development strategy is the core document that guides all things that have not been put together in that sequence
of our activities in South Africa. Its current challenges can before, so that you can achieve leaps ahead in progress and
perhaps be summarized by the following three points: innovation. You should organize it so a substantive part of
1) There is a very small science and technology base. I your knowledge base can be converted to something that
will include some graphs and charts that show some society can use as quickly as possible.
encouraging trends, but in absolute magnitude it is a small The second pillar-and Japan is an excellent example of
base. It is a small base that wants to do a great many how well this can work-is human capital development and
things. There is a lot of enthusiasm in the system but the transformation, as you need to develop a strong, skilled, human
need for strategic focus and discipline is enormous. capital base in science and technology. At dinner last night, the
2) The application of the knowledge base to the development ambassador was remarking how interesting it is for him that
of the country is a huge challenge for us, as it is for most the Japanese system functions as well as it does. The amount
people in the world. In the South African environment, we of progress made in a country like Japan is quite remarkable.
talk about something called the "innovation chasm," where I told him that some of the reasons for this are what we
there isn't a seamless transfer of the knowledge into the witnessed at Aichi yesterday. While we were at the South
working economic sector. The Europeans talk about this African pavilion we were bombarded by a hundred or so five
using the terminology of the European paradox. And year olds. Japanese children, all in their school uniforms, came
indeed this is one of our big challenges. We want to apply in to this environment, to investigate what it was all about. It
ourselves to two things; we want to make our country is at this young age that it really all starts, so the whole notion
more competitive, because in the globalized world your of human capital development is very strong with us.
ability to be competitive not only insures your survival The third point concerns alignment and delivery. We
but insures how much of the international pie you can have a number of very good scientific institutions in South
get, and at the same time, we want to use our science Africa but they do not have a history of working in step. We
8
National System of Innovation: South African Challenges
Mr. Dhesigen Naidoo
have a term in South Africa called "framework autonomy," technology services like this the Department of Science and
about which some institutions say the framework part means, Technology in South Africa provides the support base while
"The government should give us the money." The autonomy the primary function is driven from that line department.
part means, "Now you leave us alone." When you have as few I want to talk a little bit about our last R&D survey, and
resources as we do, you have to think strategically about this, this is a survey of the year 2003-2004, from which many
and there has to be alignment in the system. We think that encouraging results have come, and we are taking a lot of
this is a very important part of what we do. heart from this. The fi rst of those encouraging results is
The other challenge-and it is interesting to observe how the increase in the spending. We have plotted them both in
you deal with this as well-is that science and technology normal rands. Figure shows the increase from 1989, climbing
operates at various different levels. There is that thrust where to 2003, and we have also plotted this in constant rands, and
there is a primary activity called science and technology, but in in rand valued in 2000. As can be seen, the trend is still very
many sectors, science and technology is a cross-cut. There are real, even when a discount is made for inflation and other
many who will say that it is not a cross-cut, it is a part of every factors. This is very heartening for us. I will now give a little
thing else in its own right. In order to deal with this, we have more detail about the numbers themselves.
had to reorganize our structure, and this is quite new. This What these figures mean is that our gross expenditure on
structure has been operational from April 1, 2005, when we R&D as a percentage of GDP has gone up from 0.76% to 0.81%
divided what we do into three distinct sectors, three distinct of GDP. Now, this may seem like a low number, but it is very
sets of activities. The first, which we call "Type One," is cross significant for us. We have had a 0.5% increase in spending,
cutting, and cover the large-scale, broad-scope technologies, but at the same time our GDP has also grown. If a comparison
areas of new knowledge that are essential. You need a is made with the actual expenditure, we have an increase
substantive amount of the research component of research from 7.5 billion rands in 2001 to 10 billion rands in 2003-4,
and development (R&D), and this is located directly in the so in actual rands it is a 33% increase. I will discuss some of
Department of Science and Technology from where it is run. those other numbers in the form of graphs. Now, when one
The second is looking at fairly mature areas of science that compares these figures to other places-incidentally, as far as
have a strong applications base already but still need a fair we know now, we are spending 0.81% of GDP on R%D, but it
amount of effort at the frontier to advance knowledge in those
areas. These areas we call "Type two." They are the classical
one-on-one partnerships, as well as being quite sector specific.
Activities here are shared jointly between the Department
of Science and Technology and whoever there counterpart
is; there are some example shown in the diagram. The third
category covers areas of science. These are not trivial areas
of science, but rather things as complex as weather services
for example, where the research component is, at the moment,
fairly minor. There is a substantive technology base, and for

Keynote Address
might be a little bit higher for where we are in 2005-Japan is One is that the private sector in South Africa performs
sitting at 3.12%, so there is a vast difference between us. The more R&D than the public sector. Then when the public sector
averages that we generally benchmark ourselves against, R&D is broken down by section, the higher education section
the European Union (EU) average and the Organization for takes care of over 20%.
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average, I would now like to touch on a few others aspects. Using
sit somewhere in between, so we are still a small player in the David King's paper that appeared in Nature, when we
science and technology arena, although our trend afoot. compare last year's investment in science, using the indicator
If we look at the number of fulltime equivalent researchers, of citation intensity against wealth intensity and the ability
expressed as per thousand of people employed, we are still at to convert it from one to the other, we find that we are not
2.2 while Japan is at 9.9. There is still, therefore, a substantive in an unreasonable position. We seem to be on the right
difference between the two countries, and we think that this kind of curve in converting what we managed to discover in
is the kind of trajectory that we also want to climb up. If we knowledge production into the system.
look at the percentage of total researchers and in this case Japan, it appears, gets more out of its scientific investment
specifically women, we have an encouraging number. Although into the economic investment arena than many of the other
our research base is small, our 2003-4 numbers reveal that players in this field. There is not enough time, however, to
38% of our researchers are women, whereas the figure for work through all of the figures here. We have our medium-
Japan is11.2%. As this is one statistic in which South Africa term strategic deliverables, and these are the areas of science
leads Japan, I have included it here. that we deal with in particular as our priority areas. I am
To summarize what we are learning from the survey, not going to describe them too much here, as Bethuel will go
fi rst, we have increased gross expenditure in R&D from 7.5 into more detail. But in addition to these priority areas, the
billion to 10.1 billion rands by 2003-04, which translates as an key is to prioritize addressing poverty directly with your
increase of 0.76% of GDP to 0.81% of GDP. Perhaps what is technology base.
even more significant than that is that the Cabinet in South Creating sustainable and attractive careers for young
Africa has specified a target of 1% of GDP by 2008. So in two people in science, engineering and technology is essential,
and a half years from now, that number should be 1%, which and we would like to put a lot of effort into making South
means that the amount will be closer to 15 billion rands given Africa a preferred destination for science and technology. The
the current increase in GDP. We have a total of 25,000 full kinds of partnership that we have already begun with Japan
time equivalent R&D personnel, and this is a number would that we would like to increase are divided into six areas. The
we want to see grow substantively. I have talked already fi rst is the area of bilateral projects, where individuals and
about the ratio of men to women. This is indeed encouraging, project teams come together, and we already have examples
but it also means that we have to substantively increase the in nanotechnology and in biotechnology where groups have
researcher base and keep that ratio intact. come together and are busy on working projects. We already
There were other interesting findings in the survey, and have inter-institutional cooperation. There is a memorandum
they are particularly interesting for people who do not follow of understanding that has been signed between the Council
the South African science and technology environment. for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa
10
National System of Innovation: South African Challenges
Mr. Dhesigen Naidoo
and the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) in congratulate the government and people of Japan and Aichi.
Japan. The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) But we are also looking around the multilateral environment,
and the National Research Foundation memorandum of and I have listed two examples that took place in November,
understanding (MOU) is pretty close to being finalized. This 2005; South Africa, on behalf of the OECD, hosted the Science
is thing about big science in South Africa. We think that big and Technology for Sustainable Development Conference. In
science has huge impact on a country's science and technology the geo arena, we have done substantive work together as co-
system. You know this argument very well because have chairs of this event to date.
seen this argument being used in the Japanese context in the Last but not least, is the New Partnership for Africa's
context of ITA recently. Development (NEPAD) science and technology context, and
I will now present an example, the Square Kilometer both of our heads of state talked about that in quite pragmatic
Array (SKA), and in the hopes of provoking enough terms. This is connected with the last picture, which shows
interest to become a serious SKA partner. The current the Inside Exhibition in South Africa last year. The individual
instrumentation we have, and this I guess is in relation shown in the picture is certainly well-known, and perhaps
to paleontology and South Africa's own obsession with the most famous Japanese person at the exhibition: Pino, the
looking back in time, I got from Dr. Ngubane. If I remember little robot who came to visit us and talk to someone from
correctly, this is how I explained the issue of the SKA to his the most underrepresented group in South African science
sister, who is an anthropologist. We have the ability to create and technology circles. The power that comes this kind of
an instrument that can actually look back in time, and the relationship is actually what makes all of this worthwhile.
best we currently have is the Hubble Space Telescope, which This is the kind of stimulation a young person will take back
can look back to about a million years ago. There is also the to their home or classroom. It is a good story that they will
James Webb, which apparently takes you back a bit further, relate to their peers and parents, and other members of
and when the Wilkinson Microwave Probe becomes a reality their community, and may lead to a very different kind of
it might take you a bit further back even than that. With the conversation about science, one that can develop science in
SKA we are investigating what is currently called the dark South Africa.
ages-inside the fi rst 10% of the beginnings of the universe. We
are looking inside what might be termed the magic furnace,
where the elements were starting to form. The SKA has the
potential to take us to this area of knowledge. It would be a
wonderful boom to the world if we could achieve this sort of
project together.
On the subject of partnerships, briefly, the inside
partnership last year in the form of South Africa's fi rst
science, technology, and innovation exhibition had wonderful
participation from Japan, and we in turn are participating
in the Aichi Expo, which is a tremendous experience and we

Keynote Address
Japan's Science and Technology

Basic plan and Strategy
Deputy Director-General for Science and Technology Policy,

Cabinet Office, Japan
Mr. Bunro Shiozawa
I would like to explain what the aims of the Japanese things we are now discussing regarding the third Basic Plan.
science and technology policy are. In particular, we have a Furthermore I shall describe the kind of issues that we have
Science and Technology Basic Plan. Presently, we are in the identified as main topics which need to be covered in the new
final year of the second Science and Technology Basic Plan, plan.
and we are therefore developing the next stage. First, I would like to describe the status of Japanese
Today in my speech, I will touch on the limits of activities activities in science and technology from a sort of micro-
related to science and technology in Japan: what sort of perspective. Japan is one of the leading countries for
unique aspects do Japanese science and technology activities expending financial resources to conduct the science and
have? Secondly I would like to talk about the Science and technology activities. Among large, advanced nations, Japan
Technology Basic Plan and the Council for the Science and is top. In the year 2002, Japan spent 3.3% of her GDP on
Technology Policy, to which I offer my services as secretary; science and technology activities. This figure shows that,
the third topic is the second Basic Plan, and what sort of even though we have spent a lot of money in a total, the
achievements we have made so far; and also what sort of contribution by the Japanese government contribution is not
12
Japan's Science and Technology Basic Plan and Strategy
Mr. Bunro Shiozawa
so high. Figure shows that Japanese science and technology researchers, because we decided that we required young,
activities compared to the GDP is only 0.68%; this not so energetic vigorous. So what is the result of the fi rst basic
impressive when compared to other countries. The other plan? We secured, in fact, 76 trillion yen more than the target,
unique features of Japanese science and technology activities and we also succeeded in training more than 10,000 post-
are found in Table. The main science and technology activities doctoral researchers.
are carried out by the private sector. About 80% of science The second Science and Technology Basic Plan started in
and technology is financed by the private sector. The Japanese 2001 and will ran to the end of 2005. Three or four features
government covers only 20%. This, I think is quite a unique are contained in this second plan. The fi rst feature is that the
aspect of science and technology in Japan. money that we should spend during the term of this second
Next, I will describe the Japanese administrative Science and Technology Basic Plan is set at 24 trillion yen.
structure, and also what sort of measures we have to carry That is 220 billion yen that is the sort of government that the
out these science and technology polices coherently and target the government has a strong determination to promote
consistently. First of all, we have developed a basic law science and technology activities in Japan.
that requires the government to develop the Science and Another important feature of this plan is that we have
Technology Basic Plan, which should run for five years. set priority areas on which to use money. There are four
The law was enacted in the 1995, and it also provided for priority areas: information technology (IT), life sciences,
the establishment of the Council for Science for Technology environmental science, and nanotechnology and material
Policy, which is supposed to act rather like a control tower for sciences. Furthermore, we aimed to improve our science
the basic plan. and technology innovation system. Our fi rst goal is to make
First the basic plan cover from the year 1996 to the year our research environment a more competitive one, so if a
2000 and then there are amount to about US$155 billion. We researcher has a good proposal he or she should be able
have also set a target to train or cultivate the post-doctoral to get money. This is the sort of research environment we

Keynote Address
aim to realize. In addition to this goal, we highlighted the EScell, which is a cell which can be in any part of the body
importance of collaborations between business, academia, and (though I forget the technical term). The guidelines for the
government, and below I will show what sort of collaborations use of EScell were so culturally, ethically, and technologically
took place. Furthermore, we reformed our universities last controversial that we tried to establish guidelines under
year. All Japanese national universities changed their status which researchers should conduct their research. This, then,
to an independent agency category of organization. is the kind of work that falls under the CSTP.
In 1995, the same year that the Science and Technology Diagram explains how the annual Japanese Science and
Law was implemented, the Council for Science and Technology Technology Policy is guided by CSTP, and also shows the
Policy (CSTP) was established. The council is headed by the Science and Technology Basic Plan. According to this five-
prime minister as chairman, with six ministers from relevant year long basic plan, the annual priority policy guideline,
ministries, and seven knowledgeable executive members. the government before each 11 ministries and agencies
Among those seven, five are from academia, and two are from annually developed a drafted budget proposal. We show the
industry. The function envisaged for the CSTP is basically to guidelines to those ministries and agencies, and then they
become the headquarters for Japan's science and technology develop the draft budget request. We also examine each of
policy. This notion of a headquarters includes planning and the requests made by ministries and agencies to see if the
coordination, setting guidelines on important issues, and policies proposed are in harmony with our recommendations,
making recommendations for changes in Japan's science and or with the direction of the policy set out in the basic plan.
technology system. Then, based on the results of this examination, the Ministry
Diagram shows the present structure of the CSTP. Under of Finance decides the amount of money the government
the CSTP main body there is a sort of temporary study group will put into a particular policy measure. After the budget is
or working group that is set up whenever the need arises. developed each ministry or agency will then carry out these
A good example might be when we developed guidelines for policies. It is the responsibility of the respective ministries to
14
Mr. Bunro Shiozawa
conduct the actual policies and policy measures. Then CPAT, five-year period is shown. During this five-year term, how
planned a CPAT this year's CP also has a law to review or has the emphasis changed in terms of basic applied R&D?
evaluate what sort of achievement those policies and policy As mentioned previously, we put our priorities on the life
measures have achieved. Therefore, we have this kind of PDC sciences, on information technologies, on nanotechnology,
cycle that enables us to reflect annual policy, annual Japanese and on the environment. Our budget has been prioritized in
science and technology policies. some sense during this five-year term. This is a change, and
I will now discuss the second basic plan and its the diagram shows that actual change occurred, comparing
achievements in research. Diagram, though somewhat the amount in last year's budget to the amount in the fi rst
small, shows the basic structure of the second Science and year's budget of the second plan. This diagram shows trends
Technology Basic Plan. The letters in purple are its main in the proportion of scientific papers produced by country.
features. Then, as I explained to you, some of the features I Some improvement is evident in the share scientific papers
should highlight with regard to the science and technology produced by Japanese authors. Still, we have a lot of room
basic plan is, fi rst the target for the government finance that for improvement. This diagram tries to evaluate what sort
we would like to put in the science and technology five-year of improvement we have had compared to the level of science
term. Yes, what? and technology in the EU and the United States, and what
I see, okay. Then those letters changed in purple; those has happened during those five years. The amount of the
are the features, main features of the second science and Competitive Fund is shown in this diagram; one of the
technology basic plan. objectives of this basic policy was to try to make the research
The following diagrams are of our achievements.Mr environment more competitive, and we have done that.
Nagano will go into more detail on these in his paper, so I Still, there is room for improvement, and still recipients
will just briefly touch upon some of them. The amount of of the Competitive Fund tend to be well-experienced
money we put into the science and technology policies in the researchers. We would like to make a shift to the left-hand

Keynote Address
side, meaning we would like to provide more money to young This diagram shows the expected forecast for Japan's aging
researchers. This is just a historical note. What kind of society. The next pressing issue is the an increase of energy
changes or improvement have been implemented to increase usage worldwide. We are particularly concerned about the
and enhance collaboration between business, academia, and quite large increase expected in the Asian region. Diagram
government? We needed to make many institutional changes, shows one example. Taking the example of China, it is a
changes in the law, and changes in the system. These country that imports energy, and demand from China will
have been achieved. Partly because of those changes, the especially increase. That means the supply and demand for
number of actual collaborations have increased remarkably. energy in the Asian region will be tight, so we have to try
However, it is still felt that the level of those collaborations and overcome the obstacles and difficulties that we foresee
is not impressive enough compared to the United States. happening in the next five or ten years.
Furthermore other feature of the basic plan that requires This chart explains what kind of reason that we could
mention is that we try to stimulate local economies with the have achieved. If we look at things that contribute to
power of science and technology using the local university economic growth, we can break it down into three factors.
as a center for creating new ideas, new technology, and new One is the contribution of capital input, another is labor
goods. We wanted to vitalize the regional economy of Japan, input, and the other is the overall productivity. Normally, the
and to do this we have created these so-called "clusters" in technological development is such that it is contained in this
certain parts of Japan. factor. Then recently, labor input of Japan is rather a minus.
Lastly, we have the third basic plan, which I will not go It does not quite match now, because we are aging. We also
into here as it is not of importance yet. However, in Japan do not expect too much to the capital input. Because the aged
we have encountered some difficult and enormous obstacles people tend to use more money, so the saving rate of Japan
and will continue to see more in the coming years. One of will be decreasing. So we have to increase the total factor of
the big problems we are encountering is the aging problem. productivity. So that is why we have to realize innovations
16
Mr. Bunro Shiozawa
and technological breakthrough in coming years. develop a detailed science and technology plan or policy that
Another challenge that we face is the Japanese people's aims to achieve those six goals. Those goals are currently being
perception towards science and technology. We have a discussed by the committee which is now trying to develop the
problem that Japanese people tend not to be interested in third basic plan. But this is the last chart. As the first three
things related to science and technology, and this tendency is diagrams revealed, the Japanese government expenditure
particularly strong among young people. It is a major issue for towards the science and technology policy is not particularly
us, and we would like to find some solutions to it to implement impressive. We think that the expenditure for it needs to be
in the near future. increased. Of course, the other group of people concerned is
Diagram explains some of the points agreed upon so far the Ministry of Finance, and they are currently endeavoring
in the process of drawing up the third basic plan. It shows to strengthen Japan's fiscal condition, which is very bad right
that we believe that we need more focused and prioritized now. We will therefore have to hold crucial discussions with
investment. Also, with regard to the human resources representatives from the Ministry of Finance regarding what
problem, we would like to enable the ministries and agencies sort of target we can set for the forthcoming Science and
to coordinate with each other more effectively in order to Technology Basic Plan.
implement our science and technology policies. Additionally,
we need to get more support and interest from the Japanese
people towards our policies. To achieve this, we feel that we
need to increase our accountability to the policies by setting
some clear goals.
What sort of goals are we trying to achieve by
implementing science and technology policies? Diagram shows
that so far we have identified six major goals. We will then

Keynote Address
University-business-government
cooperation in R&D in South Africa:
Progress and challenges
Deputy Director-General: Frontier Science and Technology,
South African Department of Science and Technology
Dr. Bethuel Sehlapelo
It is indeed an honor and a privilege to address this In 2002, the Cabinet directed the minister of Arts,
distinguished audience on the progress and challenges Culture, Science, and Technology, Dr. Ben Ngubane, to
facing South Africa with its triple-helix cooperation between produce a national R&D strategy. This R&D strategy
universities, industry, and government in R&D. I am mindful was planned to be a key enabler of economic growth, and
of the great scientific and technological accomplishments articulate with other strategies such as the human resource
of Japan in this area, and proud at the same time of South development strategy, the integrated manufacturing
Africa's achievements since its negotiated transition to strategy, and the strategic plan for South African agriculture.
democracy in the early 1990s. Important recent and historical factors that needed to be
South Africa represents only 3% of the continent's surface taken into account in the development of the national R&D
area, yet it accounts for approximately 40% of all industrial strategies were:
output, 25% of GDP, over half of generated electricity, and (1) The termination of key technology missions, such as
40% of mineral production in Africa. However, the country's military dominance in the subcontinent and energy self-
economic system has a glaring duality; a sophisticated economy sufficiency by the previous government, and these were
has developed alongside an underdeveloped, informal economy. terminated between 1990 and 1994. This resulted in a
The industrial economy has an established infrastructure and drop in the national energy spending from 1.1% to 0.7% of
an economic base with great potential, whereas the informal gross domestic product in 1994. This reduction happened
economy presents both untapped potential and development at a time when the national system for innovation needed
challenges for the country. When we consider cooperation to expand in order to cope with the needs of 40 million
between the universities, business, and government, we people as opposed to 5 to 6 million.
have to be cognizant of this duality. Triple-helix cooperation (2) Adequate responses to new diseases and to old forms of
therefore needs to be established in both domains if we are to new diseases, whether they affected humans or animals,
build an economically vibrant and equitable nation. Here I will needed to be informed by local research programs.
briefly outline recent developments in our national system for Therefore, from a security perspective, even being a
innovation. smart buyer of rapidly developing technology, rather than
18
University-business-government cooperation in R&D in South Africa:Progress and challenges
a developer, still requires a critical mass of local scientists the two technology platforms of the modern age, namely
doing research in relevant areas. biotechnology and information communication, and two
(3) Our human resources for science and technology are additional missions to advance technology for manufacturing
not being adequately renewed, and overwhelmingly the and technology to leverage knowledge, and technology from,
white male and aging population is not being replaced and to add value to, our natural resources sectors.
by younger groupings more representative of our Finally, we will establish a technology mission to reduce
demographics. poverty, one of the scourges of our age. This portfolio of
(4) A complex set of factors, driven largely by globalization, missions needs to be managed in a coherent and integrated
has resulted in reduced levels of both investment and fashion, which will require strategic and operational functions
performance by the South African private sector in to manage and supply resources for technological innovation.
R&D. This could result in the loss of local control of the Across the world, and in response to the increasing rates in
developing knowledge base that underpins the success of the production, dissemination, and application of knowledge,
our most competitive companies. the shortening of product life cycles, and the increasing
(5) Inadequate intellectual property legislation and competition for human resources, many countries are
infrastructure; new developments in biotechnology increasing their national investment in R&D; we have
have increased our vulnerability with respect to the seen in the previous presentation that Japan also is indeed
exploitation of our biodiversity and interventions and moving in that direction. The OECD average across public
innovations from publicly-financed research, which was and private sectors is 2.15% of GDP, and countries such as
not effectively protected and managed. Finland and Korea spend far more than that. South Africa's
(6) The fragmented nature of our government structure. recent level of 0.76% is significantly lower than it should be to
Although research institutions have been reviewed and ensure national competitiveness in years to come. This fact is
key performance indicators have been put in place, the emphasized every year in the World Competitiveness Report.
roles of different government departments in government, I should add that industry expenditure on R&D amounts to
and in setting out decent targets for government research approximately 54% of the total 7.48 billion rand that is spent.
institutions, were not clear or synergistic. Accordingly, this new R&D strategy depends on doubling
I am pleased to say that the new R&D strategy is government investment in science and technology over the
indicator-based and rests on the three pillars referred next period of time, with more gradual increases thereafter.
to in Mr. Naidoo's paper: innovation, human resources, This would raise the national investment to somewhat over
and the transformation and the creation of an effective 1%, not yet as large as many of our competitors but enough
government system for science and technology. The to signal an appropriate, comprehensive, and sustainable
innovation pillar involves the establishment and funding of a strategy for the knowledge base to the South African
range of technology and science missions that are critical to research community, and the next generation that will be
promoting economic and social development. These include required to achieve these goals.

Keynote Address
I shall now look at the present situation. The South sector into one that is woven into the global supply chains, and
African economy is now in a better shape than it has been for in this regard the Aerospace South Africa Network has been
decades. Interest rates are at a 20-year low, inflation is well established.
within the target band of 3-6%, and economic output is good. This network, which is being managed by a special network
High-technology goods now constitute a growing percentage management unit, comprises of industry, universities, several
of South African exports. This means that we have an government departments, the CSIR, and the Innovation Fund,
unusually conducive environment in which to redouble our all supported by an industry advisory group. 14 themes have
efforts, to establish relevant and sustainable triple-helix been identified, such as composite airframe designs, semisolid
cooperation. Progress to date has been remarkable, especially metals, and near net-shaped tooling. Key human resource
taking into account the inequalities in the past, the state of development initiatives involve schools, universities, research
the system inherited from the previous government, and the institutions, and industry. Proposals will be reviewed by the
inherent inertia of any large system. I shall now present a few Aerospace South Africa Network and the advisory group, and
examples that support my view. should ensure that industry will in time reap the benefits. I
First, South Africa's comparatively low competitive am pleased to be able to say that only two weeks ago, we had
industrial performance index, (CIPI); we are in the a visit by a high-level delegation from a leading multinational
competitive industrial performance (CIP) band, and fall corporation in the aerospace sector, during which we discussed
together with countries such as Brazil, Poland, and Turkey, their possible involvement in the above framework. The
with Japan and the United States in the CIPI band of one. discussion is the multi-year in development of an advanced
This low CIPI has sparked a vigorous development of an manufacturing facility that involves all three partners in the
advanced manufacturing technology strategy in South triple helix.
Africa. A comprehensive process and strategic build were An area initiative that now sits comfortably within
developed involving all key sectors of the country, including the context of strategic advancement of manufacturing
academia, industry, para-statal organizations, government, technology is the Automotive Industry Development Center,
and organized labor, all having a shared vision. The strategy which also involves national and provincial governments,
was built on four pillars: industrial development, excellence in industr y, universities, and even foreig n research
manufacturing innovation, R&D, and lastly human resources institutions. Although I do not have space here to go into
development. A national strategic team is in the process detail, I am pleased to say that this center has already had
of being formed with top-level representation from the several meaningful interactions with Japanese agencies.
Departments of Trade and Industry, Science and Technology, Secondly, in the domain of information and communications
Labor, and the National Council for Innovation and Industry. technology, we held a workshop in 2002 with high-level
As a specific example of the stimulatory effect of this work, representatives from several universities, governments,
I should add there was an increasing realization that South industries, and international research institutions. Just
Africa had to develop its hitherto fragmented aerospace recently, the advanced African Institute for Information
20
University-business-government cooperation in R&D in South Africa:Progress and challenges
and Communication Technology (ICT) formally came leading local banks. We also need investment in manufacturing,
into being with a clear mandate that will only be fulfilled such as in the emerging aerospace sector, in infrastructure,
if all three partners actively cooperate in a triple-helix and in future growth industries. All of these clearly stand
formation. Thirdly, in the domain of indigenous knowledge, to benefit from goal-directed, triple-helix cooperation. I am
which has specific significance in the developing world, a confident that we shall prevail, particularly if we take into
South African initiative has lead to the establishment of account the country's vibrant international relations in science
an indigenous knowledge project, under the auspices of the and technology. It is through such relationships, such as we
World Bank and several international research institutions. indeed enjoy with Japan, that we shall be able to promote
In South Africa, we already have close collaboration not only sustainable social and economic development.
between universities, government, and industry, but also
with traditional healers and international pharmaceutical
companies. It warrants mention that this vibrant local
network is now linked to an international initiative-in a
manner of speaking a quadruple helix.
Not withstanding an excellent report card, one needs to
emphasize that much remains to be done. Several sectors of
the national economy do not, as yet, derive benefit from the
combined competencies of the triple helix. Examples include
the steel and textile industries, and to a lesser degree the
agricultural sector. We have also not yet commenced a triple-
helix attack on poverty. Having said this, I am of the opinion
that the biggest challenge of all lies in the area of human
capital development. Without the necessary numbers of people
in all of these fields, which are required for the development
and management of a modern economy, we shall not be able to
expand the economy for the benefit of all South Africans.
In conclusion, I believe that the most meaningful
collaborative R&D efforts among universities, government, and
business are those with substantial international involvement.
The rationale behind this is clear: South Africa needs direct
foreign investment on a large scale, and not only in the
financial sector, such as the largest foreign investment ever
when Berkeley acquired a significant equity stake in one of our

22
Session 1: S & T Strategy – Its Impact on Innovation
Introduction
Councillor: National Advisory Council on Innovation, South Africa

Prof. Tshilidzi Marwala
It is important, as a developing society, that South Africa we need to develop and to monitor to ensure the flexibility
ensures that our ultimate goal is to become a developed of the strategies that we put forth, and show the consistency
society, hopefully within the lifetime of my generation. The of the measurements for how the strategies have an impact
points that have been raised were very interesting. They on innovation? Perhaps the most important question of all,
actually raise more questions than give answers. Some of which relates to human resources, is how do we sell science
the questions that keep on popping into my consciousness and technology? What sort of strategies do we need to put
out of these reports is, "How do we ensure that science and into place to sell science and technology? How do we measure
technology strategies shorten the path for South Africa to such strategies and their impact on innovation among young
become a developed society?" and, "What are the measures people in particular? The general trend is that young people
that we need to implement to ensure that the transformation are turning away from science, not only in South Africa but
to a developed society is achieved in the shortest possible also in the developed world.
time?" There are also other issues-strategies in an evolving
environment need to be flexible. What sort of measures do

Results of the evaluation of the achievements
of Japan's Science and Technology Basic Plans
Director-General: National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP),

Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan
Mr. Hiroshi Nagano
In this diagram, this is NISTEP, this is the Cabinet, and heard that in South Africa, when Ambassador Ngabane was a
this is MEXT. NISTEP, where I am working, is affiliated with minister, science and technology were together with culture,
MEXT. In addition to that, within the government there is no but now they are divided. Well Japan has gone in the opposite
other science and technology policy related think tank other direction, and combined theses different disciplines in one
than NISTEP. Therefore, NISTEP provides a service for the ministry.
Cabinet office and the CSTP. In this report, I would like to cover the following topics:
So then, why is NISTEP affiliated with MEXT? It is fi rst, an evaluation of the achievements of the Science and
because, in fact, the ministry three or four years ago merged Technology Basic Plans in Japan, and second, focusing on
with the science and technology agency. MEXT was born out a forecast for science and technology as we move towards
of a combination of the Ministry of Education, Culture, and the third Science and Technology Basic Plan, I would like to
Sport, and the Agency for Science and Technology. NISTEP briefly explain what we are doing as we about to start the
used to be affiliated with Science and Technology Agency, new plan.
but now as a result of the merger it is affiliated with MEXT. I With regard to the fi rst topic, I would like to just focus
24
Results of the evaluation of the achievements of Japan's Science and Technology Basic Plans
Mr. Hiroshi Nagano
on one or two points here. We had the fi rst and second Basic very surprisingly the legislative organ comes up with laws.
Plans for Science and Technology, and as Mr. Shiozawa However, in Japan, the executive branch prepares a draft
mentioned in his report, the Science and Technology Basic bill of the new law and then the Diet deliberates it. That is,
Law was promulgated in 1995. What is interesting in Japan at least, the common practice. However, with the Science and
is that even before the law was enacted, in 1992 the cabinet Technology Basic Law (and there are a few other exceptions),
took a decision to double the government R&D investment. it was not proposed by the government, but rather by the
Diagram also shows 1996 and 2001, so this period covers the parliamentarians themselves. Therefore the law was born out
fi rst Science and Technology Basic Plan and 2001 is the year of the Diet right from the beginning of the drafting process.
that the second Basic Plan commenced. Actually, right from Usually the opposition parties oppose proposed laws, but in
the beginning of the Basic Plan, we can see an increase in this case all of the political parties, including the communist
the budget. In 1992, the government had already decided to and social democratic parties, supported and agreed upon this
double investment as quickly as possible, so in that sense the law. This is a very rare occurrence.
government had resolved that Japan must become a country Diagram shows the comparison between the science and
built on science and technology. I do not know whether the technology budgets in Japan, the United States, and other
expression of this resolve was relatively explicit or implicit, countries. It shows how well Japan is doing-for a domestic
but in any case, we have seen considerable increase in the audience we can say that Japan is doing very well-but when
budget since then. During this period, from the middle of the Japan is set at 100 references and the United States, although
1990s, the Japanese economy went into the doldrums, and dropping in 2000 regained their position in 2004... The EU
so the Basic Science and Technology Law was established budget is decreasing, but Japan's budget is increasing. The
in this context. Regarding that law as evidence of support United States, of course, has a high defense expenditure, but
being received for the law and in Japan-I do not know about even excluding this, the United States' science and technology
how the situation in South Africa is-law are such that, budget is fundamentally increasing.

Session 1 S & T Strategy – Its Impact on Innovation
Now, it is difficult to see this chart, but for the past States, the patents are registered and it shows a trend in
ten years, the research environment, viewed from the the shares of US patents granted to inventors in Japan,
researcher's eyes, shows how this came to develop. The the United States, and the EU. Japan is fairing well. The
blue portion indicates improvements, for instance, the 15 European countries combined on that basis, the patents
expansion of research space and also the influx of younger granted to Japanese inventors is actually high. Japan lost
researchers. Although some people are still dissatisfied, a ground a little bit but it is gaining ground again, and patents
clear improvement is evident. However, the red line indicates are registered in the United States and also patents are cited
a worsening situation; that is to say, researchers are saying and quoted by others. That is a good trend and good sign as
that they have less time for research. It goes without saying well. Therefore, the quality of patents is increasing as well.
that funds are going to researchers, so this means is that the I shall add this for a bit of amusement. From 1994 to 2000,
researchers have to prepare applications for research funds. in the world, what was the growth ratio of patent applications
Then, they have to prepare for an assessment of their work in the highlight here is, in the case of South Africa, there are
because they are receiving money from the government, more women researchers compared to the female researchers
which means an increase in paperwork for them. That is why in Japan account for only 10%, which is low. However, only
they have less time for research. It is difficult to measure the 1.5% are foreign researchers, be it in national universities
output of research, but one example we can use is the share or independent research institutions. Therefore perhaps
of transient papers and cited papers published in Japan, the the weakness of the Japanese system is such that we are
United States, and the EU. Diagram shows these figures, not able to utilize human resources effectively as yet. Also
with 15 countries from within the EU. The number of papers employment mobility is shown here. How many job moves
from Japan is increasing, which is a promising sign. do professors in Japan make? Usually Japanese researchers
Now, the relationship between researchers in the private stay with one institute for their working life. Therefore,
sector, high-tech trade is taking place but in the United from the perspective of mobility, Japan is lagging behind.
26
Mr. Hiroshi Nagano
I will not elaborate on this, but in Japan, the number of between the two, which is very good.
patent applications filed by university is on the rise, and has Diagram has white and blue squares for 2005, 2010,
reached a quarter of the United States' level. However, the 2015, and 2020, showing how many years it will take before
license income is only 1/300th that of the United States. In a particular technology becomes a reality, and when it will
conclusion, we can say that as a result of the Science and be commercially applied to people's daily lives. We surveyed
Technology Basic Plan, there are an increasing number of about 4,000 people, but for specific areas there are fewer
Japanese patents and papers being put out, but those papers respondents. We surveyed the respondents twice and we
and patents are not yet being effectively utilized. fed back the results from the fi rst round of questionnaires
The second topic is a forecast for science and technology. to the respondents for confi rmation. The diagram shows a
Actually, projecting technology is something that we like gradual convergence of responses; and as you can see, there
very much to do. Since the 1970s, every five years we have is a lower line over here, and this shows about one quarter
been trying to come up with a technology projection. Some of people responding here and about half of the people will
days ago-well, it says 2003 but the announcement was made be responding in such and such technology will be realized
in either April or May of this year-so the 8th Technology around this time period and so forth.
Foresight, as Mr. Shiozawa mentioned, science and technology There are 13 fields: ICT, electronics, life sciences,
basic law and linkage with that law has been finally realized agriculture, etc. I do not know where South Africa's interests
in the 8th Technology Foresight for the fi rst time. We had lie, but say for health and medicine, we have 13 such fields. If
been trying to achieve this, but the Science and Technology we take ICT as one field here, it can further be divided into 10
Basic Law and our forecasting activities were out of sync- areas. So there are 10 areas in each field. The diagram shows
there was no interaction. However, this time we came up with three yellow circles but there should in fact be ten. In the case
a technology forecast that will be reflected in the Science and of ICT, there are areas such as ubiquitous networking, and
Technology Plan in the future, so we can see an organic link therefore 10 yellow areas compromise one field. The blue areas

Session 1 S & T Strategy – Its Impact on Innovation
indicate each specific research topic. For example, if there is example, the fi rst technology to be realized is shown here.
a company with 1,000 employees then perhaps the computer In some cases, technologies may be developed that are not
network is for 1,000 users, but without a computer manager, immediately applied commercially; and in cases where the
a virus may attack the network. Under this topic, technology technology has medical applications, there are ethical issues
to manage a network without a controller or MAT network to overcome. It may, therefore, take 10 to 20 years before
administrator is to be developed. There are five or six topics some technologies can be applied to human medical care.
for each yellow circle, but there are some topics which are not Diagram shows a comparison with the United States and
included in any of the yellow circles. If we calculate the total, the EU, which was also referred to in Mr. Shiozawa's report.
it should be 130 areas times seven, so about 858 topics in all in The things listed over here are the areas in which Japan is
these 13 fields. excelling and over here Japan is weak. We have some colors
In the ICT field, ubiquitous networking is one area, and here, but for example we find electronics and nanotechnology
for this one area, five or six topics exist, and these are shown where Japan excels in, and life science and medical technology
in Diagram. The network includes sensor technology, and over here is where Japan is lagging behind others.
talking robots at home that help you do domestic chores. One The final diagram, Diagram, for the Science and
robot will be doing a certain type of work and another one Technology Basic Plan shows that there are four key
will be doing another type of chore, and the robots will have prioritized areas, and four other, somewhat less important,
to communicate. Also at the end of the day, the robots can priority areas; thus in total we have eight so-called priority
be attached to a person's skin or inside the body to check the areas. Life science in this case, this shows life science. This is
blood pressure and body temperature. This is the ICT we are ICT and what this means is...in each field, I talked about fields
trying to develop. So in this case, we have eight such topics and areas and there are 10 areas in the ICT field, and in total
here and there are different timings where technology will we have 130 areas. Each of the areas on this line shows the
be realized. Taking the area of ubiquitous networking as an scientific and technological impact, and the horizontal axis
28
Mr. Hiroshi Nagano
represents the social-economic impact. The starting point of Nevertheless, these diagrams show only average
the arrows indicates the predicted impact within the next ten numbers, with 10-20 areas are included in each field. Among
years. The tip of the arrows indicates the degree of impact 10 those 10-20 areas we can see more important areas and less
years after that, so the longer the arrow the better. important areas. Therefore, it is not the case that all of the
For example, in the case of life science, we have 13 fields. important areas included in life sciences are to be promoted
Under the Science and Technology Basic Plan there are four equally. We have a frontier over here which is rented to space,
priority fields, and four other lesser priority fields including and maritime research including energy, and in that two, we
life sciences, ICT, environment, and nanotechnology, so can find important areas to be prioritized.
the field classification under the Basic Plan is different In conclusion, then, with regard to forecasting important
from our classification. Therefore, we aligned the different technologies, for the fi rst time we established an interaction
classifications to come up with the most important prioritized between our predictions and the Science and Technology
fields. In the case of life science, 20 years, and for ICT 15 areas Plan. In each field, we identified what would be important,
are included, and the size of circles indicate the number of and made our forecasts based on that.
areas in one field. In terms of predicting future direction, we
consider life sciences and information and telecommunications
are very important, and in this the final year of the second
Science and Technology Basic Plan, we have four prioritized
areas: life sciences, ICT, environment, and nanotechnology
and materials. These four priority areas from the second
Basic Plan are likely to remain as important in the future,
and therefore will remain as prioritized fields under the third
Science and Technology Basic Plan.

Interim assessment of the impact
of the South African National R&D Strategy
Deputy Director-General: Frontier Science and Technology,

South African Department of Science and Technology
In this paper, I will discuss the interim results that we the presentation given by Sir David King recently in South
obtained for assessing the performance of our national system Africa. The second point is that sustainable economic
of innovation after the advent of the national R&D strategy. development requires not only the developed world, but also
I will look at the current situation fi rst, then I will talk about the developing world in order for the whole world to prosper.
our strategies, and finally I will look at the results that we This, I think, illustrates the fact that South Africa, as a
have obtained. developing nation, has long way to go and faces the challenge
First, let us look at the global context. South Africa is of improving both its scientific output and the utilization of
classified as a developing nation. Diagram shows that about that scientific output.
60% of cited papers produced in the world come from the For instance, if compare South Africa is compared with
developed world. This almost fits into the 80-20 principle, India, bearing in mind that the GDP of the two countries
with South Africa belonging to the 80%. Recognizing this, is different, South Africa is producing about half of India's,
it is our desire to change the contribution made by South and a quarter of Brazil's, scientific output. This graph was
Africa. These two points in the diagram were taken from also presented in Mr Naidoo's report, where a case was
30
Interim assessment of the impact of the South African National R&D Strategy
made in this particular slide not withstanding that you do United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Report
not have other issues or other measures of scientific and of Technology achievement index. South Africa is shown
technological outputs such as patents. The new medium in yellow. For instance, with high and medium technology
and high-tech industries developed and so far as a result of exports, we are about 30% in the normalized score as opposed
innovation activities. Diagram shows a proxy for the direct to the other countries. When you look at the royalties and
proportionality between scientific output and economic licenses, we are not doing very well, and I will talk about this
wealth. Therefore, in South Africa we are convinced that later because it relates to one of the challenges we face: the
investment in a system of innovation will result in an increase ability to translate research into products and services. It
in economic wealth. also reinforces the comparison of how South Africa is faring
Again, as a developing country, South Africa has in regards to other countries, mentioned by Dr. Sibisi and
been passed by in a number of technological revolutions: Mr. Naidoo in their reports, and where we are in terms of the
the microelectronics revolution, the growth in ICT, the total investment in R&D as a percentage of GDP. This graph
biotechnology revolution and now the nanotechnology just dissects it a little bit further. Also visible in South Africa
revolution. We are trying to play catch-up in all of those, but is the disparity of participation by males and females in the
one may regard nanotechnology as a something that will national system of innovation. Mr. Naidoo also indicated in his
actually reinvigorate the growth curve of microelectronics report a worrisome trend, which I think Japan also has, and
as it finds applications in new materials and so forth. Also, that is the aging of researchers in the sphere of science and
nanotechnologists may well restart the growth curve in the technology.
biotechnology sphere. All these issues that I have referred to are encapsulated
Diagram puts in perspective how we are doing in terms by this analysis that gives us an understanding of the
of certain key indicators or indices. As reflected in the 2001 situation in South Africa, for which we can say that the local

Session 1 S & T Strategy - Its Impact on Innovation
research output, although not to the same level as that of in South Africa, in addition to our current R&D capacity.
technologically-advanced countries or developed countries, South Africa requires foreign direct investment, not only
is reasonable and comparable. However, the larger challenge in business but also in R&D, which speaks to the important
for South Africa is the translation of this basic local research know-how; the development of the human capital base; and
output into local industry products and services. The national the application of all this to business, wealth creation, and
R&D strategy, therefore, was born as a strategy in response ultimately to the quality of life. Therefore this framework
to this analysis. In other reports, it has been mentioned presents a mental model of what the national R&D strategy
that Japan actually carried out an extensive forecast for needs to achieve. One of the challenges faced was that there
key technologies. In, fact, the national R&D strategy was is a general lack of cohesion in the research programs, but
preceded by extensive forecasting work in South Africa too, this has been overcome because the national R&D strategy
which started some time around 1997, and culminated in presented a framework within the different research areas
1999. This informed discussions regarding, and the eventual can coordinate.
direction of, the national R&D strategy. We also have specific programs, which Ms. Anati covers
In their reports, Dr. Sibisi and Mr. Naidoo described the in more detail in her report. We have specific programs for
three pillars that are the objectives of the national R&D the development of R&D personnel, and we are in the process
strategy, and I shall not therefore repeat them here. To make of putting together an IP policy framework that will talk to
sense of the direction taken in the national R&D strategy and the management of the IP that is produced through publicly
what it purports to achieve, we have a framework that tells funded initiatives. Therefore, in discussions within South
us what we should do in order to ultimately achieve an overall Africa about the direction we should take, we came up with
improvement in the quality of life. Both reports also discussed the following understanding as to where South Africa should
the issue of the development of the future R&D capacity be both in 2012 and 2020: understanding the pipeline in terms
32
of human capital, and that the learners that come from high investment in R&D as a percentage of GDP at a steady rate.
school are important as entrants to our higher education Next, with regard to the ratio of women involved in
system. We need to increase that number by the figure shown science and technology-related work, I think that this is
in the diagram, and also the number of science, engineering one aspect that we can be proud of in South Africa. We
and technical students as a percentage of the total enrollment deliberately aimed for the participation of women in our
of students. Finally, we also looked at the number of people science and technology system. Today we can boast that
working in R&D per thousand. 38% of people working in science and technology are women.
So I think that in this regard we have managed to indicate The business sector in South Africa also contributes quite
exactly what our targets are. Continuing with our targets for a significant level, although that may be because there are
2012 and 2020 (I am not going to go through all of the targets special programs to give even more incentives and entice
or through the anticipated outcomes). Some of the issues and industry to invest more in R&D. Diagram shows the results
problems we face have been discussed in other reports, but as of a recent survey, and also reveals trends in government
a government, we do not seem to be doing enough in terms of expenditure in R&D. Diagram is important in terms of
investment in R&D expenditure. It has already been shown comparing ourselves with Japan and putting the situation in
that in South Africa 55% of R&D investment comes from the South Africa in context. It is safe to say that South Africa
private sector, and that investment in R&D accounts 0.81% is a long way behind in comparison to Japan in terms of
of GDP at the moment. It must be remembered that when expenditure. Therefore, discussion of how Japan got to its
this whole strategy came into being, the figure was hovering current position will be instructional in the case of South
at around 0.7%, but now as a result of the strategy we are at Africa. Indeed last night, as we were sitting at the dinner
0.81%, and I think that we are on track to reach our interim table, I had a conversation with my Japanese colleagues.
target of 1% in 2008. Subsequent to that, we will increase our I asked them how Japan got it right to reach the level of

Session 1 S & T Strategy - Its Impact on Innovation
technological prowess that it currently enjoys. To summarize diagrams, and I also talked about the science missions, and so
the responses, the answer was that the Japanese were and steadily we will see those thematic areas starting to influence
still are prepared to learn. I think that South Africa has a future trends, especially in public spending in R&D. In terms
great deal in common with Japan, but notably we are also of the innovation value chain, the analysis that was obtained
prepared to learn. using the fi rst country definitions of the innovation chain. In
Diagram also shows our position in terms of women as South Africa, we spend more or less the equivalent amount of
a percentage of the total research body. Diagram shows the expenditure on applied and experimental development.
percentage of women in different sectors of our national In conclusion the architecture of our evaluation system is
system of innovation. For instance, in the business sector, still young, and our indicator system is still young. But I think
women constitute about 26%, in the government about 37%, that we are heading in the right direction in developing them
in higher education 40%, and in NPOs the largest percentage into a robust system. However, fi rst of all we determined
of all. Diagram reveals the performance of R&D in the that we wanted to increase our total and national R&D
different sectors. As it indicates, the period from 2001 to 2003 expenditure as a percentage of GDP%, and I think that we
saw some increase in the contribution by business towards are on track to do that, especially from the government
expenditure on R&D. Diagram shows a more detailed side. I have also indicated some of the trends in terms of
breakdown of the different sectors and the extent of the the development of the science, engineering and technology
expenditure in R&D. It is noticeable that quite a considerable human capital base. There are still a number of challenges,
sum was spent in the engineering sciences. I think that, in the but we have specific programs to tackle them, and I think
future, this diagram will show more the different technology that Ms. Anita Canca's report goes into more detail on that.
areas that the national R&D strategy targets. I talked about However, for one such specific program to establish university
the technology missions when I was presenting Dr. Sibisi's chairs, centers of excellence are a step in the right direction.
34
I have talked about the initiation of technology and science
missions. Most of these have started already, and are now
being consolidated. New frontier areas such as space science
and technology are being discussed and much clearer steps
forward are being taken in South Africa.

Q &A
Q Unidentified Speaker:
I would like to give my opinions and a

characteristics of the Japanese people. In the pre-war days I
am afraid that that characteristic was directed and channeled
question regarding the reports presented. Some of the towards a very negative goal. But after the Second World
diagrams presented, particularly in the Japanese reports, War, the Japanese people came to recognize that unless there
kind of test the basis of technology as the foundation for is growth in our economy, we cannot survive in the global
economic development, given Japan's trajectory in this community. I believe the Japanese community was able to
regard. If you look at one of the graphs here in the "Frontiers develop and build such a consensus.
of Knowledge," there is a retraction in terms of funding of Now in order for such a consensus to emerge, there had to
about -40%. In terms of percentage of world publications, the be a very strong educational system, and Japan had this. Up
figure is about 9% of the world's total. In the third Basic Plan until 1868, Japan was an isolated country as we had closed our
there is now increasing emphasis on knowledge generation. doors to the foreign community. But after 1868 Japan opened
But in the period after the Second World War, Japan has up to the world again. The illiteracy rate was lower than
managed to build an economy that is now the second largest that of the United States, and foreign visitors to Japan were
in the world. In addition to that, they also faced a similar quite surprised that despite this era of isolation, the Japanese
challenge to us of increasing government expenditure in people had a very high level of education. Furthermore,
science and technology, which was 0.6% of GDP. This again another characteristic of the Japanese people was that they
emphasizes the importance of business's investment in had a curiosity about the outside world. I am not sure if this
science and technology. So what are the principal decisions was a natural and inherent characteristic or whether it was
which led to Japan's economic development in this period forced upon them. In any event, after the Second World War,
without a sustained investment by government in science and we were able to build a consensus in Japan that economic
technology? We seem to be missing something there. growth was necessary for the development of the country as
a whole.
A Mr. Nagano:
I think this is a very difficult question and

However, we did not start out with science and technology
as our priority. I think that what we tried to do was model and
with my limited knowledge I am not sure if I could properly emulate the United States and European models. I think that
respond to your question. But why is it that Japan was able we dedicated our thirst to learning how to model the United
to grow? For one thing, from the standpoint of its geopolitical States and Europe so as to improve our economic efficiency.
situation, Japan is located towards the eastern end of Asia. However, in the early 1970s, we began to make efforts to
We are a very small country, unlike South Africa. You can develop our indigenous technology. I think that it was around
hardly see Japan on the map really, it is so small, and Japan is that time that Japan fi rst began to place emphasis on science
a country without natural resources. This means that Japan and technology. However, not everything turned out well.
as a whole has to identify a common goal towards which we As you know, in the last fifteen years or so, the Japanese
should exert our efforts. I believe that that was one of the economy has not enjoyed growth. Why is that? We have not
36
really verified the impact of science and technology yet, and would be the different drivers for the industrial basis of
we wonder that perhaps we did not place enough emphasis on that particular country. For instance, I do not have figures
science and technology. At the same time, the Japanese were with me in terms of the exact citation intensity between
successful in developing the economy to a sufficient degree. I Switzerland and Japan, but what this illustrates to me, as
think that the Japanese people are now questioning whether you so rightly pointed out, was that Switzerland has a higher
it is right to seek economic strength alone from hereon. I citation intensity than Japan with the same wealth intensity.
think that we are asking ourselves what kind of society we Now the question that you are asking is, "would this not defeat
want to have emerge in the future. I think that we are trying the conclusion, the correlation that the higher the citation
to explore a new course for Japan. So be it our friends in Asia, intensity, the higher the wealth intensity? I would say that, as
or be it our friends in South Africa, I think that collaboration I have indicated before, there are several outliers in some of
with other countries is emerging as an important challenge the graphs shown. For instance, if you look at Luxembourg,
for Japan. which is a very small country, it might be due to issues that
relate to the size of the population and therefore citations per
capita. That fact might contribute to it being in an outlying
Q Mr. Lingela:
The slide shows a growth trend, almost a

area of the curve. I would like to hear opinions from other
people here to see how they interpret it, but normally, when
relation between a citation intensity and a world intensity. you pull out the graph you find points that out the particular
Even then there are quite a few outliers in regard to this average regression that is indicated by a graph.
point. I want to specifically look at the case of Japan. It seems
that, looking at the whole y-axis, if a country like Switzerland
represents the top end of scientific intensity, the same
country however seems to be on the same end as Japan in

Q Mr. Naidoo:
I also have some comments on the graphs.
wealth intensity. My question then is what is this telling us? I think that there are a series of stories there, and the
What can we read from this? Japan seems to be progressive, conclusion you reach will depend on the individual. Secondly,
creating wealth for the nation, yet at the same time seems to there are two worrying factors here regarding this, because
represent the low-end in scientific intensity, so what lessons we had a similar discussion with Sweden who worried from
can we draw from this? the other end, in that they had a high investment and their
economy was not getting out of that investment what they
A Dr. Sehlapelo:
I am going to attempt to answer your

thought they should be. It is also worth knowing what David
King and Lord May used this graph for, and what it meant for
question. I think that sometimes, in a comparison of the them. This was for a budget submission, which worked very
different countries, one should realize some of the differences. successfully.
One difference would be the population size, and another I have two questions for Mr. Nagano, if I may. What is this

Q &A
issue with foreign researchers in Japan? This is something As Mr. Shiozawa mentioned in his report earlier, among
that quite a few developed countries are talking about- the reform efforts put forward by the Japanese government
particularly in Europe, referring to diversity and the impact is a comprehensive council for science and technology. But
of diversity and knowledge production. Bearing in mind I believe the effort which will probably have the greatest
the case of people like David King talking about trying to impact was changing the former national universities
create the United Kingdom as a powerhouse of research in into independent administrative organizations. In other
the world, it would be nice to know how Japan is looking at words, national university are now independent from the
this issue, and whether or not you actually have some targets government, although they are still referred to as national
in mind regarding bringing foreign researchers into your universities. Therefore, professors teaching at national
system. I would like also to mention that South Africa would universities no longer enjoy status as a civil servant. From
be a key partner to talk to for those kinds of partnerships. hereon into the future, the government will continue to
The second question is a more technical question support the national universities financially, but at the same
concerning your forecasting exercise and the evaluation of time, the national universities will have to set targets. They
the impact of the second Basic Plan. Most of the trajectories also have to disclose whether or not they have actually
start from a fairly tight circle and go to a much larger circle, achieved the disclosed targets. So, a new system has begun.
and you would expect that because your cone of uncertainty Now, as far as foreign researchers are concerned-and
increases with time. However, one of them, and I cannot read this has not really come out into the open yet, but inevitably
which one it is, actually has the reverse relationship where this is the case with all of you-having a quantitative target
you starting off with a large circle for the 10-year time frame, does not necessarily guarantee success. Depending on the
which then tightens into a much more focused one in the university, I believe that the situation and circumstances
20-year time frame. It sounds like you have got some crucial will differ. For example, I think that universities should
intelligence in one of those areas, and it we would be very develop their own targets as to how many foreign researchers
curious to know what it is. they want to invite. We have been encouraging Japanese
universities to disclose their targets for a few years from now,
A Mr. Nagano:
I would like to begin with your question about

and we will assess whether or not they have been successful
in achieving their targets. I have yet to hear any cases of
the foreign researchers. I believe your question was whether Japanese universities having actually disclosed their target of
we have a target or not. As you pointed out, we believe that the foreign researchers that they intend to hire, but perhaps
diversity is important. I think that Japan has at last come to some already have. If the universities do inappropriate things
recognize the importance of diversity. We all talk about the then of course they will be criticized, but the universities
need to increase the number of foreign researchers; however, which are successful will receive acclaim, so even universities
in reality the number is not increasing, and that being the will in future have a competitive environment. The current
case, what are we trying to do about it? number of foreign researchers in Japan is at 1.5% of the total.
38
This is far too low and really needs to be improved. So in that has not really come up in this policy discussion. Probably 60%
context, I certainly hope that opportunities for South African of our people in the region are fairly marginalized in terms of
researchers will increase. Now, let me turn to your second technology, so the issue of innovation along any supply chain
question. becomes absolutely critical as a policy element. Whether you
It is true that in the diagram there are some circles that are growing potatoes or growing nuts, or making lumber or
are getting smaller, as you pointed out. Why do we have pharmaceutical products, innovation is the key to increasing
circles that are getting larger or getting smaller? Perhaps the diversity, quality, and everyday use of products. Somehow,
I should explain. For those that are in the third quadrant, this does not seem to feature in our policy discussion on
in other words, we have 50 top third. It is based on this that science and technology. It has got to be relevant, both to the
we calculate the area. We talked about 130 different fields, fi rst world and the developing words within South Africa.
and unless the fields are containing the top third, well, there
might be a line on this chart if the area is not among the top
third. Then it is deemed that that particular is not making a
contribution. So that is why the size of some of the circles are
getting smaller. So this is a chart simply trying to capture the
total trend, and I do apologize that it is somewhat difficult to
interpret this chart.
It just so happens that the top third areas are considered
to be very important and the remaining two thirds were not
counted on this chart. As it happens, life sciences and ICT
are among the top third. Only the top 40 fields are actually
mapped accurately onto this chart, so maybe this is not an
accurate presentation. In other words, we tried to highlight
the top third, and therefore we gave emphasis to the top third,
and we somehow negated the importance of the remaining
two-thirds. I hope that you take that into consideration.
Ambassador Dr. Ngubane:
This is actually not a question, it is just a comment. I
realize that we are coming to the close of this session, and
the afternoon sessions will be very directed and have a very
specific focus, but I just think that the issue of South Africa
and the Southern African Development Community (SADC)

40
Session 2: How to convert R&D findings into innovation
Introduction
Deputy Director-General for Science and Technology Policy,

Cabinet Office, Japan
Mr. Bunro Shiozawa
The topic or the issue of the second session is how to In closing, I would like to point out that we have not
convert our R&D results into innovation. This is a very touched on the foreign aspects involved aiming to have more
challenging topic. In fact, up until one or two years ago, effective collaboration between academia, industry and
Japan was suffering from an economic recession. Also, government. In Japan, the government is now running a
according to a Swiss-based research institution, Japanese campaign to improve the collaboration between those sectors.
international competitiveness has been decreasing year by An annual nationwide conference is now held, bringing
year, and therefore the Japanese government was very much together over 3,000 or 4,000 people from the academia and
concerned about the deterioration of Japan's international the public, as well company executives, and government
competitiveness. One of the causes with regard to the official, and university presidents, in order to discuss matters
decrease in competitiveness might have to do with there related to collaboration between academia and industry. In
being something wrong in the innovation system, making my report I explained that Japan has done much to stimulate
this conversion process difficult. That is why the Japanese collaboration between academia and industry collaboration
government was trying to educate people to understand how by changing the institutional framework of universities.
to manage technology. That is partly the reason why recently However, as this progresses, we have also found that there
many universities have set up new courses teaching the are many problems, and so it is quite useful to bring the
management of technology. This is a very challenging topic concerned parties together once a year to discuss what kind of
and I believe that it is also an issue common to Japan and the solutions we can implement, or what kind of improvements
South Africa, so I expect a very exciting discussion and very we should make. We will hold the next conference in Kyoto
informative input which the audience can make use of. on June 25-26（2006）, so if you are in Japan, or stationed in
I believe that the key lies in the fact that the public sector Japan, you can participate in the conference, though it will
has to realize the real needs of society. Even in Japan, we are take place in Japanese. The other advantage of having this
not interested in any policy measure which does not correctly sort of conference is that it helps create a network of the
respond to the public need. This is difficult to achieve, but I people who matter, and this has considerable effects.
think it is the real key.

Session 2 How to convert R&D findings into innovation
The utilisation of research findings

as contribution to bridging
the innovation chasm
Chief Director: National Advisory Council on Innovation, South Africa

Dr. Bok Marais
In this report I will consider how we can improve or funded research at our universities, at least in South Africa,
increase the utilization of research findings with a view to does not get much further than library shelves. It ends up
increasing a country's productivity. The discussions before being quoted by Masters or a PhD students, or perhaps
lunch ended with the questions about the relationship between quoted by the next student of the same professor. That is
the investment in R&D or citation analysis, or whatever the fi rst problem, and I will keep my answer very short. The
other indicator, and wealth. Now, I am not going to examine second issue is utilization, in other words implementing the
the macro-level of indicators and national performance, but findings from research. It is not something that happens
rather I am going to look at the meso-level, the in-between naturally, we have to steer or guide it. Thirdly, by guiding,
level as it were. and by promoting utilization, I believe we can improve the
How can we make research fi ndings link up with return on investment in R&D. So that is my core argument.
technological problem-solving and, in that way, try to bridge Furthermore, I will deal very briefly in the middle of the
the chasm between research and implementation? Essentially, presentation with a fairly extensive, comprehensive study and
I will put forward three issues. First, much of the publicly its findings that was conducted in South Africa
42
The utilisation of research fi ndings as contribution to bridging the innovation chasm
Dr. Bok Marais
The fi rst question is, "Is there an innovation chasm?" Mr. can be done in different ways. A policy could be drawn up,
Sehlapelo in his report refers to the innovation chasm; in for instance, that stipulates that your research findings must
other words, a gap between R&D and the conversion of such be crystallized in the form of an agricultural policy, to use an
research into technology. My take on it is this: that typically earlier example. It could also be in terms of action. We might
we think in terms of research findings and we ask if those decide upon a particular course of negotiation because opinion
findings get implemented, if they get adopted, whether it be polls have shown X, Y, and Z. It can and normally does get
at the individual level or the organizational company level, translated into technology, which is the kind of engineering
institutional level, or at the national level like the things that bias that we have in South Africa, and I think that it is a
we have heard this morning in earlier reports. So there is very healthy one. There are obviously other applications too.
an innovation chasm that lies between research as normally Again, it could happen at the country, the company, or the
conceived and the adoption of the research. This is what I individual level. Normally, this is what is called innovation
mean by utilization; this is a very common and standard and/or as technology transfer or knowledge transfer. In two
utilization of research findings and you will notice there that of the previous reports from our Japanese colleagues, the
it is more complex than just taking a book and translating term "Knowledge Utilization" was mentioned as part of the
it into technology. Instead, it is a complex process in which Japanese policy. Therefore I think that we should broaden
knowledge gets translated into, and this is what I want to the term "technology transfer" to "knowledge transfer."
deal with here. This is what the National Advisory Council This is utilization as a process. I must reiterate that it is not
on Innovation is examining. I will demonstrate that it is the like a fairy coming in and when the clock strikes twelve at
National Advisory Council on Innovation is there to put those midnight, she waves a magic wand and "boom!" we have a
research findings to good use in practice, and that could good PhD transformed into technology. It is a whole process
again be at an individual, company, business, institutional, or that must take place.
national level. I should stress that the utilization of research Adding the fi rst part-the gap or chasm-and the second

part of utilization (unfortunately there is an arrow missing one, is that of social and political utility, in which you really
on the diagram), gives us the whole innovation cycle. My want to influence public policy and so on. These are my brief
contention, and that of the National Advisory Council and examples. Internationally, the whole challenge of utilizing
Ambassador Ngubane who was the minister responsible for research findings has become a key issue. We have heard
science and technology, is that we are content in saying that if the reports given by the Japanese speakers, in which they
this is handled properly, the chasm will not be as catastrophic gave examples of using research to improve the social health
as it would seem. But we must manage it because, as things conditions in Japan. In Canada, a government paper argued
stand currently, there is no strong correlation between the two years ago that universities should accept a fourth
research and its practical adoption. To address or to refer to mission; that they should tackle not only training, research,
the very valid and critical question that the ambassador has and social involvement, but also innovation. Well, that is
raised is that one could use this-call it the conception model exactly what this is all about. This focus on innovation is an
if you like-to find the chasm is in the rural areas. In a paper international trend, not only in the developed world but also
I gave at Berkeley earlier this year, I spoke about utilization in the developing world. In India, for instance, there is much
or about technology transfer in rural areas. On that occasion debate about elevating it to official policy. However, I shall not
we were really talking about African rural areas. I tried discuss this international aspect in this paper.
to show that it is these places where the chasm lies. It is Two years ago, we conducted a fairly extensive study,
a chasm between having the knowledge, having all of the and you can read the parameters of the study there. Internet
instrumentation, having the technology, but not getting it to questionnaires were sent out to about 11,000 prominent
the areas that matter. It should be a fairly simple exercise, researchers in the country (there are about 25,000 fulltime
and not very costly either, to have poor subsistence farmers equivalents in South Africa), and the response rate was 20%.
start using fertilizers like Japan and China did at the turn of In addition, there were telephone interviews with the 116
the 20th century. Yet in the case of South Africa, it is still not top companies in the country and 12 case studies done across
being done. The question is then what to do about it. I believe
that one can show that there is a chasm, and identify the
factors playing a role. This, then, is the conceptual part; now
let me present just a few examples of utilization.
Normally in the literature we find utilization divided into
three types: scientific utility, for instance training students
or just generating new knowledge; economic utility, about
which we have heard a lot this morning, and which would
typically be products and processes as hard technology,
but could also be soft technology-psychological tests would
be a case in point; thirdly, and probably the most difficult
44
The utilisation of research fi ndings as contribution to bridging the innovation chasm
Dr. Bok Marais
various sectors, and so there were the two or three different address or target outside of the university. So the fact is
methods adopted for collecting data. Once we had obtained that very little, or relatively little research, generated at our
the data, we put it into three separate exercises for strategy universities finds its way to an address outside of the campus.
development. The fi rst one could be described as a stakeholder Diagram is for the business sector. Again, more than
analysis, the second one was in the dynamic modeling process, one choice could be given so the percentages exceed 100, but
and the third one was a kind of Delphi. It was not a full Delphi what is worth noticing here are the fi rst, second, and last
cycle but it could be described as Delphi-like. The woman in ones: these are triggers for effective utilization. The other
the cellar spoke in a very hushed voice, so let us call it stole a question was, "What triggered the successful utilization of
Delphi even. the research that you did for your company?" The answers
Now I would like to illustrate two little windows on the show, "Requests from an outside fi rm," and in the second
data. Diagram is for higher education. The percentages add one, "Tenders and contracts." These cover about 75% of the
up to more than 100 because more than one answer could answers; in other words that is a very strong predictor of
be given. I would like to point out that 69% of academics utilization. Furthermore, there is, "Own curiosity" right at the
say, "This is the utilization of my findings. I am adding new right-hand side of the diagram at somewhat more than 50%,
knowledge." Let us hope it is real knowledge, but I will leave even though this is the business sector. Bear in mind that our
it at that. So about 70% of them said that there is a primary academics say, "I do research because I am interested for my
form of utilization. Then, 21% replied, "Training of students," own curiosity's sake, and I know what I want to do." So what
so about 80% (but remember it is actually more than a 100%) these figures indicate is the direction we should take if we
were really in what we might deem the academic utility field. really want to promote the utilization of research findings.
You will see skill development was also at 33% here. The In Diagram, I have tried to summarize some of the
small portion that remains of the research which academics findings. It is not really a systematic list, as there are many
said they were involved in is that which finds its way to an others that I could have added, but I thought that these
were the most important ones. Obviously, good quality
research-bad research can hardly ever find an application or
utilization or implementation-is the criteria here, there can
be no argument about that. Collaboration accounted for the
largest proportion of the common variants between all of the
particular factors here. The moment that a researcher says
they are collaborating with another institute or with another
company or across sectors, or with another colleague, or even
with another discipline, then it seems to trigger and increase
radically the probability of successful implementation.
Underneath that there lies a whole new set of arguments, but

I will not go into those in this paper. far as this line of thinking at the National Advisory Council
Third, there is the question of the experience of the on Innovation is concerned, we must obviously continuously
project leader. By the very fact that there is a "project leader" review the increasing and confl icting evidence available to
means that there is already more than one person involved in us, and we must keep on disseminating information. We
that research project. The final point here is concerns prior have already learned a lot in that way. The very final point is
agreement on what to do with the findings: researchers and that we have already converted our findings into policy and
institutes must agree fi rst and foremost on things such as strategy, and these will probably be submitted to the new
who is going to hold the copyright, and who is going to take minister on the 13 June 2005.
the patenting route.
Summarizing the data in these diagrams, and adding
a few points I have not covered so far, I think that there
are two prerequisites for making more effective use of
data. First of all, that there must be the right institutional
climate; it could be government policy like the national R&D
strategy, it could be the Basic Plans in Japan, but there
must be an environment promoting utilization. The
second one is simply good project planning. If researchers
start a project, they must plan what they are going to do with
it, they must plan beyond merely presenting the paper at a
conference.
Finally, in conclusion, in South Africa-like probably Japan
too but at least in other countries of the world-the national
treasury is no longer only interested in output. If researchers
want to persuade it in order to get money for big projects
or new projects, they must convince it of the outcome, and
eventually the impact of the research project. Secondly, the
improvement of utilization would obviously lead to a better
return on investment in R&D. The researchers must be able
to convince people that utilization can be managed. It is not
something that will just come from the clear blue sky on a
beautiful day. We have collected sufficient information to
say that we should be able to develop strategies and policies
at the national, institutional, and project levels. Finally, as
46
Measures for promoting collaboration
between industry, academia and government
in the Technology Advanced Metropolitan
Area (TAMA) in Japan
Senior Fellow: Research Institute of Economy,
Trade and Industry (RIETI), Japan
Mr. Toshihiro Kodama
In this report, I will speak about cluster projects in the second point is noting what kind of fi rms are the receivers
Japan, because a cluster is kind of regional mechanism to of technologies from universities or other research-oriented
actually promote university-industry-government and inter- enterprises. This presentation places emphasis on product-
fi rm linkage in order to utilize findings from research in the developing small and medium enterprises (SMEs); I will give
development of new products. Particularly I will focus on the a detailed definition later on.
case of the Technology Advanced Metropolitan Area (TAMA) Diagram shows you a brief outline of the cluster policies
Project because that is the most typical and advanced in Japan. There are two main government programs to
example of the projects promoted by the Industrial Cluster promote clusters. The fi rst one is the Industrial Cluster
Project, launched by METI. Diagram shows the outline of Project that is promoted by METI. Diagram is a map of the
my presentation, and then the last two points will summarize projects under the Industrial Cluster Project; each project
the points of the presentation, which are that intermediary aims to create a network among universities, industry, and
organizations that make actual linkages or coordination government to promote innovation and create new industries
between or among fi rms and universities are very important; and new businesses. The second government program is

the Knowledge Cluster Initiative, which is promoted by 40 scientific universities in this region. If we include social
MEXT. Mapping of the projects promoted by the knowledge science-focused universities, the number rises to almost
cluster initiatives like this focuses on particular universities, 90 universities in this region. Another component of this
attempting to foster those universities as cores of knowledge region is the SMEs. There are two types of SMEs: product-
creation in cooperation with R&D fi rms in the surrounding developing SMEs and product-processing SMEs. I am going
region. These two cluster programs are related so that the to emphasize the importance of product-developing SMEs
two ministries are constantly coordinating with each other. in particular. The definition of product-developing SMEs is
Now, let me speak about the TAMA project. This is a an SME that has a designing capability and includes its own
typical example, and an advanced example, of the Industrial original products in its sales portfolio. By "original products" I
Cluster Project. Map shows the location of TAMA in yellow. mean products made based on their own planning and design-
The area extends over three prefectures: Metropolitan Tokyo, they may not necessarily be the final product and may be
and Saitama and Kanagawa prefectures. The old name semi-finished products, or parts and components. Also it is not
for this part of Tokyo is "Tama," and is written in Chinese necessary for the products to be sold under their own brand,
characters ("kanji"). That is one reason for the project name. but may be products sold under their customers' brand name.
However, this area extends into other prefectures and so a I am emphasizing the role of this type of SMEs as actual and
name was devised that gave another meaning, which is the effective receivers of the technologies. Product-processing
"Technology Advanced Metropolitan Area." This region has SMEs are engaged in processing parts, carrying out work
mainly four economic components. The fi rst three are large such as cutting, grinding, and sanding.
enterprises with R&D units in the electronics and electric Map shows the structure of the region. The product-
machinery industry, as well as the transportation industry, developing SMEs supply their products made based on
like Toshiba, Hitachi, NEC, and Fujitsu. their own design to the large enterprises. Examples given
The second component is universities. There are nearly are production equipment, testing equipment, and some
48
Measures for promoting collaboration between industry,academia and government
in the Technology Advanced Metropolitan Area (TAMA) in Japan
Mr. Toshihiro Kodama
key components in the final products made by the large years later, and now we just call it the TAMA Association.
enterprises. On average, one product-developing SME has The TAMA Association is just a kind of internal organization.
more than 200 customers, most of which are large enterprises. I shall now present my conclusions to this report. Diagram
At the same time, one product-developing SME has more than shows the results of the TAMA Association's activities: the
50 or 100 suppliers. They use the product-processing SMEs as number of cases and projects which the TAMA Association
suppliers or subcontracting companies. This means that the supported. This is especially around 60, and that is the
product-developing SMEs are very important players in the number of collaboration cases between universities and SMEs
region. Roughly 10 years ago, we made a study of this region. or among fi rms. Before the establishment of this association a
When I was actually working in the Kanto regional bureau few examples of collaboration could be found in the region, but
of METI, at that time, the structure was like this, but we after its establishment we can see there are a considerable
could not find many technological linkages between fi rms and number of collaboration projects underway. Some of them
product-developing SMEs. There were only a few examples of have already gone into the commercial stage. Therefore,
linkage between the universities and the product-developing another conclusion of my presentation is to highlight the
SMEs. We then put a proposal to the people in the region to importance of the receiver fi rms, and in this report I have
establish some mechanisms, or actually some organizations, emphasized the role of the product-developing SMEs. They
among product developing SMEs who have their own core have a better business performance. This is the profit rate of
technologies in order to develop this types of linkage between the product-developing SMEs. This is in a village in Japan.
them and universities. Based on that study made by the This is for 2001; this was a recession year for the Japanese
regional bureau of METI, private businesses, academia, and economy, but even so on average they achieved this profit
local governments in the region began laying the groundwork, rate. The product-developing SMEs had a relatively better
and they finally established the TAMA Industry Vitalization performance. This is one example of the research output from
Council. This was reorganized as a corporate body a few product-developing SMEs. This is the number of applications

for patents in the last three years. These two bars show
TAMA-member SMEs, and these two bars show non-member
SMEs, and this is the national average. The left bar shows
product-developing SMEs, and the right one shows non-
product-developing SMEs. In both member and non-member
SMEs, the product-developing ones have better performance
in a patent applications and this is the average of the SMEs in
the whole country which has the actual application of cases.
I have two conclusions to make: fi rst, that intermediate
organizations, such as the TAMA Association, are important
in order to make effective use of research results; and second,
product-developing SMEs are a driving force in the region
to promote and utilize such research findings for business
purposes.
50
Efforts to enhance cooperation between
universities and industry in Japan
Executive Director: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)

Prof. Kenichi Iga
I retired from the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 2001 bottom-up type research, which mainly covers application-
and joined The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science based, curiosity-driven technology. JSTA promotes more top-
(JSPS) as one of their Executive Directors. JSPS is a funding down research which follows administrative consideration
agency which was founded in 1932, and so we already have by the government. Under MEXT, there are a lot of national
73 years of history. Its founding year, 1932, was between the institutes and universities. National universities also became
First and Second World War, so economic conditions were independent from the national university system, so there
very bad like today, and university professors had trouble are no more national universities in Japan right now. There
finding funding to continue their research. The Showa are many funding bodies coming under the umbrella of the
emperor, therefore, donated a lot of money to establish an ministries and agencies, but JSPS mainly supports Pure
organization, which was the JSPS. After World War II, in Science, the Humanities, and the Social Sciences.
1967 we became a special agency under the old Monbusho, Diagram shows the budget of the funding agencies. The
which was the Ministry of Education. Two years ago, in 2003 left-hand side is JSPS. We have approximately US$2 billion
we had the dopoka an abbreviation of "Becoming Independent as our annual budget. JSTA, the Japan Foundation, and
Administrative Institute," so we are like an independent the Japan Arts Fund have a similar amount in their annual
agency, but not in fact 100% independent because most of our budget. This is for 2004. This is for the JSPS budget and
money comes from the government. location in the fiscal year of 2005 expressed by 2 oku yen.
Diagram shows the structure of the Japanese government. The important thing is that the left hand side shows the aid
There is the Cabinet, and under the Cabinet, we have the granted. Almost half goes to universities as funding. The
Council for Science and Technology Policy to discuss important green-colored figure is the funding sponsored by MEXT, but
areas of science and technology promotion. The chairman of we are responsible for the evaluation and the selection so a
the council is the Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi. There large portion is occupied by funding and research money.
are several ministries and agencies that support science Also we are also responsible for things such as the Fellowship
and technology: MEXT, JSPS, and the Japan Science and Program and the 21st Century Program.
Technology Agency (JSTA). JSPS is responsible for promoting We have four major programs at JSPS. One is Fellowships

for Young Researchers. We support about 4,000 young fellows on this). In 1982 we created an advisory committee composed
and PhD students. We also invite about 500 post-doctoral mainly of senior figures from academia and industry. One
fellows a year. I think that we have four fellows from South purpose of this advisory committee is to accept requests
Africa now. The second program involves cooperation with from academia to organize university-industry committees
overseas countries. We invite overseas scientists to Japan for cooperating on specific research themes. Second, another
and send Japanese scientists overseas. The third program purpose is to propose new fields of scientific research that
covers granting aid for scientific research. This money- have, through university-industry cooperation, the potential
based activity is the largest, and includes the 21st Century to advance technological development. We have three
Center of Excellence (COE) program. The fourth program methods: one is the university-industry cooperative research
is for cooperation between university and industry, and it is committee. I already mentioned that over 250 committees
mostly about this that I will talk today. They are doing the have received funding. There are currently 57 committees
international prize for biology and since last year we started now active, as we discontinue inactive committees and
offering a prize for young fellows at the JSPS awards. we generate new one. These committees are operated by
I shall now describe university-industry cooperation the payment of membership fees from industry, whereas
activities as conducted by JSPS. Right after the foundation universities do not have to pay any fees. To promote
of the society in 1932, we established university-industry international scientific exchange through university industry
cooperation committees. As a non-profit foundation we cooperation, the society also provides fi nancial support
have developed more than 250 committees. Committees are to international symposiums that are organized by these
organized by a proposal from academia and industry for cooperative research committees, and therefore sometimes
the purpose of advancing sector-based or sectoral scientific we invite foreign people to attend international symposiums
exchanges. Discussions are entered into concerning applied supported by these committees.
research for specific industrial subjects. JSPS supports these The second method is the start-up committee to promote
committees by promoting smooth cooperation between the research in specialized areas using public money. We have
parties involved, and publishes scientific literature on the three topics: researching things like software infrastructure,
fruits of the collaboration (the JSPS website has more details terahertz-level waves, and new functions of electronic systems.
52
Efforts to enhance cooperation between universities and industry in Japan
Prof. Kenichi Iga
These are for but three years. The second topic is similar: colors used in textile products. Each committee has its
frontier R&D committees to promote a specific area. For own activities, mainly working on discovering new areas of
example, we have three things: we have photonic information business and also standardizing and transferring technology
systems, development of risk-based maintenance technology in from universities to industry. As I already mentioned, I did
chemical processing industries and research on the nanometer some training for the 130th committee on optoelectronics
famous systems and related core technology for wireless sensor because I started to work in laser science and technology
network systems. So these two systems are for promoting the when I was a young student. This committee still exists
so-called numbered committee starting right now from 177. to discuss the latest areas in optoelectronics. One special
As I mentioned, there have been more than 250 committee committee is the 175th Committee on Solar Batteries, to
established since 1933, and the oldest still active is the 19th discuss the newest technology for solar batteries in the field
Committee for Steel Manufacturing. This was established of new energies.
in 1934 for making the biggest ship in the world, the so- Now I am going to talk about my personal experiences as
called senkan yamato(Battleship Yamato). This committee a researcher. I invented the so-called vertical cavity surface-
is still active and works to improve the very light steel used emitting laser, which is a very small semiconductor laser.
in automobiles and airplanes and so on. The newest one This laser can be attached to the surface of a semiconductor
to be created is the 177th committee, System Design and substrate and it is has very high performance and very low
Integration. So this is the seminar which was organized by power consumption. I invented it in 1977 and it is now used in
the 162nd Committee, the so-called Wide Gaps in Contractor gigabit ethernets and many areas in optics and electronics.
to discuss the blue light-emitting diode (LED) laser and so Diagram shows one of the lasers, and the laser beam from
on. It was held two years ago on Awaji Island near Kobe. it. The laser beam is Toshiba's. Diagram is an example of the
I attended and spoke to the committee because I had been so-called laser printer, which is a very fast printer, and this
working in the field of semiconductors. actually represents technology transferred from a university
Diagram lists all the committees; they are also shown on to Fuji Xerox.
the JSPS website. The 120th Committee is one for Textile I think that there are different types of the university-
Polymers, promoting the worldwide standardization of industry cooperation. One is promoted by the government,
like JSB's activities for industry, and the University
Cooperation Committee, and the personal contract-I had
some contracts with the industrial people-and donations
from industries and the technology transfer-right now it is
becoming very active; The other type is cooperation between
industrial and academic people via academic societies. I
think in Japan over the last 70 years or so, a system of
cooperation between university and industry has already
been established, and now many different activities are being
promoted.

Q &A
Q Mr. Naidoo:
My question is for the fi rst two speakers. I

utilize here, such as very good product processing SMEs. So
the spin-off element is very important, in particular spin-off
really appreciated your presentations on the sorts of things engineers from large enterprises.
we need to facilitate utilization for research, etc. But the
thing that was missing for me, in both cases that I think
is important and I would like you to comment it, is the
importance of incubators, particularly if one is wanting new

Q Mr. Naidoo:
The fact that the history of university-
SMEs to spill out, and neither of you, if I recall, correctly industry collaboration in Japan is so long-dating back to the
mentioned that in your presentations. Do you want to 1930s-is quite impressive. To what extent are there special
comment on that, please? initiatives to encourage industry-to-industry collaboration,
especially in pre-competitive technologies? And if so, what is
A Mr. Kodama:
Based on the experience of the TAMA

your model for that? The reason I am asking is that in South
Africa it is one of the areas that we are looking at from the
association, one of its activities is tie-ups with incubator government's perspective; trying to encourage businesses
companies. Actually there are three incubation offices that to get into partnership with their peers. The model that we
have been established by its members, such as in Sayama city, are using is the technology road map, which has been used
and regional financial institutions or a large enterprise also in quite a number of countries. So, can you describe the
establish their own incubation office. The TAMA association Japanese experience in this regard, please?
provides services to the tenants, such as coordinating with
other professors at universities, or with other enterprises,
and sending experts for consultation about business

A Professor Iga:
I think businesses are basically competitive,
management or technology. Therefore, fostering start-up because each one wishes to win the game. But they have
companies is a part of the TAMA association's activities. common difficulties in doing so, for example developing and
However, the majority of the member companies are already finding new areas of business, and so on. In that case, the
existing companies, and I emphasized in my report product- university-industry cooperative committees step in and find
developing SMEs. On average these companies are 20 to new areas, and also help find a breakthrough or solution
30 years old. Now spin-offs are also very important. About for common difficulties in the industry, so businesses are
60% of the product-developing SMEs in the area covered by fighting each other on one side, and they are cooperating
TAMA, have their origins in spin-off technology; engineers with each other on the other side. So I think this kind of
who have broken away from large enterprises, or very well semi-government system to create a common forum is very
established medium enterprises. This is a very important beneficial for finding new areas of industry. I think that this
point: they already have technologies and they have a broad Japanese method is very, very helpful for finding the way to
business view, and they know what kind of resources they can promote.
54
Mr. Shiozawa: PhD students, and changing the mind of the professors, Also,
I just want to give you one example. The Japanese there are some teams working in parallel on the management
automobile industry is now putting a lot of effort into of technology (MOT). For example, Professor Hosono of the
developing fuel cells. The Japanese automobile industry has Tokyo Institute of Technology is developing an MOT school
lots of funding. Toyota alone spends US$6 billion per year on for the field of nanomaterial science. The main purpose of this
its own R&D activities. So Toyota tells the government that it is to promote nanomaterial science, but on the other hand they
does not need any support, but asks for assistance in research choose some very excellent students to learn, to have a chance
work aimed at decreasing the amount of platinum used. One to promote the MOT in parallel; so a kind of a two major
of the technological difficulties in the fuel cell is the use of PhD schools. So I think there are many different elements to
platinum. So I think that in particular areas of technology, the 21st Century COE program, which lasts for five years,
the industry does have certain needs. and I think that this kind of program will change the old-
style Japanese university system, and for this reason it is
attracting attention from many other countries. It is a good
Q Unidentified speaker:
I have a question for Professor Iga. I wonder

way to reform a university system that is too conservative.
if you could give us some more detail on the conceptualization
of the 21st Century COE program.

I have two questions about the research
A Professor Iga:
The 21st Century COE program started three

committees. First, are there any non-Japanese companies that
participate in the program? And two, when we experimented
years ago, based on the advice of the Ministry of Education. with a different version of the cluster system we called it the
The purpose is to change or improve the PhD education cluster project, actually some eight or so years ago in South
system. We had over 60 applications in three years, and we Africa-we actually called it the cluster project- we were
had a selection committee and about 200 or so teams have afraid that these clusters might work themselves into clubs.
been selected. Each team is composed of a graduate school With some of your older committees, how do you keep the
department or departments from a university in specialized ideas fresh and keep people moving on to the next innovation?
area-for example optoelectronics and chemistry and so on-
and we provide support, select the teams and provide about
¥100,000,000, per year for five years.

A Professor Iga:
To answer to the fi rst question, no. There
Basically it is based upon their research activities. There has never been a committee that includes a foreign company
is already an outstanding and excellent research base, but we or companies, but we do not have any limitations, so it might
aim to improve the PhD system, for example, by changing the be a good idea to form a committee that includes overseas
curriculum of PhD schools and providing fellowships to young businesses and universities. I am seriously considering the

Q &A
idea.
Second, if the one committee exists for over 70 years it

A Mr. Kodama:
This question covers a very broad scope.
gets old, and the research subject is no longer fresh. Therefore I was talking about just the case of TAMA, and I thought
we conduct audits of the committee teams by inviting the it could tell us quite a lot on its own. In the initial stage,
chairman and active committee members to ask them about the regional bureau of the ministry proposed the idea but
the current activities of the committees. This is a good way to based on that alone this initiative could not have survived.
encourage new committee activities. If they are, we feel, no The reason why it survived and is still developing is that
longer active, we suggest that they terminate the committee. people from the private sector, especially from SMEs, also
The membership fee is held by each committee so when it is people from universities and some local governments took a
terminated, we receive all the money. We then use this money central role in the initiative. That is why this TAMA project
to create new committees for up-and-coming technologies is developing. Just to give a broad view of Japanese regional
such as software and nanotechnology. industrial policy, since the 1960s or 1970s the reason why the
ministry is focusing on the cluster policy is because of the
Mr. Shiozawa: experience gained from past policies. Formerly, the relocation
Professor Iga said that there were no foreign companies of the factories from the metropolitan area to provinces was
on the committees, but I think the definition of foreign the core of regional industrial policy. Compared to now, this
company is not easy, because, for example more than 40% was mostly a government-led policy. The government laid
of Sony shareholders are foreigners; Canon also has many down small restrictions and gave incentives so that factories
foreign shareholders. would relocate to rural areas. The local governments in the
provinces put a lot of effort into developing factory parks,
research parks and so on in order to establish the physical
In South Africa, I would say we are in the

infrastructure. This demonstrates that in the past, policies
were much more government-led than nowadays.
early phase of government-supported growth in the form Furthermore, the emphasis was put on the physical
of public works and expanded programs, so that is a major infrastructure. It was to some extent effective, in the sense
driver for economic growth. In your experience of Japan, that some cities were able to attract several factories, but
which has a mature economy where industry plays a key role, there was not much linkage. Therefore, the cluster policy
either through investment in R&D or participation, what are was planned on the basis of this experience. The emphasis is
the lessons South Africa can learn from Japan to attain the on making network of the key players in the region, and not
transformation from government-led economic growth to so much emphasis on the physical infrastructure or building
industry-led economic growth? factories.
56
Mr. Shiozawa: that the private sector and the public sector are generally
The basic concept behind the regional cluster policies very far apart, and bringing them together creates a new
is that we are now also trying to connect government-led environment. The second is that whatever model is chosen, the
economic development in the rural areas to a self-sustaining role of government should at the minimum be like a sweeper.
economy. Hokkaido has relied a great deal on construction When something goes awry, the state must have the ability
work in the past, so there are many construction companies and the means to intervene, to correct that situation. I think
there. Now they are now trying to switch to a science and in South Africa the reliance on the government is going to
technology-driven economy. Furthermore, as has been exist for a long, long time. In fact, if we consider the countries
mentioned, Japanese national universities have become that are often quoted as having phenomenal success with
independent-type agencies, with the result that they now high levels of R&D in the private sector, such as Japan, South
realize that they have to sustain themselves by whatever way Korea, Sweden or Finland, the public and the private sectors
they can. In particular, provincial universities now have to continue even now to be very, very close, and I think that that
consider how they are to survive, and one way for them to do partnership model is something that we should examine a lot
this to together with the local industry or local community as more closely.
a sort of core for the creation of new science and technology
for their local economy. This is the kind of transformation that
is taking place in Japan, though it is by no means finished.
Unidentified speaker:
To add to that, this is a complex question, and one of the
issues it raises is what sort of model of the state do you want?
Are you going to have an enabling, laissez-faire state that
only creates the right business environment, or are you going
to have the development paradigm, in which the government
actually interferes directly, and takes an interventionalist
approach? This is a macropolicy debate currently going on
in South Africa as well, and I think these are the issues
raised at this forum need to inform that debate. I would like
to emphasize two things: one is that as soon as you are able
to bring different actors into the sort of network described
here, you have already reached a very important milestone,
because one of the problems we have in South Africa is

58
Session 3: Human capital development in new emerging technologies for innovation
Introduction
Executive Director: New Business Development, National Research

Foundation, South Africa
Dr. Rocky Skeef
We are dealing with the most important and most exciting that we are going to have a very interesting afternoon.
session, which is about human capital because all the things Our fi rst speaker for session is going to be Ms.Anati
you have been talking about this morning cannot happen Canca, to my left. She is one of our Colleagues, and she
without the human capital. Secondly, we are the only panel is chief director with the Department of Science and
thus fat you have got the softer and most interesting gender Technology(DST), responsible for human capital and science
from the human capital; it has been all men thus far, so platforms. The title of her talk is "Science and technology
somebody is also going to contribute in terms of helping you human capital development in South Africa; priorities in the
stay awake. And thirdly, I am going to try to have a stick to high education sector." Second speaker is Yuji Sakakibara
time. And I have pre-warned the presenter this afternoon. So is an engineer and he is currently director of Knowledge
what I am going to do is I am rather going to introduce very Infrastructure Policy Division, Science and Technology
briefly, the individuals as they are to come up, rather than Policy Bureau which is part of MEXT. His topic is "Measures
running through all of them at the beginning. for Fostering Science and Technology Human Resource in
I think my last comment before introducing the speakers Japan." Third speaker is Dr. Eugene Lotterring. His training
is that as human capital challenge particularly in South Africa background is medical microbiology. He is with the National
is very, very serious issue. I am certain that as we exchange Research Foundation, the organization that I am from, and
and even some of that already came out in the earlier he is the executive director for the innovation found. His topic
presentations there will be a lot for us to learn from the is R&D human capital development in South Africa, capacity
Japanese, but maybe also you may have some lessons to learn building in service of excellence, and I guess there could not
from us in how we approach dealing with our difficulties, be a better person to share that with us than somebody who
because it is also obvious that you are interested in attracting is running the innovation fund.
foreign human capital and you see that as a challenge; I do not The last speaker is Dr. Watanabe as I guess other South
think ,though, in terms of the volumes required on the ground Africans on the floor might want to share with you is that
or the percentage required on the ground of human capital, there is one Watanabe who probably known by half the South
your problem is as big as ours. But nevertheless , so I am sure Africans and that is Sadao Watanabe. So when we do, we

Session 3 Human capital development in new emerging technologies for innovation
hope that thought this Sort of cooperation as it strengthens,
that we will find ourselves in another situation where we will
be telling people when we meet another Watanabe we will
say "there are now two Watanebes that are very well known
in South Africa, the other one is Dr. Chihiro Watanabe." He
is the professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering
and Management at this very institution that we are at today,
and his title is "Example of activities of fostering science and
technology human resources in Japan."
I think these presentations are related with cross-
cuttings, and I am sure that some of you may have identified
some other things. For me ,it was an issue of the importance
of the functioning of an iner-connection of the entire pipeline
and value chain. This came up time and time again. In
South African, I am pleased that this has become a place
to talk of the national system of innovation regarding all
of its components. The issue of balance, of demographics,
of participants and trainers etc., I think we have got some
similar sort of problems in South Africa. The challenge is
mainly around race and color. In Japan it seems to be mainly
around gender. I think that both of us are shooting ourselves
in the foot in a sense, because that is resource that we are not
tapping.
60
South African Department of Science
and Technology S&T human capital
development in SA: Priorities in the
higher education sector
Chief Director: Human Capital and Science Platform
Ms. Anati Canca
I would like to begin by saying that the South Africa dealt in detail with the areas in which we seek to develop our
government, through the Department of Science and science and technology. The South African government, in
Technology in particular, has realized the potential that its review of the fi rst 10 years of democracy, has highlighted
science and technology has for dealing with social and the need for development skills to address the economic
economic development. The DST in particular seeks to fully requirements of the country. This comes at a time when the
realize this potential through developing human resources need to anticipate future technological needs of the economy
and a research and innovation system. We all know that is heightened, particularly in our country. In recent times,
knowledge-based economies succeed by having readily a number of South African industries have made people
available human resources, and it is more important to have redundant, and unemployment is increasing; this in my view
a high-level human capital than material resources. Human is because there is a mismatch in skills available and skills
capital determines both economic and social development; this required by industry.
is particularly true of developing countries. Japan for example In the pre-democracy years in particular, South Africa
does not have very many natural resources, but it was able to relied very heavily on its natural resources, and there was
become the second biggest economy in the world. Developing very little beneficiation. Even now, we are struggling to
countries have a lot to learn from this in terms of dealing with
the problems and challenges of availability of human capital.
The challenges faced by South Africa with regard to
human capital include the development of human capital for
science and technology, the retention of that human capital
within the science and technology system, and maximizing
the value that human capital brings to a science system
and therefore to society. South Africa faces the challenge
of matching skills and availability with its economic
requirements. Mr. Dhesigen and Dr. Bethuel in their reports

address this issue of beneficiation of natural resources, due to life for all South African citizens through investments and the
the fact that we have a largely unskilled or semi-skilled labor deployment of technological innovation. Diagram illustrates
force. Globalization has put pressure on our industries to be the importance and the key role of higher education
innovative, and they are struggling to keep up and to increase institutions (HEIs) in the national system of innovation.
their international competitiveness due to the mismatch of Particularly looking at that together with science councils,
skills available. We know that ownership of new knowledge the bit that is in there is probably just DST and maybe a few
and the availability of highly skilled human resources will other departments. But higher education institutions are the
alleviate this problem. We also know that our industry's key in terms of the national system of innovation.
ability to innovate, particularly with regard to South Africa's Diagram, also used in Dr. Bethuel's report, shows the
natural resources, will lead to an improved economic and key outcomes or the dual outcomes that we are trying to
social climate. We therefore we need an enabling environment achieve through the national R&D strategy: quality of life for
for innovation in our country. This was very well articulated South African citizens, wealth creation, and the importance
in 1996 in the White Paper on science and technology, in of current human capital for future R&D capacity in
which the government realized that innovation is crucial, and realizing those goals. In South African HEI, human resource
I quote from the White Paper, "[It] is crucial for a nation that development is a core mission. This could be coupled with
pursues well-being and prosperity for its citizens." It went knowledge production, but human resource development
on to say that innovation cannot be treated only as an option is a core mission of higher education in South Africa. This
in countries that are in pursuit of better social well-being. sector has undergone a recent restructuring which lead to
The White Paper on science and technology also outlined a reduction in the number of institutions, which leads to the
the national system of innovation in which higher education question that has been on our minds in South Africa: whether
establishments have a key role set within the system. the higher education sector does actually have the capacity to
The national R&D strategy which came out in 2002 provide adequate or more than adequate numbers of highly
further emphasized wealth creation and improved quality of skilled individuals in support of a knowledge economy and the
62
South African Department of Science and Technology S&T human capital development in SA:
Priorities in the higher education sector
Ms. Anati Canca
South African democracy. We have, in the DST and with our them to maximize their value as a knowledge producer or a
partners elsewhere inside and outside government, developed trainer of the next generation of human capital in science and
an understanding of the human capital pipeline over the technology.
past two years while implementing the R&D strategy, and Higher education has a dual role in this area: in the
this is an understanding that goes from the school level to training of the next generation of scientists and researchers,
professional level. By this we mean that when looking at the and also in the professional development of scientists and
challenge of human resource development leading to available researchers. So as higher education can lead to increased
human capital, you have to address the entire pipeline that numbers of young people going in for Masters and PhD
leads you to the outcome you need to support a knowledge degrees, it also has a very important role in the further
economy and innovation system or a system of innovation, and development of these graduates, assisting them so that they
you really have to start from the school level. As Dhesigen are able to contribute to knowledge production in a global
said in his report, it was very good to see five-year-olds setting. These two roles for higher education are really
interacting at the Aichi Expo, so it really is important to interdependent, because the same people who produce
start at that level. However, in this report I will not go into new knowledge are also the same people who produce the
the interventions that we are making at that level, which is next generation of scientists and researchers. If you look
really the subject of another presentation. We have, though, at enrollment in higher education in South Africa over
addressed various challenges at various points of the human the past few years, you will see that science, engineering,
capital pipeline, and we have responded to them all the way up and technology are not doing very well compared to the
to the professional level. Here we mean that even if someone humanities and to business and commerce. I think that this is
has a PhD-which is where a lot of our interventions have a common situation that in many countries where there would
concentrated so far-they are really only novice researchers be far more interest or far more enrollment in these two
and only poised to be knowledge producers; we need to be groups of disciplines than we have.
able to put them in a situation or in a system that enables In the national plan for higher education from the

Department of Education in South Africa, the target is for different races, particularly white researchers and academics
30% but from the DST point of view the target is really are publishing much more than any of the areas. Again,
much higher than that, because we believe that we need to although it is said South Africa is doing very well in terms
be training far more young people in science, engineering, of participation by women in science and technology, this is
and technology. In terms of the higher education workforce, in fact questionable; Diagram shows that research output by
Diagram speaks for itself. Again, in terms of universities, gender is not very balanced.
there is a very high number of whites, and very low numbers This shows that the major challenge that we are facing
of colored, Indian, and African people, and the same statistic in the higher education sector is lack of transformation. The
is repeated at TechniCon centers. An earlier report said that racial and gender profile has not changed much in the past 10
in terms of female academics we are doing particularly well years. The productivity in the academic subset of the R&D
in South Africa compared to a number of other countries. workforce is vested in the older generation. This suggests
However, the reality is that a large number of women that although we do have younger academics in our science
are found in the junior ranks in academia, although these system, particularly in the higher education sector, they are
numbers are improving. not publishing and they are not as productive as the older set.
Looking at the productivity of academics by discipline This could be due to the fact that they might have inadequate
shows that science and engineering are more productive research incentives so they are not doing enough research, or
in terms of publications than the humanities and social it could be due to the fact that they have very high teaching
sciences. If medical and health sciences, natural sciences loads. Any academic at a university has to strike a balance
and engineering are included, it can be seen that the bulk of between research and teaching.
academic activity comes from these disciplines -although in There is also a very high mobility out of particularly
terms of head count of academics this is fewer. the higher education system, but also the science system in
Diagram shows research output by race; in terms of general. In South Africa this is exacerbated by the fact that
productivity there are very great differences between a number of young scientists or young graduates leave the
64
South African Department of Science and Technology S&T human capital development in SA:
Priorities in the higher education sector
Ms. Anati Canca
country to go and work in countries with better resources programs and research niches that could not be funded under
for science. But there is also a very great concern regarding the normal formula, which funds research at universities.
the mobility out of science into the private sector that is not We also want to be able to facilitate joint appointments
related to science at all. Therefore our priority has to be to between the national system of innovation institutions. We
create an interest in academic careers. Younger people need are looking to this Research Chairs Program to have a
to be interested in having or in pursuing an academic career. strong developmental role wherever it is implemented, not
We need to develop human capital in key areas identified only in research but also in training the next generation
by national research and development strategy. Some of of researchers, and hopefully addressing the challenge
the interventions that we need to make have to do with of research careers or academic careers that are not so
developing fulfilling career paths for young PhD graduates. apparent to young people. We have also come up with the
We need to offer them opportunities for their development DST professional development program. This addresses the
as scientists and researchers. These opportunities need to challenge of overcoming the relatively low productivity, and
go to young researchers in general, but also to designate we are hoping that younger researchers and scientists will
groups, such as blacks and women. We need to create porous be able to free up some of their time if, in the case they are
boundaries between all of the institutions in the national at universities, they have high teaching loads. Or, in the case
system of innovation, and I think that previous reports gave they are at science councils and might have responsibilities
us some pointers for this. To elaborate on the need to create related to income generation, to free up their time to do some
these porous boundaries, this could actually create flexible more research and to build up their stature as scientists
career paths for young people science and technology-related and researchers. So this program has much more focus on
work. individual development, and it also has opportunities for joint
I will now describe some of the interventions and appointments between, for example, the higher education
initiatives we have made at DST. We developed the DST sector and science councils.
Research Chairs Program that we hope will respond to new We also initiated the Post-doctoral Fellowship Program;

this addresses a much earlier part in the human capital for young scientists. In terms of knowledge capital, we are
pipeline, as it will be offered to recent graduates in response looking at supporting research and facilitating networks
to the need to retain them in the science system, and between local researchers and international partners; in
addresses the need to build a research culture in which young the African Origins Program, for example, which is based
scientists know that they have to be productive as a scientists particularly on paleontology but also includes anthropology
to survive and produce new knowledge. For this, we will and archaeology as well, we realized that paleontology cannot
also introduce opportunities for two-way mentoring, where really be studied in isolation and if you are able to build a
the senior scientist would mentor the junior scientist, and story from paleontology and archaeology and anthropology,
of course the fellow, who is on this post-doctoral fellowship you are able to build a story of African Origins through
program, would be mentoring students who are still at that interdisciplinary mix of study. So through knowledge
the Masters and PhD level. There is also the Centers of produced from this area of research, we are looking at
Excellence Program, which Mr. Sakakibara discusses in his an entire group of themes including human resource
report, with which we looked at concentrating resources in development and enterprise development, international
a conducive environment with positive outcomes for post- competitiveness for our industries, public visibility of not only
graduate training in science, engineering and technology. the research output but also for the researchers and scientists
I will now describe a few collaboration opportunities that as well, generation of knowledge, a fostering of academia and
are being presented through the national R&D strategy. I inter-industry links, and of course, fostering international
will not go through all of them, but one I will mention is the partnerships as well.
African Origins Program, based on paleontology. Here we are In summary, then, we are trying to address the challenge
looking at the joint outcomes of building or developing human of improving the higher education system to produce higher
capital, and also developing capital in new knowledge. In level science and technology skills. For that we need to
particular, therefore, we are focusing on competitive funding develop meaningful career paths for our young people, and
programs for established researchers and feeder streams we have already developed a range of knowledge production
in human capital instruments, such as the Chairs Program,
Post-doctoral Fellowships, professional development, and the
Centers of Excellence program. Through these instruments,
we are looking to find better articulation between the
institutions in the national system of innovation.
66
Measures for fostering Science and
Technology human resources in Japan
Director: Knowledge Infrastructure Policy Division,

Science and Technology Policy Bureau, MEXT, Japan
Mr. Yuji Sakakibara
In this report I want to talk about human resource- people's awareness towards science and technology. For
related issues in science and technology. In Ms. Canca's example, looking at surveys conducted recently, among the
report, the key words used by her to discuss South Africa's adult males there has been a noticeable decline in the interest
situation were largely the same as the key words that we use that they once had towards science and technology-down to
to discuss Japan's situation. In other words, we share many a level of 30% or so. Again, I will go into greater detail on
common issues, which was quite surprising to me. this later on in my report. I believe that what is written on
Diagram shows the basic flow of Japanese science and these pages indicate the changes that are occurring within
technology policies. This year happens to be a milestone of our Japan, and these are some of the issues that are being
sorts, because the second Science and Technology Basic Plan discussed in the context of the Science and Technology Basic
covered 2001 up until 2005, which makes this the final year. In Plan. Here, then, are some concrete examples.
2006 the third plan will begin, and so the people involved in Diagram shows the decreasing Japanese population. In
the Science and Technology Basic Plan are now in the midst the center are shown the people between 15-64 years old,
of formulating a new plan, the third plan. the working population. The percentage of the working
In this report I would like to briefly describe some of population starts to shrink from about 2006 or 2007. In 2007
the issues being debated at our ministry. The bottom half of the Japanese population is supposed to start decreasing.
Diagram shows changes in the environment surrounding the Furthermore, a breakdown by age shows that from 2007
second and third Basic Plans. I will go into this in greater onwards a very large proportion of the Japanese population,
detail later on, but the fi rst major change is that the Japanese so-called "baby boomers," will start to retire.
population will be shrinking. This will have tremendous What will be the impact of the shrinking Japanese
impact, and there are concerns about the dwindling population on the other aspects of the Japanese community?
population. Although it is not mentioned in Ms. Canca's report, Diagram is a simulation based on several assumptions. 25
I would like to touch upon another element that is somewhat years from now, how many researchers will there be in Japan?
different between Japan and South Africa. One serious What will be the level of supply of Japanese researchers in 25
concern that we have in Japan is the decline in the Japanese years time? I have indicated two sets of examples, but fi rst

I shall describe the assumptions this simulation was based What, then, of the level of supply of researchers? This is
on. First, we posited two different economic situations. The another issue that must be considered. To be more exact, the
top chart assumes a fairly moderate economic growth of charts show the number of graduates from the doctorate
about 0.2% annually, and the bottom graph assumes a higher level, and the supply is very difficult to change, even based
economic growth of 1.2% annually. What will be the impact on various parameters. In other words, the level of supply of
on the demographics? What about the make up of industry? something that is very difficult to adjust. In the bottom chart
All of these factors were factored in during our simulation. there is also a gap, and I believe that there would be about
The vertical axis displays the lack or excess in the supply of 20-30% gap between the supply and demand of researchers in
researchers. It is said that in Japan there are about 870,000 the future.
researchers right now, so one unit is equivalent to about 10% What further conclusions can be drawn out from these
or so of the researcher population. graphs? In Japan, the percentage of people who proceed to
On the top graph, where more moderate economic the doctorate level of studies stands at only about 0.5%. Based
growth is assumed, this will be the level of supply and on the assumption presented in this chart, if we try to match
demand situation. In other words, if the economic growth supply and demand, we must increase the percentage from
rate is moderate, this is the level of supply and demand of 0.5% to 1%. In other words, to put it very roughly, we must
researchers in the future. However, if the economic growth double the percentage of students who proceed all the way
rate is higher, then this will be the supply and demand to PhD level studies. I am sure that in the future, the quality
situation. So I believe we can draw several conclusions out of education provided at the post-graduate level will have
of these two graphs. As Ms. Canca mentions in her report, to be further enhanced. I present these charts not based
Japan is a country without natural resources, which means on the assumption that the supply and demand counts only
that if it were to attempt to maintain its current economic Japanese people, because in the future we will have to invite
size, then it must depend on the intellectual resources of its a greater number of foreign researchers. Of course, we have
people in future. Based on these analyses and simulations, tried to encourage exchange students up until now, but in the
the productivity of researchers will have to increase quite future I think that we will need to encourage long-term stays
considerably within the Japanese economic environment. and studies by foreign researchers. Furthermore, another
68
Measures for fostering Science and Technology human resources in Japan
Mr. Yuji Sakakibara
area where Japan is lagging behind is the utilization of Diagram tackles the percentage of foreign teachers in
researchers. I believe that these are some of the conclusions universities starting from the top; presidents, vice-presidents,
that can be drawn from these charts. professors, associate professors, lecturers, assistants, and so
Diagram is a microscopic analysis by category of forth. It is noticeable that the percentage of foreign teachers
researchers in Japan. In other words, it is a breakdown of in universities is very low, only 3.5% Also the percentage
career paths. I am afraid that at the materials are not in of female researchers; the number is growing, but the
English; I did not have the time to translate, I do apologize, percentage right now is only 11%. However, perhaps some
but I have provided three sets of data. First, there is the explanation is in order. This 11% covers female researchers in
mobility of researchers. Much has been made about the both the corporate and academic world, but if you talk about
mobility-or lack thereof-of researchers in Japan; traditionally female science students at universities, the percentage is only
Japan has had a lifetime employment system, and this was about 13%, which is not all that different. So in any event,
a fairly deep-rooted system. However, we are beginning to if we are to increase the percentage of female researchers,
adopt more and more researchers for fi xed terms. Even so, it is necessary to try and increase the percentage of female
the percentage of researchers employed for fi xed terms is not students who are majoring in science and engineering. I think
very large right now, but it is expected to grow in the future. that this will depend upon the experiences that these female
From the standpoint of the researchers, they must give students have in junior high and high schools. We must try
greater thought to the type of career path that they are going to influence their decisions regarding their career paths. In
to select. Of course nobody envisages that Japan will become our department we have tried to provide programs directed
a system based only on fi xed term research. I believe that toward high schools. The program is entitled Super Science
among young researchers, the percentage of people who work High Schools. We have about 82 of these Super Science High
for a fixed term is increasing, but researchers in the older age Schools in Japan now. A look at participating schools shows
brackets would rather have a 10-year system. So I think the that some all-female student high schools are taking part in
question of how to bridge these two different age groups will the program. If more such programs were directed at female
be important when we consider the career paths of Japanese students, then I am sure that they would respond favorably.
researchers in the future. It may be that female high school students in Japan really
cannot envisage becoming scientists in the future, and this
might be the case with male students as well, but if we could
perhaps offer a more clear-cut or more concrete picture
indicating career paths based, and if we could show such
career paths at a very early phase, then I am sure that this
would be very effective.
I am afraid that I have deviated somewhat from my
major topic. The point was raised that graduates in science
and engineering studies actually go on to find work in other
areas; Japan has in fact promoted such a policy. I think that

the government and schools actually encouraged students resources. Are we painting a very clear career path for
of science and engineering to go on to find work in other young people? The chart showing supply and demand of
areas. Diagram shows internships in universities. You have researchers showed that eventually there is going to be a lack
a line here that shows the number of internships is on the in the supply of researchers. What is the situation now? The
rise. Now the challenge for the future is that the period of number of Japanese students at the doctorate level of studies
the internship is not very long. Most of the students who is increasing, and some believe that there is a glut or excess
take part in internship programs are usually in their fi rst of students or graduates with doctorate degrees. I think that
year or in their second year of their Master's degree, and an is the impression that the Japanese companies have. Here
internship lasts about one or two weeks. That is the amount we are talking about a different time frame, but I think that
of experience they are able to gain: just one to two weeks. in any given city in Japan and at any given time there is
Diagram shows a model of a particular career path. The always going to be a mismatch in the supply and demand of
right-hand side shows the academic career path and the left- researchers. If there are any researchers in place then the
hand side shows a non-academic career path. The students, mismatch between supply and demand cannot be resolved.
as part of these trees tend to be very adamant about going to Therefore, even if students seek an academic career path or
particular positions in the academic world. Diagram shows a non-academic career path, I think that a more appropriate
the results of the questionnaires: two companies that have allocation of human resources is required, and this is always
actually hired students with doctorate degrees. I hope you very difficult to achieve. Another issue which relates to the
will refer to this at your leisure. But these are some of the corporate sector is that as the Japanese population will be
dissatisfactions that the company has had when they hired dwindling, there is less competition to get into university. My
graduates with doctorate degrees. I believe that the quality generation had to study a great deal before we could enter
of the doctoral studies needs to be improved if we are to universities, but that situation has changed and the quality
accommodate the requirements of the corporate sector. There of programs in various universities will be questioned in the
are COE programs and we have begun to invest in these in future. I believe that this is going to be a key issue when the
order to improve the level of doctorate study programs. effects of the dwindling population are examined.
Finally I will round up the problems involving human
70
R&D human capital
development in SA: Capacity
building in service of excellence
Executive Director:
Innovation Fund, National Research Foundation, South Africa
Dr. Eugene Lottering
You cannot, I think, speak about human capital outside of the higher education institutions needed to be reformed;
the context of the economy. In setting this particular picture, the government services sector needed to be reformed;
I would like to go back to April 27, 1994, when South Africa the country was carrying a lot of debt at the time. Most of
experienced its fi rst democratic elections. It is necessary these have been corrected. But key to this all, and which
because we often forget how far we have traveled in so little still remains a challenge, is human capital. Thus a vision was
time. But at this particular stage, the African National required. The vision is not in any way different from visions
Congress, which eventually won the elections, had run on a of most countries-you want to have sustainable economic
ticket that proclaimed, "A better quality of life for all South growth, and the basis of this you measure by increasing GDP,
Africans." Of course, as we know, they won the elections you have opportunities for creating jobs, your industries will
by close to a two-thirds majority of the votes, but after the be competitive, you get a bigger market share, and if that
euphoria of that period had died down, what we were left happens, you might achieve your ultimate goal of improved
with were major challenges in South Africa: the population of quality of life for the people. Of course, this is the broad
South Africa is 43 million people, 30% of which is unemployed; vision. Implementing it is still the challenge.

If you look at economic performance indicators, and look so we can generate the impact that is required via sustained
specifically at productivity and growth, it takes you back to economic growth, generated by this human capital stock that
what is now generally referred to as the "new growth theory." we have.
Following the work of Theodore Schultz, of the Chicago Where is this human capital that we speak of? I have
Business School, who was the one of the fi rst few people in captured it in terms of its four key components. We all have
the early 60s to reinvigorate economic theory with an issue an innate ability, determined by genetic inheritance. Beyond
fi rst introduced by Adam Smith: human capital. Prior to that there is a formal education process, by which knowledge
that, we emphasized physical capital, we emphasized labor, is imparted via our parents' guidance, within the society.
we emphasized investment as the way to economic growth. Over time, you as the individual pursue certain knowledge
This was the fi rst time when human capital was emphasized fields yourself, acquire further knowledge. You are trained
as the key to economic growth. Hence the knowledge society via specialized courses, sometimes we trade knowledge via
becomes entrenched, which put South Africa in a bad position, informal settings such as this forum, and over time we gain
because the majority of the population at that stage did not experience, which, all combined and multiplied by several
receive a wide level of education, and a knowledge-based million people within a population, constitutes the human
society requires breadth of education. capital stock of a nation, and the basis, via economic theory, of
Often, what we do is confuse the shorter-term outputs a knowledge society, by which sustainable economic growth
that are required with medium-term outcomes and the can achieved. So human capital, if done properly, will enhance
longer-term impact, based upon investments that we make. productivity, improve production processes, and lead further
In the short term, even capital can be considered an output; to the establishment of a knowledge-based economy.
based upon the research that is done, students are trained, At the National Research Foundation, whose mandate
and you have your trained graduate students as an output, is the development of human resources via research, the
but in the longer term, we are hoping to make investments challenge still exists. In Diagram, the green bar shows
72
R&D human capital development in SA: Capacity building in service of excellence
largely doctoral students being trained within the system. It it intends to go, we have to source new innovations for new
shows that the number of masters students far exceeds the markets, so we are supporting R&D with the potential to lead
number of doctoral students, and in total the numbers now to new private sector products, processes and services. The
are far lower than the projected numbers that we require to public sector co-invests with the private sector to draw in
meet the requirements of a knowledge-based economy. new competitive technologies; it invests in areas where there
Beyond the National Research Foundation, which in is perceived market failure and no private sector uptake in
essence, in the South African context, is the blue block; this these particular areas, it promotes technological innovation
shows students training via curiosity-driven research plans, and the creation of start-up companies, and by and large it
whose output would be mainly in the form of publications. reduces the risk associated with technologies, so that we can
Via another ministry, the Department of Trade and Industry, increase the commercialization potential. In order to do this,
there is a program called the "Technology for Human the public sector cannot invest on its own - it needs assistance
Resources and Industry Program," which trains students from the venture capitalist community who are interested in
through a program matching public funding and private taking potential research and development products that have
funding, and aims to create human resources more relevant scale-up potential and that have a huge market associated
to the industry sector. Last is the Innovation Fund from the with them, that have a competent team and significantly
Department of Science and Technology, whose mandate is to reduced risk. This is where the Innovation Fund critically
drive innovation, and thus there are human resources being differs from the venture capitalists.
created via an innovation pipeline, from applied research Diagram shows a mini-map of some of the places in the
right into the commercialization of that research. innovation space in South Africa The red line is where the
But why does the public sector pursue innovation? As Innovation Fund operates. But towards the right there
mentioned earlier, it is an intervention strategy. Given where are the early-seed funders, under seed; there are specific
the nation is, where it is developing currently, and where venture capitalists that are interested in bio-technology or in

information and communications technologies, such as HPD, Africa has about 45% of all the world's reserve of zircon and
the IDC, a state, para-statal, which is interested in all sorts there are applications for it in over 60 industries, for example:
of technologies with scale-up potential, export potential, paint, leather, pigments, antiperspirants, paper, catalysts,
and the orange line indicates the reduction of risk that you engineering ceramics, fuel cells, the nuclear industry etc.
try to accommodate and out-take via the private sector. The government invested in this project in around 2000 in
So the public sector is not meant to fund right up to the terms of developing technologies that will benefit the sector.
commercialization of the start-up company, but rather it tries On completion of this project, which was successful, we were
to attract a network of venture capitalist to take the projects able to create fine chemicals from zircon. The problem before
off its hands and further develop the start-up companies. was that the zircon had to be fi rst marketed to China. China
If it does that, it will have a particular value chain, then it beneficiated the product, resold the beneficiated commodity
can focus on patentable research outputs, what is knowable, back to South Africa, as zircon oxychloride, which then
what is non-obvious, and what is a useful technology that enabled South Africa to utilize it and create the fine chemicals
can be embedded in society as a start-up company. Thus, that we sell to our markets. We have essentially cut out that
through this commercialization of start-up companies and the step; we are building a plant at which we will beneficiate our
growth of many of these companies, there is a contribution to own zircon oxychloride and utilize it to develop this particular
economic growth. industrial sector, so it is quite a good success story.
Now to take a look at just a small sector of the portfolio This type of practice is used internationally, beyond just
in the Innovation Fund, at one of the key areas. The country the establishment of small companies. There is the example
is rich in mineral resources, and we look at some of the of Xerox, which is very much a company that was established
investments we have made in mining and minerals, in alloys on technology, the technology of course being xerography.
and platinum, in zircon and zinc, and coal and steel, and focus Xerox set up a company about 30 years ago to develop new
on just one particular one, the beneficiation of zircon. South technologies known as PARC - the Palo Alto Research Center
74
R&D human capital development in SA: Capacity building in service of excellence
- which generated many of the technologies used by Apple
and Microsoft, and which are now currently embedded in our
computers. But prior to the dot com bubble, as indicated in the
sum of 10 spin-offs on that graph, their market capitalization
exceeded that of Xerox, which I hope is significant proof that
if these strategies are employed correctly, enormous benefits
to economic growth can be reaped via start-up companies.
In summary, this is essentially where we are heading:
improved quality of life for all, with sustained economic
growth to help us achieve that. Sustained economic growth
needs technological innovation embedded in the system,
and technological innovation happens in the discovery of
knowledge. There have to be correct knowledge strategies
and policies in place, coupled with significant investment,
for this to happen. This constitutes the human capital stock,
which will enable us to achieve that vision.

Examples of activities of fostering
science and technology human
resources in Japan
Professor: Department of Industrial Engineering and Management,
Tokyo Institute of Technology,Japan
Dr. Chihiro Watanabe
My report is focused on the institutional management of fi rms leading to improve their running co-efficient.
technology, particularly the equal evolutionary dynamism These fi rms demonstrate notable achievement which can
of innovation and institutions. This basic discipline is the my be attributed to their challenge in exploring new frontiers
subject, particularly focusing on Japan's core evolutionary with running resources leading to reactivate the core
dynamism and its implications for fostering human resources evolution between innovation and institutional systems.
in science and technology. Japan's development dynamism, core evolution with as
First, I would like to briefly summarize the points I will disengaged from institutional system incorporate invaluable
raise in this report. As summarized here, core evolutionary implications supportive to fostering science and technology
dynamism between innovation and the institution system is human resources, which is indispensable for sustainable
decisive for an innovation-driven economy. Japan's system development-that is a common important goal for both
for management of technology indigenously incorporates countries.
an expert function which induces this core evolutionary Thus the prime objective of fostering science and
dynamism and enables Japan to achieve conspicuous economic technology human resources in our discipline is the science
development. I am confident this could be a lesson for South
Africa, too.
The third is that this expert function can be attributed to
social cultural systems, the so-called "X-efficiency" that can
largely be attributed to Japan's intensive, cumulative, efforts.
That is a point I would like to stress. Fourth, these efforts
stagnated and the paradigm shifted from an industrial
society to an information society in the 1990s. To respond
to these new circumstances, innovation to explore the new
frontier of managing resources has become indispensable.
Such a challenge bore fruit recently in 13 high technology
76
Examples of activities of fostering science and technology human resources in Japan
of institutional management of technology, abbreviated to innovation may also change the underlying institution itself,
SIMOT is to encourage students to assimilate Japan's system leading to a self-propagating development trajectory as
of management of technology, incorporating the expressed demonstrated in Diagram. The issue is how to construct such
core evolutionary dynamism. That is the point of my a self-propagating development trajectory.
presentation and what I would like to stress this afternoon. Core evolutionary dynamism stagnates if an institution's
First, the answer to the question " what is the institutional system cannot adapt to evolving innovations, as illustrated in
management of technology" is shown in Diagram? The the lower part of Diagram. Currently Japan is suffering as a
innovation-generation cycle that leads emerging innovation result of its so-called "lost liquidity" in the 1990s.
to the market depends greatly on institutional systems. Based on this understanding, Japan's system of
These institutional systems consist of the following three management technology which realize, indigenously
dimensions: national strategy and the socio-economic system, incorporates express function which induces this core
the entrepreneurial organization and culture, and historical evolutionary dynamism and enables Japan to achieve
perspectives. These three dimensions are common to both conspicuous economic development. That is simply compared
Japan and South Africa. The activation of the innovation cycle by these figures, both the average growth rate of GDP, and
depends largely on the core evolution with institutions. The technological contribution to such GDP growth. Those figures
cycle will stagnate if the institution's systems cannot adapt to indicated in the parentheses of the table. Up until the end
evolving innovation. That is at the basis of our understanding, of the 1990s, during the course of the so-called "industrial
and one essential for fostering human resources. society" Japan benefited from conspicuous contributions
Core evolutionary dynamism is what the innovation- of technology which such expert function can rarely be
generation cycle as I stressed, is highly dependent on the attributed to social or cultural system, as I mentioned, so-
core evolution with the institution's systems, and while an called x-efficiency, rather to economic contribution, that is
institution's system greatly shape emerging innovation, clearly compared here.

Such a conspicuous x-efficiency can rarely be attributed to Canon since 1992, followed by Sharp in 1997, and similarly
Japan's intensive, cumulative, running efforts with its unique Matsushita and Hitachi. Among leading high-tech fi rms
functions, and such intensive, cumulative, running efforts be which have successfully revitalized their learning capabilities,
based on the motivated by fear for foreigners, and cumulative Canon had notable successe, which can be attributed to it
running stimulate assimilation of speed over knowledge, exploring the new frontier of the learning resources based on
and also rich in curiosity, smart in assimilation, thorough unique technological diversification efforts. As you may have
to running and absorption. Based on such unique functions, realized, that is where the leading fi rms in optical technology,
Japan's system of management technology has incorporated cameras, and photocopy, and printers, and digital camera,
the foreign core evolutionary dynamic development cycle. and next generation TV and so forth. As the consequence of
Japan's system of management technology achieved its technological diversification strategy, Canon constructed
core evolutionary development running an assimilation, a core evolutionary trajectory between its printers and PCs.
assimilating advanced innovation and advancement of its Core evolutionary trajectory between printers which Canon
institutional systems. And cumulative running minimizes the itself produces and those PCs which Canon stopped producing
impediment of the organizational inertia. It also accelerated depend on the production by other competitors, and led to a
assimilation of speed over technology. virtuous cycle between them as indicated here.
However, such proud running efforts changed to negative The virtuous cycle has developed...cycle between, if price
in 1990s, due to x-inefficiency in the puffing-up with success decreases technology stock induce functionality development
in the 1980's. And second, organizational inertia impeding and price recovery by means of value-added innovation,
flexible adaptation to new paradigm of information society innovative printers. That provides very informative
and also mature economy. That is clearly demonstrated as the suggestions. In addition, Canon challenges ambitious target
significant contribution change to negative. inspiring its competitors, and learning from the inspired
Facing such circumstances, new innovative challenge in efforts by means of a virtuous cycle between printers and
exploring new frontiers of learning resources has become
indispensable. For exploration of such new frontiers can be
expected by technological diversification effort, thereby
gaining new experiences and assimilation of spill-over
technology. That is clearly compared such success story fi rms
as Canon, Sharp, Sony, contrary to such very big, gigantic
fi rms as NEC, Matsushita and Hitachi.
Efforts to achieve technological diversification have
borne fruit recently with 13 high-tech fi rms improving
their learning co-efficient, as shown by these four curves in
Diagram, and significant improvements can be observed at
78
Examples of activities of fostering science and technology human resources in Japan
PC producers there originally the competitors and that is, in encourage them to assimilate such dynamism. With such aim,
economic terms, defined as complementary producers. we have challenging three-layered structure education and
And such Canon's efforts, for example, in exploring new training program, as indicated there, fundamental research,
resources in learning by means of technological diversification international collaboration and tie-ups with graduate schools
strategy, provide such suggestions as challenge to ambitious of management of technology. But detail of the program of
targets, learning from external markets, and learning education and training can be considered in three parts.
by inspiring competitors. And also, harmony between The innovation of overseas outstanding scholars, and also
corporation and competition that is defined as "corpetition." invitations of business leaders with outstanding management
On the basis of such is a business model based on of technology, expertise, fi rst-hand experience, and the
the success story, our point is how to reactivate the core second is gaining advice on foreign research from top-level
evolutionary dynamism as indicated here to restruct that scholars. And also the corporation with selected enterprises
is the disengagement between innovation and institution implementing outstanding management of technology,
to reconstruct the core evolutionary dynamism. For that it together with the participation of graduate school of
is essential to elucidate such dynamism and conceptualize management of technology research projects. Some examples
and operationalize the value-up link to global assets so that can be demonstrated here; that is an attempt to invitation of
Japan could expect to construct a virtuous cycle between the overseas outstanding scholars, that was a symposium held
rivitalizing world economy. here, in this university at the very beginning of March.
In order to realize such a possibility of a program is to And this is an invitation of business leaders with
endeavor ambitious challenge to the elucidation of this core outstanding management of technology expertise exercises
evolutionary dynamism. Therefore consequently fostering including those from Microsoft, Toshiba, NEC, Siemens,
science and technology human resources target should be how and so forth, and expecting to encourage our students to
to encourage those PhD candidates to assimilate, particularly assimilate their own intangible assets with respect to explicit

business product.
In addition, encouraging the PhD candidate to participate
in international qualified meeting by expecting to gain
advice for front research from the top-level scholars. And
this is one example of the on-going or completed PhD
dissertation, the majority of which, based on the elucidation
of what I demonstrated, complicated intangible business
model. Thereby, the PhD candidate can learn and absorb
and assimilate those intangible asset, particularly equal
evolutionary dynamism.
The lastly is that we are expecting the outcome after five
years that, together with the significant research output,
we are expecting the so-called educational output. The
graduation of a certain reasonable number of competitive, or
to be very straight, world-trainable, high-level students in
the fields of management of technology leaders, international
business leaders, and young research leaders in the science
of institutional management technology. With such ambitious
challenges, we are expected to exchange respective
experiences, particularly from South Africa today. Thank you
Mr. Chairman.
80
Q &A
Could you explain in a little more detail about

ministries into one? Does that enhance the performance of
the national system of innovation in Japan? If so, in what way?
the "virtuous cycle" referred to the last report?
A Mr. Sakakibara:
A Mr. Watanabe:
In brief supplement Canon is a major

First, why did this consolidation of ministries
take place? Well, of course there were several reasons, not so
producer of the printers-both laser beam and bubble jet. much due to each particular ministry, but rather because the
They produce excellent printers that induce the potential for government was trying to carry out an overall administrative
demand of a particularly informed use, not for office use. This reform to reduce the number of ministries from 22 down to
will inevitably either stimulate the production of more PCs 12. We agreed that the Cabinet Office was to be boosted and
or provide the impetus to Canon's competitors-such as NEC, strengthened and the number of ministries reduced, with
Hitachi, and Toshiba-to produce newer and better quality some amalgamated, including the Ministry of Education with
printers and PCs. This in turn will create increasing demand the Agency for Science and Technology. Also other ministries
for highly functional PCs and printers. This is a virtuous and agencies were integrated and consolidated, and there was
cycle, leading to a cycle of self-promoted development. What a review of the work done by each ministry. These were the
I want to stress is that the virtuous cycle is created by Canon major objectives of this administrative reform.
and other makers complementing each other to the maximum. I am originally from the Agency of Science and
This is an extremely unique business model that is an Technology. I was in charge of HR, and I feel that we are a
example of a Japanese success story, and illustrates what we good example of a successful consolidation. Furthermore,
are encouraging students in Japan to strive for in the course my position with the Science and Technology Agency was
of their education and training in terms of an intangible HR, and in HR development in science and technology we
business model. are now targeting students from middle school right through
to doctorate courses. This would not have been possible if
we still had separate ministries. We are now able to develop
In Professor Sakakibara's report, there was

human capital over all these years at one ministry. But of
course there are disadvantages. We have more meetings
mention of a reduction in the number of ministries, in which, and conferences as a result of the amalgamation. That is a
for instance, science and technology is no longer on its own, negative side of it
but together with education and culture. In certain parts of
the world, especially SADC, the trend is toward separate
science and technology ministries. You also find semblances of
that even in developed countries. Now, from your experience,
what was the motivation for amalgamating the different

Q &A
Q Dr. Lottering:
In terms of ensuring the partnership between

that that is not a bad thing. And if this is something that is
inevitable because people talk about it often enough, should it
the government and the higher education sector and society be planned for in our human capital development? Maybe you
as a whole, and entrenching innovation within that system, have some commentary on that.
what are the top three or five things that you need to have in
a system to ensure that it succeeds?

Yes, if I tended to suggest that was something
A Mr. Watanabe:
There are several aspects, but in particular

that needs to be curbed, it was not intended. I think the
innovation is best pursued in an open environment. There
I will focus on Japan's intangible business model. Japan is increasing mobility of people within industry sectors
has always had lots of curiosity, and curiosity leads to the and as part of their experiential learning; this enhances
exploring of new challenges in science and technology. The their earning capacity as individuals, but also enhances the
point here is how to construct a coevolutionary relationship potential for them to be innovative, as it allows for the free
between potential resources and institution and external flow of skills between the higher education sector and science
education organs. councils. Government is a necessity, and in order to ensure
Japan is currently suffering a lack of involvement by that we do not go around complaining about skills being
potential resources in the educational system, in other words, poached, we have to accelerate the development with which
people are losing their curiosity and interest in science and we increase the total number skills that are required.
technology. We are very proud, that upon the reasonably
and correctly construct such a relationship Japan could
maximize to vitalize its potential resources in innovation.

A Ms. Canca:
I think that in South Africa in particular,
One of our responsibilities at university, and there are many the private sector is under pressure in terms of international
responsibilities in education, is to identify points that will lead competitiveness; how can it increase its international
to reconstructing an equal evolutionary dynamism, and this competitiveness in science and technology. It would actually
includes identifying things that may stimulate students to lead to a virtuous cycle if a large number of skills or human
release their potential. resources are based on science engineering and technology,
because if these people eventually go on to private sector
Mr. Naidoo: enterprises, it would actually lead to an increase in the
There are two questions, the fi rst one to my South understanding and the awareness of the need to exploit
African colleagues on the panel. Both of you made a very science and technology in those enterprises for the benefit of
convincing argument that some of these scientists, engineers their international competitiveness. This would actually be
and technologists that we train are poached by other sectors a virtuous cycle in my view, and so the answer really lies in
because they have a particular skills base. I would argue increasing the numbers of young people who are trained in
82
science, engineering, and technology, which really goes back
to the targets we have set of about 40% of students enrolled

Q Dr. Marais:
I believe that the impressive success that one
at universities rather than the 27% that we are currently at. of the plans has had with regard to the training of graduate
students has already been touched upon. What sort of
Q Mr. Naidoo:
Also, I would like to hear more on learning by

strategies and devices did you use to increase the number of
graduate students to the extent that you did.
inspiring competitors, as this seems counter-intuitive.
A Mr. Sakakibara:
A Mr. Watanabe:
As you may know, Japan has learned lots

In the case of Japanese universities, the
reason there was an increase in the number of universities
from other countries. For example, during the course of the was that, until recently, there was a lot of demand. Now we
Meiji revolution in 1868 Japan learned from the West, and have a different demographic structure here in Japan, and
Japan's spirit merged then with Western civilization. That in the past 10 years the Japanese economy stagnated. In
was based on the Japanese curiosity. They then achieved post-graduate education in particular, an area that should
conspicuous economic development on their own, that inspired be strengthened according to some people is that graduate
the Western countries, the United States and European school is skewed too much to specialized education, and that
countries; and then Japan learned again from the further should be corrected. Of course, specific specialized education
developed United States and European countries, which is necessary, but broader, general knowledge is also required.
again inspired the competitors, in this case United States Students need specialized expertise, so ideally they should
and European countries. A dynamic spiral and virtuous have a major and a minor. This is our ideal that we have for
cycle were being constructed here, and similarly we have graduate education.
to encourage our students to think the same way: do not
consider your roommate or competitor as someone out to beat,
but rather inspire that roommate, and make the roommate
into a constructive competitor, the you can learn a lot more
from your upgraded, improved, and inspired competitor. We
are attempting to foster such a mutually-inspired competitive
relationship in the education of our students.

Conclusions and the way forward
President: Engineering Council of South Africa,South Africa

Mr. Bob Pullen
I think we need to bring the purpose of today into sharp a meaningful purpose. If we ignore that, then we shall have
focus and, at the end of my conclusion, check whether it was wasted a whole day in our lives.
achieved. The purpose was to increase our understanding of With regard to science and technology policy and strategy,
the topic of science and technology policy, to share knowledge we heard today that South Africa and Japan have both moved
and experience, and in the process, to create an environment in a direction of national strategies. We have recognized
for networking between each other, to understand the the differences between South Africa and Japan's political,
power of networking, and to develop a platform for future economic, and social attributes, and it is very important that
collaboration and exchange. In all of these discussions, the key we do this. If we had not done so, then we would not have
word has been "innovation." We need to understand better been successful. In both countries, the commonality lies in the
what it is that innovation requires in order to develop the fact that there is a basis in law for what being done. There is
most suitable science and technology policy. We need to be a legal foundation on which science and technology policy is
able to integrate the results of research and development into developed, and it enjoys high political support. We also have
innovation to make things happen, and to cross-cut the whole accepted in our own ways various targets for evaluating
subject. our policies and strategies, and then making the necessary
Is this difficult? It is almost non-mathematically difficult. adjustments. We have heard various reports about continuous
For human capital development in relation to technologies, we monitoring and adjustment, which are good management
need to address both the present and future environmental principles.
and social challenges that face all communities on earth, not It has been clear to me in the reports that partnerships
only our two communities that we are talking about, but all and networking underlie successful science and technology
communities. That is the context against which science and policy and R&D, and in fact not only in science and technology
technology policy needs to be considered. There was a wise but anywhere. It is clear that this interaction stimulates
African grandmother we heard earlier today who said to vigour, and in animal science, we talk about hybrid vigor.
her grandchildren that a strategy, or a policy if you like, will Even in zoology and botany we talk about hybrid vigor.
only deliver a meaningful consequence or outcome if it has When people are joined together, we get a stronger output.
84
Mr. Bob Pullen
There is universal imperative to focus on human resource means, we must be quite sure that we orientate the outcome
development, and it has to be done within the context of to our needs and make sure that the R&D contributes to this.
different incentives, different countries, and different R&D is means to an end; it is not the end in itself, nor should
constraints that are put upon us by the realities of our it be. Even when talking about the transfer of R&D down the
individual societies and economies. The basic premise is that value chain, it became quite clear how powerful collaboration
innovation will lead to increased social economic wealth. That can be. It is a critical factor, and it becomes critically
is the critical issue: that we understand innovation to be a important, because that collaboration provides a link, one of
main driver in socioeconomic development. the many necessary links in the value chain.
A number of our speakers have focused our attention on This chasm in innovation is very well-defined, and other
this innovation chasm and the challenge we have to bridge than the collaboration, which was illustrated very well by the
this gap, and as a civil engineer I know a lot about bridging TAMA intermediary system in the regional context here in
gaps. We must adjust our policies and our strategies to Japan, we need to make sure that the research that is done is
accommodate various circumstances, national circumstances, of a high quality-it must meet users' needs. If the users' needs
the development state of our countries, regions within our are not met, the results of research will remain in the library,
countries, and of new perceptions about our future. We have and it will collect dust. We must make sure that the follow-
heard a number of times today about different expectations up planning for converting research into value in industry is
about our future, even shrinking populations which would done very carefully. Over lunch the ambassador said to me,
never have been thought about a decade ago. We require a well I should know about that because I am an engineer and I
focus on science and technology which also has a regional can do project management. I decided to remain quiet because
context and His Excellency, the ambassador, reminded us, engineers are not necessarily project managers; nevertheless
those of us from South Africa. He was talking to whole it is a skill and an attribute that we also need in R&D, and not
meeting, and he was saying, "Remember, back where we come
from there is Southern African region." We are not an island
or a series of islands, or a part of a bigger region. There is a
strong interaction and there is a strong reliance upon each
other across our borders.
How do we use the outcome of the results of research
and development to drive innovation? There were some
very interesting discussions during the day, and innovation
was said to be equivalent to a solution to a problem, or new
knowledge. It is a question of definition. We need not get
hung up on the semantics. But whatever the word that we use

only in engineering. relies on knowledge will get nowhere if innovation does not
The Japanese example of clusters was very similar some happen. In finding this balance, we need to match our skills
of the experiences that we have in South Africa. It seems to the needs of society, and the demographic model that was
from the reports that we are able to accommodate competition presented to us showed up some very interesting and maybe
between organizations. This is imperative for success in unexpected outcomes, depending on your initial assumptions.
order to make sure that the competition has a higher common So in there lies a challenge; science and development policy
value than simply the profit line of an individual company. and strategy is not a fixed model. It needs to be reviewed and
This can be achieved through cooperation. There is more adjusted to accommodate changing realities.
room for international networking and for partnerships It was demonstrated to us well in Japan how the changing
such as we have today. This is a special event related to environment has been accommodated from one five-year plan
the South African exhibition at Aichi, but it is only a very to the next. It is also been made quite clear that the quality
simple example of networking and the partnerships that can of school education is universally important. We thought it
be created. JSPS committees were referred to in a report. was very important in South Africa, but it is obviously very
We can accommodate people from other regions in the important in Japan as well, and so there is another common
world into those committees. But we need to recognize the thread. There is continuum between the ways we treat our
balance between government-led, and government-influenced children, the way we educate them, right through to the PhD
research and development. By that, I mean that the role level.
of government must be appropriate to the circumstances; We need to be careful not to forget the relevance of the
sometimes a leadership role, sometimes a moderating role, newly emerging social, political, and economic theories on
sometimes a relatively low-key intervention to ensure that the human resources growth strategies. We see in Japan and
direction the research takes meets user needs. South Africa that the old theories do not necessarily hold
The reports presented recognized very specific and
unique national situations critical to any strategic planning,
for example the aging population, our legacy from exclusive
systems of the past, and very importantly, the diversity in
our population. Some populations are much more diverse than
others, so once size will not fit all. So in this collaborative
discussion that we are having, we need to look forward to
partnerships where the benefits on the one can be transferred
to the other.
Human resource capital is essential for any knowledge-
based society, and it is driven by innovation. The society which
86
Mr. Bob Pullen
true. Perhaps the old theories have been demonstrated to be national asset, and not just in R&D, and should be carefully
less relevant and less applicable, but new theories are being managed into the future
developed in social science, political science, and economics
and we need to take those into account. The importance of
human resource capital development to the value chain in
such an economy is enormous. This means that we need to
manage the whole of the human resource pipeline. An holistic
approach in our policy formulation is absolutely essential. It
is critical to appreciate the dynamic relationship between
innovation and the institutional systems in which society
is managed. We need to take into account the attributes
of our population, not only of our science and technology.
There is also that intriguing concept of the science of the
institutional management of technology. I always knew and
it was quite clear in my mind that technology was a difficult
thing to manage, but to realize that there is a concept called
the science of institutional management of technology is
something to think about. We thank you for that contribution.
Science, Engineering, and Technology skills are national
resources that should be mobilized for the benefit of the
whole society. We need to recognize that ICT is an important

88
List of Participants
Name Institution
Dr. Kunihiro Kitano, Deputy Director AIST

Mr. Takayuki Matsuo, Director AIST
Mr. Takemi Ishihara, Director AIST
Mr. Akira Yamamoto, Deputy Director Cabinet Office
Mr. Bunro Shiozawa, Deputy Director-General Cabinet Office
Prof. David Ewick, Professor Chuo University
Mr. Gerry Mostert, Manager Council for Scientific & Industrial Research
Dr. Bethuel Sehlapelo, Deputy Director-General Department of Science & Technology
Mr. Dhesigen Naidoo, Deputy Director-General Department of Science & Technology
Mr. Nhlanhla Nyide, Chief Director Department of Science & Technology
Mr. Yoshinari Akeno, Advisor Department of Science & Technology
Ms. Anati Canca, Chief Director Department of Science & Technology
Ms. Buhle Khumalo, Deputy Director Department of Science & Technology
Ms. Mmapitso Mokotedi, Administrator Department of Science & Technology
Dr. Baltazar Antonio, Senior Researcher DNA Bank
Mr. Motoo Hori, Representative Director Element Six Ltd.
H.E. Mr. Amar Renojama, Ambassador Embassy of Algeria
H.E. Mr. Victor Lima, Ambassador Embassy of Angola
Mr. Raphael d'Almeida, First Counsellor Embassy of Benin
Mr. Nwenda Raphael, Minister-Counsellor Embassy of Democratic Republic of Congo
H.E. Mr. Hisham Badr, Ambassador Embassy of Egypt
H.E. Dr. Koong Tutlam Dung, Ambassador Embassy of Ethiopia
H.E. Mr. Jean Christian Obame, Ambassador Embassy of Gabon
H.E. Dr. Barfour Adjei-Barwuah, Ambassador Embassy of Ghana
H.E. Mr. Ousmane Thiam, Ambassador Embassy of Guinea
Mr. Adams Bility, Charge d'Affairs Embassy of Liberia
H.E. Ms. Guisse Maimounu Dial, Ambassador Embassy of Mali
H.E. Mr. Mohamed Jaafar, Ambassador Embassy of Mauritania
H.E. Ms. Daniel Antonio, Ambassador Embassy of Mozambique
H.E. Mr. Adamu Aliyu, Ambassador Embassy of Nigeria
Mr. Salem Alsheen, Charge d'Affairs Embassy of People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
H.E. Mr. Gabriel Alexandre, Ambassador Embassy of Senegal
H.E. Dr. Ben Ngubane, Ambassador Embassy of South Africa
Mr. Ray Medhurst, First Secretary Embassy of South Africa
Mr. Tomokiyo Shimura, Marketing Officer Embassy of South Africa
Mr. Vuyani Lingela, Counsellor Embassy of South Africa
Ms. Alicia Peters, First Secretary Embassy of South Africa
Mr. Moncef Hajerl, Charge d'Affairs Embassy of Tunisia
H.E. Mr. James Baba, Ambassador Embassy of Uganda
H.E. Mr. Godfrey Simasiku. Ambassador Embassy of Zambia
H.E. Mr. Stuart Comberbach, Ambassador Embassy of Zimbabwe
Mr. Bob Pullen, President Engineering Council of South Africa
Mr. Yoji Kondo, President Impala Platinum Japan Ltd.
Mr. Shinsuke Horiuchi, President International Development Associates Ltd.

List of Participants
Name Institution
Mr. Hajime Koshio, Senior Division Officer Itochu Corporation

Mr. Jiro Takemori, Managing Executive Officer Itochu Corporation
Ms. Noriko Oshiki, Project coordinator Itochu Corporation
Mr. Ikuo Kimura, General Manager Itochu Management Consulting Co., Ltd.
Mr. Masahiro Nakagawa, Adviser J Gerber & Co (Japan) Ltd.
Mr. Toshio Akiniwa, President Japan Asia Africa Latin America Solidarity Committee
Mr. Kakutoshi Ohori, Deputy Director Japan Bank for International Cooperation
Mr. Kazuyuki Takeuchi, Advisor Japan Bank for International Cooperation
Mr. Yutaka Ohashi, Director-General Japan Bank for International Cooperation
Mr. Hiroshi Tsukamoto, President Japan External Trade Organization
Mr. Osamu Hattori, Assistant Director Japan External Trade Organization
Mr. Shinichi Saito, Executive Vice President Japan External Trade Organization
Mr. Hiromichi Endo, Head Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Mr. Isao Kiso, Executive Director Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Prof. Kenichi Iga, Executive Director Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Mr. Yoshitaka Kitaguchi, President & CEO JASA Corporation
Mr. Hidetaka Kato, Chairman Kashikey Co., Ltd.
Dr. Shinnosuke Obi, Professor Keio University
Prof. Akira Mita, Professor Keio University
Prof. Toshiro Tanaka, Professor Keio University
Mr. Yutaka Horiuchi, Sales Representative Komatsu Ltd.
Mr. Naoyuki Fuwa, Manager Kyorin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
Mr. Ayato Iwama, Deputy Director MEXT
Mr. Tsutomu Ueki, Senior Director MEXT
Mr. Yoshiaki Sato, Senior Specialist MEXT
Mr. Yuji Sakakibara, Director MEXT
Ms. Naoko Okamura, Director MEXT
Mr. Mikio Mori, Director Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Takeshi Tanabe, Deputy Director Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Yuichi Oba, Principle Deputy Director Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Mosibudi Mangena, Minister Ministry of Science & Technology
Ms. Girlsy Makoetjie, Personal Assistant Ministry of Science & Technology
Mr. Masayuki Takashima, Board Member Mitsubishi Corporation
Mr. Masao Takuma, Deputy Chief Researcher Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
Mr. Naohiko Kumagai, Senior Advisor Mitsui & Co., Ltd.
Mr. Toshihiko Nagao, General Manager Mitsui & Co., Ltd.
Prof. Shuji Sato, Professor Nagoya University
Dr. Bok Marais, Chief Director National Advisory Council on Innovation
Prof. Tshilidzi Marwala, Councilor National Advisory Council on Innovation
Dr. Junzo Tanaka, Director National Institute for Materials Science
Dr. Teruo Kishi, President National Institute for Materials Science
Mr. Takahiro Fujita, General Manager National Institute for Materials Science
Mr. Atsushi Suzuki, Director National Institute of Informatics
Prof. Taisen Iguchi, Professor National Institute of Natural Sciences
90
Name Institution
Mr. Hiroshi Nagano, Director-General National Institute of Science and Technology Policy
Ms. Yuko Ito, Senior Research Fellow National Institute of Science and Technology Policy
Dr. Eugene Lottering, Executive Director National Research Foundation
Dr. Rocky Skeef, Executive Director National Research Foundation
Dr. Toshikazu Takada, Research Fellow NEC Corporation
Mr. Shun Matsushita, President & COO NGK Insulators, Ltd.
Mr. Hideyuki Mima, General Manager Nippon Denko Co., Ltd.
Mr. Hiroaki Amizaki, Executive Counsellor Nippon Denko Co., Ltd.
Mr. Jun Fujii, Ferro Alloys Division Nippon Denko Co., Ltd.
Mr. Taketoshi Oka, Manager Nippon Denko Co., Ltd.
Prof. Ikuo Igarashi, Professor Obihiro University of Agriculture & Veterinary Medicine
Mr. Toshihiro Kodama, Senior Fellow Research institute of Economy, Trade & Industry
Dr. Shigeo Yoshida, Coordinator RIKEN
Dr. Tomoya Ogawa, Director RIKEN
Dr. Toshiya Muranaka, Laboratory Head RIKEN
Dr. Yuji Kamiya, Director RIKEN
Mr. Yukihiko Kushida, Deputy Manager RIKEN
Prof. Masato Kubo, Professor RIKEN
Mr. Marjo Louw, Managing Director Sasol Chemicals Pacific Ltd.
Mr. Kanjiro Matsuura, Managing Director Sasol Japan KK
Prof. Ryokichi Hirono, Professor Seikei University
Mr. Yusaku Tokunaga Shimadzu Corporation
Mr. Hirohiko Tsuji, Senior Manager Shimadzu International, Inc.
Mr. Hiroaki Kakihara, Director Shimizu Corporation
Mr. Hiroyuki Tanabe, Managing Executive Officer Sojitsu Corporation
Mr. Shigeki Dantani, Senior Vice President Sojitsu Corporation
Mr. Yasutoshi Yokoyama, General Manager Sony Corporation
Mr. Tshepo Ikaneng, Journalist South African Broadcasting Corporation
Dr. Tony Ribbink, Program Manager South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity
Mr. Ndipiwe Ntuli, Manager South African Tourism
Mr. Takashi Ohama, Secretariat STS Forum Secretariat
Ms. Yu Serizawa, Secretary-General STS Forum Secretariat
Mr. Takahiro Moriyama, General Manager Sumitomo Corporation
Mr. David Rudlin, Managing Director The Diamond Trading Co.
Mr. Koji Omi, Member The House of Representatives
Dr. Hiroya Taguchi, Corporate Chief Engineer The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
Prof. Kanji Ueda, Professor The University of Tokyo
Prof. Toshio Hattori, Professor Tohoku University
Prof. Chihiro Watanabe, Professor Tokyo Institute of Technology
Dr. Osamu Tooi, Director Towa Kagaku Co., Ltd.
Dr. M Plessis, Professor University of Pretoria
Mr. Akira Nagashima, Executive Director Yokohama National University

Contact information
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA JAPAN
Mr. Dhesigen Naidoo Mr. Vuyani Lingela

Group Executive: Councellor of Science and Technology,
International Cooperation and Resources South African Embassy, Japan
Department of Science and Technology 4-14 Zenkyoren Building

Postal Bag X894 2-7-9, Hirakawa-cho,
Pretoria Chiyoda-ku,
0001 TOKYO 102-0093
Tel : +27-12-841-4298 Tel : +81-3-3265-3366

Fax : +27-12-841-4375 Fax : +81-3-3265-1108
E-mail : Dhesigen.Naidoo@dst.gov.za E-mail : lingela@rsatk.com
Web : www.dst.gov.za Web : www.science-technology.jp
92

Science and Technology Forum in Japan

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Contents

2 「Japan's Science and Technology Basic Plan and Strategy」

3 「University-business-government cooperation in R&D in South Africa:Progress and challenges」

〈Session：1〉 S & T Strategy – Its Impact on Innovation

8 「The utilisation of research fi ndings as contribution to bridging the innovation chasm」

9 「Measures for promoting collaboration between industry, academia and government

10 「Efforts to enhance cooperation between universities and industry in Japan」

12 「South African Department of Science and Technology

13 「Measures for fostering Science and Technology human resources in Japan」

15 「Examples of activities of fostering science and technology human resources in Japan」

16 「Conclusions and the way forward」

1 STP Forum, Tokyo 2005

Minister of Science and Technology, at the Commemoration of

3 STP Forum, Tokyo 2005

Ambassador of South Africa to Japan

and wisdom on how to deal with these issues, and quite

clearly science and technology is the key to solving most of

these problems. So we ask to come to try and deal with the

issues facing human civilization and culture, because we will

have to develop new ways and new structures for addressing

social development and protection in the 21st century.

The emergence of recycling communities will go a long

way in dealing with the issues of natural resource depletion.

Science and Technology Counsellor, South African Embassy, Japan

science and technology policy environment in both countries, of Technology.

Japan and South Africa, and to facilitate exchange of best

5 STP Forum, Tokyo 2005

National System of Innovation:

7 STP Forum, Tokyo 2005

amount of effort at the frontier to advance knowledge in those

one-on-one partnerships, as well as being quite sector speciﬁc.

Activities here are shared jointly between the Department

of Science and Technology and whoever there counterpart

category covers areas of science. These are not trivial areas

of science, but rather things as complex as weather services

for example, where the research component is, at the moment,

fairly minor. There is a substantive technology base, and for

9 STP Forum, Tokyo 2005

increase of 0.76% of GDP to 0.81% of GDP. Perhaps what is technology base.

ages-inside the ﬁ rst 10% of the beginnings of the universe. We

are looking inside what might be termed the magic furnace,

potential to take us to this area of knowledge. It would be a

wonderful boom to the world if we could achieve this sort of

On the subject of partnerships, briefly, the inside

partnership last year in the form of South Africa's ﬁ rst

science, technology, and innovation exhibition had wonderful

participation from Japan, and we in turn are participating

in the Aichi Expo, which is a tremendous experience and we

11 STP Forum, Tokyo 2005

Japan's Science and Technology

Deputy Director-General for Science and Technology Policy,

13 STP Forum, Tokyo 2005

15 STP Forum, Tokyo 2005

implement our science and technology policies. Additionally,

we need to get more support and interest from the Japanese

people towards our policies. To achieve this, we feel that we

need to increase our accountability to the policies by setting

some clear goals.

What sort of goals are we trying to achieve by

implementing science and technology policies? Diagram shows

that so far we have identiﬁed six major goals. We will then

17 STP Forum, Tokyo 2005

between the universities, business, and government, we people as opposed to 5 to 6 million.

innovation. smart buyer of rapidly developing technology, rather than