Africa-Press – Namibia. THE involvement of the National Commission on Science, Research and Technology (NCSRT) in the Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI) has resulted in some major positive developments at the commission.
According to an NCSRT report, the commission’s participation in the SGCI’s policy, science, technology and innovation indicators, as well as monitoring and evaluation workshops has helped influence its revised national science, technology and innovation policy (NSTIP) for 2020 to 2030.
Angelique Philander, the manager of human and institutional development, science and technology promotion division at the NCSRT, in the report says the commission’s engagement with the SGCI has also influenced the 2021/22 to 2029/30 national space science and technology policy.
She says the NSTIP now includes the nurturing of partnerships with the private sector.
“The NSTIP focuses on the harmonisation of policy and legislative frameworks. The NSTIP further drives towards advanced manufacturing and biotechnology which enables Namibia to potentially leapfrog into these systems,” Philander says.
She says this influence was experienced in the drafting of the National Programme on Research, Science, Technology and Innovation (NPRSTI), which is now more focused on integrating programming rather than just setting priorities.
Philander says the participation of the NCSRT in the SGCI has helped them find new partners, networks, coalitions and collaborations.
“Through participation in the SGCI Phase I (SGCI I), the NCSRT has been able to secure funding for the continuation of the project that was sponsored during SGCI I,” she says.
This participation has further enabled the NCSRT to mobilise funds for five projects under the SGCI II, of which one is a joint project between Namibia and Mozambique, entitled ‘Application of Indigenous Knowledge in the Management of Infectious Diseases in the Manica and Tete provinces of Mozambique and the Zambezi region of Namibia’.
Furthermore, Philander in the report states that the NCSRT’s participation has led to collaboration with various agencies on several projects.
The NCSRT, Mozambique’s National Research Fund, and the Southern Africa Network for Biosciences also jointly conducted a project management online training course from July to August 2021.
Additionally, Philander says the NCRST has conducted a monitoring and evaluation workshop with the Southern African Research and Innovation Management Association for staff members, and has collaborated on a project which produced comparative fact sheets on business innovation in South Africa and Namibia.
It has also conducted a workshop on new science, technology and innovation indicators and data sets in the Southern African Development Community in Namibia.
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