Gender diversity and the transformation of research excellence

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The effects of digital transformation on innovation and productivity : Firm-level evidence of South African manufacturing micro and small enterprises

This paper studies the relationships among the use of digital communication technologies, innovation performance and productivity, using an extended version of the Crepon-Duguet-Mairesse (1998) model, for a sample of micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in a middle-income country, South Africa. Based on the results of an original survey carried out in 2019, we investigate these links for a sample of 711 manufacturing MSEs located in Johannesburg. We estimate the relationships sequentially, firstly estimating the relationship between digitalization and innovation, and secondly the relationship between innovation and productivity. Our results show that selected digital communication technologies including the use of social media and of a business mobile phone for surfing the internet have a positive effect on innovation, and that innovation conditional on the use of these technologies has a positive effect on labor productivity. The findings suggest that public programs aimed at fostering inclusive digitalization must consider the types of digital technologies that are most accessible and beneficial to small firms, including those operating informally.Peer reviewe

Research excellence in Africa : policies, perceptions, and performance

Abstract: Our article discusses various features of research excellence (RE) in Africa, framed within the context of African science granting councils (SCGs) and pan-African RE initiatives. Our survey, collecting responses from 106 researchers and research coordinators across Africa, highlights the diversity of opinions and preferences with regards to Africa-relevant dimensions of RE and related performance indicators. The results of the survey confirm that RE is a highly multidimensional concept. Our analysis shows how some of those dimensions can be operationalised into quantifiable indicators that may suit evidence-based policy discourses on research quality in Africa, as well as research performance assessments by African SCGs. Our indicator case study, dealing with the top 1 per cent most highly cited research publications, identifies several niches of international-level RE in the African continent while highlighting the role of scientific cooperation as a driving force. To gain a deeper understanding of RE in Africa, it is important to take into account the practical challenges faced by researchers and research funding agencies to align and reconcile socioeconomic interests with international notions of excellence and associated research performance indicators. African RE should be customised and contextualised in order to be responsive to African needs and circumstances

Innovation policies and innovation systems: The case of Information Technologies in South Africa

Presented at the GLOBELICS 2006 conference in India during 4-7 October 2006.Session II-3 Innovations in New Technologies: IT and BTThe alignment of innovation policies with the needs of the innovation system remains a great challenge, particularly for developing countries. In relation to this challenge there are several factors associated to problems with measuring innovation, the recognised different dynamics of innovation processes in developing countries, and the ‘distance’ between relatively new innovation policies and the dynamics of the local industry. These problems can sometimes lead to ‘disconnections’ between innovation policies and innovation processes in developing countries. These aspects will be examined in this paper, illustrated through the case of the Information Technologies (IT) industry in South Africa, in particular software. Based on a few existing studies, this paper highlights the urgency to collect continuous and comprehensive data on the dynamics and innovation processes of the South African software industry. In South Africa, dearth of data is clearly inhibiting the chance to develop a much needed software strategy to compete with other countries with more coordinated efforts

Effectiveness of science and technology policy in South Africa: technological learning in the ICT sector and institutional capabilities

Proceedings of the Second Globelics Academy, Lisbon, Portugal, 23 May - 3 June 2005

Employee Learning and Enterprise Innovation Performance in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

International audienc

Value Creation and Socioeconomic Inclusion in South African Maker Communities

In socioeconomic environments affected by high and persistent income inequalities and unemployment, there is a need for participative approaches to innovation in support of socioeconomic inclusion. This article explores the features of collective action, in support of socioeconomic inclusion, identified in South African maker communities. Drawing on data from interviews with participants in seven maker communities, the study explores the kinds of value that participants experience through being part of these communities. Value creation is assessed in terms of the five overlapping cycles of value that Wenger et al. (2011) propose are present in successful communities and networks: immediate value, potential value, applied value, realised value, and reframing value. The study finds that all five value cycles are present in the experiences expressed by the South African maker community participants. The value is found to be particularly pronounced in the immediate value and applied value cycles. In respect of socioeconomic inclusion, the findings point to strong currents of social inclusion in the immediate value cycle, and strong elements of both social and economic inclusion in the applied value, realised value, and reframing value cycles