Business Plan 2008/09 Presentation to: Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Science & Technology Delivered by: Prof. Robin Crewe, President, ASSAf Date: 23 May 2008

ASSAf Business Plan 2008/09 Presentation Contents 1. Vision Statement 2. Mission Statement Summary 3. Financial Objectives for 2008/09 4. Consolidated Budget for 2008/09 5. USNA Funding for 2008/09 6. ASSAf Programmes 1-4

ASSAf Vision Statement  ASSAf aspires to be the apex organisation for science scholarship in South Africa  Internationally respected and connected  Its membership, the aspiration of the country’s most active scholars in all fields of scientific enquiry  Collective resource, making possible the professionally managed generation of evidence-based solutions to national problems ASSAf aspires to be an engine of excellence in scholarship and intellectual cooperation

ASSAf Mission Statement Summary  To become increasingly associated with the highest levels of scholarly achievement and excellence in the application of scientific thinking for the benefit of society  To consolidate its infrastructure and capacity; and expand and mobilise its membership to include scholars from a full disciplinary spectrum  To proactively and reactively embark on a programme of systematic studies of evidence-based issues of national importance  To develop a sound and robust methodology for constituting study panels; and producing authoritative reports that are well- disseminated and have significant impact

ASSAf Mission Statement Summary cont.  To publish science-focused periodicals to promote a national interest in the sciences: 1. South African Journal of Science – multidisciplinary journal of the highest quality and international standing 2. Quest: Science for South Africa – science magazine that showcases the best of South African research to a wide national and international audience 3. Strategic Reports – policy advisory reports that seek to influence national decision- and policy-making

ASSAf Mission Statement Summary cont.  To promote the development in South Africa of an indigenous system of research journals of internationally recognised quality and usefulness  To develop and maintain productive partnerships with the Departments of Science and Technology, Education, Health, Water Affairs and Forestry, Environmental Affairs and Tourism, and Agriculture, and the DST-affiliated NACI  To develop and maintain collaborative linkages with science councils; NGOs; higher education institutions, etc. with a view to the building of capacity in science and its applications within the National System of Innovation (NSI)

ASSAf Mission Statement Summary cont.  To create new and diversified sources of funding for the sustainable functioning of an independent national Academy  To communicate effectively with general and specific publics, as well as with partners and sponsors  To expand activities in partnership with national science academies of other countries, including the contracted partnership with the US National Academies  To play a significant role in the international science system, particularly in Africa, through organisations such as the IAP and IAC; TWAS; ICSU; and NASAC; all within the context of NEPAD

Financial Objectives for 2008/09  To implement the intentions in its strategic plan of diversifying and stabilising ASSAf’s sources of income  To bring its financial operations to a high degree of efficiency and effectiveness  To perform appropriate internal audit and risk management, and reporting correctly and transparently  To continue its unbroken record of unqualified external audits  To execute and manage projects as cost-effectively as possible, and deliver the highest quality and value to sponsors

Consolidated Budget for 2008/09 INCOME (Other than Development Funding from USNA)R Parliamentary grant-in-aid 3,320,000 Ring-fenced allocation for Quest 700,000 Additional funding: Inflationary adjustment300,000 Contract funding for the implementation of scholarly publishing 4,336,000 Members’ subscription fees58,800 Interest receivable410,000 Revenue from publications550,000 TOTAL ANTICIPATED INCOME (Excluding USNA Funding)9,674,800 Logo of partner organisation sourced from its website – presentation not for commercial purposes

EXPENDITURES (Other Than Those to be Budgeted under USNA Development Funding) R Programme 1: Administration and Governance1,742,981 Programme 2: Strategic Aspects of Publishing in S&T in South Africa5,792,900 Programme 3: International Academy Relations384,686 Programme 4: National and Regional Activities1,754,233 TOTAL ANTICIPATED EXPENDITURES (Excluding USNA Funding)9,674,800 Consolidated Budget for 2008/09 cont.

USNA Funding for 2008/09  The Projected Development Funding from the US National Academies for 2008/09 is R1,634,000  As per the ASSAf/USNA MoU, USNA will provide ASSAf with the following general support: * Pro rata contribution to staff costs * Training programmes and communal expenditures * International activities i.r.t. ASADI  In addition, USNA is expected to sponsor: * Agreed ASSAf Consensus Studies, and * Agreed ASSAf Committee Activities Logos of partner organisations sourced from their respective websites – presentation not for commercial purposes

ASSAf Activities are Structured, for Budgetary and Reporting Purposes, into Four Programmes ASSAf PROGRAMME 1 Administration and Governance PROGRAMME 2 Strategic Aspects of Publishing in S&T in SA PROGRAMME 3 International Academy Relations PROGRAMME 4 National and Regional Activities

Programme 1: Administration and Governance Governance  Leadership in respect of the Academy's national role, distributing the tasks to members, and through mobilising the Membership  Finance Group formed to advise Council, oversee finances  Executive Officer retiring end of March 2008 – recruitment in progress Membership  Exploration of widened participation, e.g. WAYS Africa, South African chapter, etc.  Enhancing role of Membership in regional and national activities, e.g. ASSAf panels, committees, task teams, public lectures, etc. Staff and Infrastructure  Strengthening middle management and capacity building  Monitoring and evaluation of Academy activities and impact  Purposeful marketing/branding of the Academy (Publications Officer, Communications Officer)

Scholarly Publishing: Implementation of 10 Recommendations in 2006 ASSAf Report  Follow-up study of scholarly publishing (book chapters) nearly completed  National Scholarly Editors’ Forum established  Adoption of a national code of best practice for editorial discretion and peer review (in progress)  Mandate given for grouped peer review of SA scholarly journals by ASSAf Panels  Investigation of an online course system for scientific writing  Task team set up to examine possible national platform for open access publishing in SA, incl. information system  Partnerships in place to cover data curation and open access issues Programme 2: Strategic Aspects of Publishing in S&T in SA

Programme 2: Strategic Aspects of S&T Publishing in SA cont. Quest: Science for South Africa Magazine  Quarterly, youth-oriented science magazine, well-established on editing and production side  Publications Officer to drive public sector programmes  Partnerships with DST, DoE, SAASTA, science centres, etc. being set up  Use and impact research in teacher training programmes initiated  Open access system under investigation  Growing subscription and retail bases

Programme 2: Strategic Aspects of S&T Publishing in SA cont. South African Journal of Science  Ranked 23 rd /50 in world rankings in ISI-indexed multidisciplinary journals  Editor retiring end-2008 – new editorial model of Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editors  Available electronically on Sabinet, but open access system to be introduced  Vision – to be the flagship national journal in scholarly publishing programme

Programme 3: International Academy Relations  ASADI: African science academy development (US National Academies grants)  NASAC: Network of African Science Academies  IAP: Water research and science education programmes  IAMP: Scientific writing programme  TWAS: Prize for young scientists, etc.  G8 + 5: ASSAf included in annual meetings of science academy presidents  Uganda National Academy of Sciences: Bilateral agreement Logos of partner organisations sourced from their respective websites – presentation not for commercial purposes

Programme 4: National and Regional Activities  National Awards and Activities: * Gold Medals * Sydney Brenner Fellowships * Regional Public Lectures * Annual Visiting Lecturers  Generation of Evidence-Based Advice (Panels and Committees/ Fora): * Report on HIV/AIDS, TB and Nutrition : done; follow-up phase * Consensus Study on Clinical Research in SA: ongoing * National capacity in the Humanities/Social Sciences: to be started soon * Biosecurity: to be started soon * Science Education enhancement: to be proposed * Postgraduate Studies in SA, and the development of human capital in S&T: to be proposed after multi-sector inputs and commission

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