1. EC Support to Research and Education Networking in Southern & Eastern Africa © CSIR 2006 AFRICAS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CONSOLIDATED PLAN OF ACTION AND RESEARCH NETWORKS Johan Eksteen CSIR/Meraka, South Africa

2. EC Support to Research and Education Networking in Southern & Eastern Africa © CSIR 2006 Science & Technology AFRICAS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CONSOLIDATED PLAN OF ACTION Africa free of poverty, integrated into the global knowledge economy. Innovation Mechanisms Flagship Programmes Governance and Implementation Regulatory & Policy Support

3. EC Support to Research and Education Networking in Southern & Eastern Africa © CSIR 2006 AFRICAS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CONSOLIDATED PLAN OF ACTION Flagship Programmes Flagship Programmes Energy Water Desertification ICT Materials Manufacturing Laser Post-Harvest Biodiversity Biotechnology IKS

4. EC Support to Research and Education Networking in Southern & Eastern Africa © CSIR 2006 Research Networks in context of the plan RESOLUTION OF SOUTHERN AFRICAN MINISTERS RESPONSIBLE FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY MEETING Adopted on 1st December 2005 in Maputo, Mozambique Resolve to urgently address the issues of broadband access and connectivity of our Centres of Excellence, Education and Research institutions to develop a high speed network for Southern Africa All elements of plan assume and depends on a strong regional and international research networking infrastructure

5. EC Support to Research and Education Networking in Southern & Eastern Africa © CSIR 2006 Reasons Recognition of positive correlation between R&D and development (QoL & Econ growth) <1% of global scientific output from Sub-Saharan Africa – need access to 99% Access to scientific resources limited Researchers per 1000 of workforce 4 in most developed countries) – lack of absorptive capacity & ability to tackle challenges

6. EC Support to Research and Education Networking in Southern & Eastern Africa © CSIR 2006 Reasons Science often based on local need factors e.g. communicable diseases (HIV) – sometimes little external research interest Offering unique natural resources (Southern Oceans, Southern Skies) Lack of adequate research infrastructure Suitcase science often lead to brain drain Need to pro-actively manage brain drain and diaspora

7. EC Support to Research and Education Networking in Southern & Eastern Africa © CSIR 2006 Recipes Reasons matter – link to measures of success Context matters – consider culture, infrastructure, absorptive capacity, political support One size does not fit all Portfolio approaches - sustainability

8. EC Support to Research and Education Networking in Southern & Eastern Africa © CSIR 2006 Portfolio Approach Physical Infrastructure Commodity InternetCommercial Internet Research Networks e-science / cyberinfrastructure / e-infrastructure Applications Flagship Programmes Climate Change, Neglected Diseases, etc. etc. Academic Networking e-science

9. EC Support to Research and Education Networking in Southern & Eastern Africa © CSIR 2006 Recipes Key areas to consider: –Human Capital Development –Absorptive Capacity Growth –Infrastructure development –Network growth –Growth in research output –Impact of research –Regional integration and sharing –Sustainability

10. EC Support to Research and Education Networking in Southern & Eastern Africa © CSIR 2006 Thank You Johan Eksteen jeksteen@csir.co.za www.meraka.org.za www.csir.co.za