The Unisa Graduate School of Business Leadership (SBL) hosted an energising and thought-provoking Research and Innovation Day on March 5. The theme was “Developing Innovation and Entrepreneurship Talent”, challenging academia, business and public sector alike to consider entrepreneurs as a mainspring to driving innovation in South Africa.
SBL Professor Sasha Monyamane, who opened the proceedings, stated that the purpose of this event would be to stimulate ground-breaking research not just for the sake of it, but for the sake of the development of our country and our people.
Keynote speakers, S’onqoba Maseko and Pierre Schoonraad, represented the private and public sector respectively. Maseko, Head of the FNB Innovators Programme, is a young dynamic visionary who would like to inspire South Africans to help make our country an innovation-run economy, instead of the efficiency-run model now in place. “We have strong innovation within FNB, and I would like to take it a step further, outside of the company and into the country.”
A strong advocate for the National Development Plan (NDP), Maseko highlighted the need for a bridge between academia and the private sector facilitated by a common purpose, the achievement of the goals of the NDP. “Everyone is familiar with the NDP, but not everyone has read it! Unless we are talking about how to implement it, we’ve missed the bus.” Maseko further believes that research papers shouldn’t be completed to tick boxes. MBA / MBL students should be designing theses that are in sync with public and private sector needs and can truly change the country. All sectors need to play a stronger role in investing in R&D and commercialising these ideas.
Pierre Schoonraad, who drives innovation in order to improve public service delivery, agreed with Maseko in that the NDP will help improve the lives of South Africans. Schoonraad added that “learning and innovation should become part our culture. Since 2008, the debate on innovation in the public sector has skyrocketed as we realised that the old solutions are not working.” He admitted that government uses high spending to tackle service delivery issues, but with poor outcomes. Schoonraad says that innovators need to understand the root cause of service delivery problems, and come to the table with new ideas on how to solve them. “We need to combine efficiency innovation, which saves costs, with disruptive innovation to change the market.”
There were two focus points that both speakers emphasised. They both advocated an ecosystem whereby public sector, business and academia come together to share ideas, and form partnerships so that the free flow of ideas enables South Africa to develop. The second focus was on our education system, and how to develop innovators rather than just workers, instilling an entrepreneurial spirit in the subsequent generations.
After an engaging debate including SBL academics, Monyamane closed proceedings, saying that “the information gathered here today will shape the new MBA and MBL qualifications. The SBL is well-positioned to support African entrepreneurs by providing access to cutting-edge management and leadership thinking, while at the same time throwing down the gauntlet to become forerunners of African innovation.” (ENDS)
About the speakers:
S’onqoba Maseko
S’onqoba Maseko holds a BSc in Mathematical Sciences and a BSc Honours degree in Actuarial Science. As an embodiment of the independent, entrepreneurial spirit, Maseko has previously founded a non-profit organisation for youth development and driven the strategic direction of a black-owned start up an investment company as Chief Operations Officer. She currently provides right-hand support to FirstRand Limited’s Group CEO, Sizwe Nxasana. Named as one of Destiny Magazine’s top forty trailblazers under the age of 40 in 2011, Maseko is also Head of the FNB Innovators Programme. Maseko is passionate about youth and education and can relate, from personal experience, the value that the entrepreneurial ethos can bring to South Africa’s corporate sector.
Pierre Schoonraad
Pierre Schoonraad is Chief Director: Research and Development at the Centre for Public Service Innovation (CPSI), an entity reporting to the Minister for Public Service and Administration. His responsibilities include investigating service delivery challenges and finding – or developing – innovative solutions to improve service delivery. Current projects under his supervision include a large-scale cooperative water integrity initiative, household and community alarms for crime prevention in informal settlements and energy efficiency in government facilities such as hospitals.
He serves as an adjudicator of the ICT Innovation Competition of the Gauteng Accelerator Programme, an initiative of The Innovation Hub and the Gauteng Department of Economic Development. He is also a member of the Ad Hoc Expert Group that advises the United Nations on the Transfer and Adaptation of innovative practices for improved public service delivery in least developed countries (LDCs) and regularly participates in international engagements on Public Sector Innovation.
