Seizing the biotech-ICT opportunity
Dr Neville Comins |
The following is an extract from a paper delivered by Dr Neville Comins, CEO of The Innovation Hub, at a business breakfast, ICT and Biotechnology Convergence
Future Prospects for Development in Africa, hosted by AfricaBio on 14 November 2002.
Internationally, the wave of knowledge intensive business which started in the 60s and 70s with advanced materials, grew the ubiquitous ICT industry and Internet which have changed life for us all, has now seen the biosciences revolution taking front stage. The worldwide attention placed on the Human Genome project and the vast amounts of data now being generated have rapidly led to a convergence of the biotechnology and ICT worlds. Massive investments are being made by public and private sectors internationally and the true impact of these developments will influence us all in the decades to come.
South Africa too has been mobilised in terms of the National Biotechnology Strategy and the new National R&D Strategy and new institutions created and funded viz Biotech Regional Innovation Centres and Bioinformatics Centres. However, significant gaps exist which need attention to allow South Africa to become a competitive player in the field. The R&D strategy highlights the 'commercialisation chasm' between research and the market and attention must be paid to bridge this effectively.
One such model, which is seen internationally, is to encourage and support clustering of big and small companies and the academic and research communities around Science Parks to provide the critical mass and multi-disciplinary skills needed. Gauteng Provincial Government, in its 'smart province' initiative and through the Blue IQ projects saw the power of this and have created together with SERA (an alliance between the University of Pretoria and CSIR) such a park in the form of The Innovation Hub, with clear objectives to bridge the commercialisation chasm".
The Innovation Hub specifically focuses on sectors such as Biotech and ICT and has close links with development initiatives at UP, including new developments at FABI, the Bioinformatics Centre (under construction) and new facilities such as the multi-array analysis capability. The Hub is also attracting major companies interested in establishing their Technology Centres and thus the nucleus of the Biotech-ICT cluster is becoming established. The establishment of the BioPad and AfricaBio on the Hub are at an advanced stage of negotiation, which will support the collaborative and interaction fundamental to the Hub's philosophy, and strong links with the eGoli Bioincubator already in place.
The Innovation Hub development is steadily progressing to the construction phase on the main 60 ha site situated strategically between UP and the CSIR. The re-zoning and town planning processes should allow commencement of construction on the site in April 2003.
The completion of the Master Plan and phasing, and the finalization of the 28 ha of service business sites for owner-built buildings, together with the planned 4500 m2 Innovation Centre and 8000 m2 multi-tenant building for SMEs, now provides the opportunity to sign-up the first tenants, around which momentum is growing.
While there are many gaps to fill, the key will be to stimulate not just excellence in research but the commercial exploitation to the benefit of South Africa and the region. The timing is right to exploit the numerous initiatives in an integrated way to create in Gauteng, a globally recognized cluster of both biotech and ICT to ride this wave forward and The Innovation Hub has a key role to play.
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