Elna Randall of UP's Academic Information Service in the Knowledge Centre @ The Innovation Hub.

Knowledge Centre lends a hand towards the stimulation of a knowledge economy

Located centrally within The Innovation Hub precinct, the Knowledge Centre - a joint venture between the Hub and the University of Pretoria (UP), is set to be a leader in the provision of cutting-edge information resources for companies involved in knowledge-intensive industries.

The Knowledge Centre is currently undergoing a three-month pilot period consisting of extensive needs assessments and client profiling activities. This process is being headed by Elna Randall, Head of UP's Academic Information Service's Service Unit for the Faculties of Natural and Agricultural Sciences and Engineering, the Built Environment and Information Technology (EBIT), and a member of the SERA Academic Information Services task team.

Acting Director of Academic and Information Services at UP, Robert Moropa explains that the aim of the Knowledge Centre is to increase efficiency by avoiding duplication of existing expertise. "The Hub's decision to use the expertise that already exists within the University and adjust it to be applied to the needs of its tenant companies was a very prudent one", he says. Access to the Knowledge Centre's resources is to be offered as a value-added service to all of The Innovation Hub's tenant and resident companies, and all information requests and searches will be processed and conducted by trained and experienced UP personnel.

According to Randall, the dynamic nature of the various tenants' and residents' core businesses requires intensive research into their specific information needs. As a result, she has been conducting one-on-one interviews with all these companies to ascertain their specific individual requirements. This process will support the refinement of the Knowledge Centre's exact product offering, as well as the development of a final model that will enable effective service delivery.

As Africa's first internationally accredited Science Park, the Hub is home to numerous high-tech and knowledge-intensive companies, suggesting the need for efficient and relevant information services and a technology infrastructure that compliments the nature of the companies' particular industries. To this end the Knowledge Centre already boasts full connectivity, with Internet and phone infrastructure and will be equipped with a wide range of resources, from technology journals and international and local business publications, to information on daily events in and around the Hub.

Commenting on the contribution of the Knowledge Centre to knowledge management in the country, the Hub's manager for marketing, business development and value-added services, Martin Yuill said, "The provision of this exciting value-added service to the Hub community is entirely consistent with what we view a Science Park to be all about: it represents a key part of our efforts to become an important role-player in the stimulation of the local innovation and knowledge economy".

For more information on the Hub-UP Knowledge Centre, contact Elna Randall on
+27 12 420 3877.

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