Speech by Gauteng MEC for Economic Development, Environment, Agriculture and Rural Development Morakane Mosupyoe on the occasion of the GAP Innovation Competition Awards Ceremony, 21 November 2019 at The Innovation Hub
Programme Director, Somizi and Mrs Matona Ntshona Sakupwanya Members of GGDA and TIHMC Board
•Ms Mosa Tshabalala, Gauteng Growth and Development Agency CEO
•Prof Kristy Towry Emory University’s Goizueta Business School in Atlanta, Georgia
•Ms Fuzlin Levy-Hassen (Interim Chief Executive Officer) Executive for Innovation Enabling Support, Technology Innovation Agency
•CEO of various organisations
•Our sponsors Black Umbrella and Coeng
•Members of the GAP Innovation Competition Adjudication Panels
•Representatives from all sectors present
•Our most important guests the finalists of the various GAP categories
•Gauteng Department of Economic Development, GGDA and all the subsidiaries staff members
•Members of the media
•Ladies and gentlemen

Ladies and gentlemen, It is a great honour for me to address you at this prestigious awards ceremony of the Gauteng Accelerator Program (GAP) Innovation Competitions and a special welcome to all the finalists that have made it this far.

Part of the critical work that we have been tasked with to take our economy forward, is to encourage, stimulate and promote innovation and entrepreneurship amongst our people. For Gauteng, innovation is important for positioning the Gauteng City Region as the creator of solutions to address both local and global challenges, fusing Gauteng’s position as a competitive city region and generating economic opportunities that assist in employment creation as well as reduce our balance of trade payments through increased exports of high value goods and services,”. We must embrace the opportunities for innovation and job creation within this digital economy that we are currently operating in. Our objective is to create opportunities through the digital economy for those who have been excluded from the old economy to participate in the new economy. Innovation is after all an important ingredient in improving the competitiveness of an economy. The Innovation Hub plays an important role in stimulating and promoting innovation and entrepreneurship within Gauteng City Region. Growing the economy implies innovating continuously so that new goods and services can be introduced into the market, creating new economic value. It means government playing its role in creating an enabling ecosystem to foster innovation and entrepreneurship; it means embracing and promoting creativity and innovation in different structures of society

Distinguished Guests
As a provincial government, I would like to thank and appreciate the team at The Innovation Hub for their efforts and the work that has been put into running this prestigious event for the past 8 years that aims to recognise, reward and celebrate top innovators in the ICT, Biosciences, Green and Medical technologies sectors as well as Gauteng Accelerator Township through this innovation competition. Over the course of the year these competitions seek innovators, researchers and entrepreneurs that are working on novel ideas that will improve efficiencies, increase the competitiveness of the local economy and create new value within our economy. When it comes to confronting contemporary challenges as well as building the desired future, it is imperative that we embrace and promote innovation and entrepreneurship .The annual Gauteng Accelerator Programme (GAP) Innovation Competition Award is an important part of our efforts to stimulate and promote innovation and entrepreneurship within our city region to improve the efficiency of government service delivery, increase the competitiveness of the local economy and enhance the quality of life of ordinary citizens.

The competitions contribute to the growth of The Innovation Hub’s incubation programmes by serving as a pipeline for potential incubatees at The Innovation Hub’s Maxum Business Incubator, Climate Innovation Centre South Africa, BioPark@Gauteng and eKasiLabs.

With these competitions we have managed to make significant strides in inculcating a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in our city region and since 2011, the five categories of GAP have attracted more than 1200 entries and enabled us to invest over R14 million in seed funding and incubation support to over 76 startups. This is highly encouraging; although we believe that much more can and still needs to be done. We need to increase our investment into R&D and increase the number of science and engineering graduates from our educational institutions. The only way to build our innovative capacity is through partnerships between the public sector, private sector, and academic institutions as well as international partners. Critical to embracing innovation within society is supporting and celebrating entrepreneurship.

I congratulate all the finalists in this Innovation Competition and wish you all of the very best in your endeavours going forward, which we are hopeful will contribute positively and meaningfully to the economy of our city region.

Some of the past notable winners of this very competition include:
2011 GAP ICT winner Sowertech created AftaRobot that is designed to help those who travel with mini-bus taxis in the Johannesburg Southern Suburbs Taxi Association (JSSTA), the app allows commuters to pre-book a taxi ride from a specific location (a taxi rank);

• 2014 GAP Biosciences winner Smartspot developed TB Diagnostic equipment which has led to improved accuracy of TB diagnostic
• 2015 GAP ICT 3rd Prize winner HearScreeen, developed a smartphone hearing screening innovation, he is now exporting in the US, UK, Singapore, Australia and Africa
• 2016 GAP Green winner Kusini Water, incubated at the Climate Innovation Centre South Africa, his solution responded to the challenge of unclean and unsafe drinking water using marula shell nuts as a purifant, this is an example of a social innovation that not only restores human dignity but also reduces barriers of access to safe drinking water.
• 2017 GAP ICT Winner eJoobi, incubated at Maxum Smart, local technology start-up developed an Internet bot that makes the recruitment process easier for job-seekers and prospective employers. It allows job-seekers in rural areas, without Internet access, to send their CVs to recruiters via SMS or USSD.
• 2017 GAP Medical Winner, PRD Solutions - The PARA-TUBE is a wheel chair seating, with a built-in toilet, that retro fits into any existing wheel chair. There is a lack of facilities for disabled people globally and the PARA-TUBE allows wheel chair bound or semi wheel chair bound individuals to be able to access any facility without having to leave his/her wheel chair to use the toilet.

These entrepreneurs amongst others are specialists in their various fields, some environmental scientists and other engineers who have applied their academic research in responding to challenges experienced by government and private sector to impact the livelihood of our citizens.

The calibre of entries into the competitions demonstrates that there is capacity and capability within Gauteng. It is our desire that these innovations that we are acknowledging and celebrating tonight become commercialized and make their way into the mainstream Gauteng economy. With the unemployment rate so high, we need these innovations to stimulate growth and create jobs.

In conclusion, I would like to thank the Technology Innovation Agency and Emory University, particularly for their contribution and support in making sure that the programme becomes a success. Our gratitude also goes to our local and international adjudicators who are present here this evening, for their hard work in assessing and adjudicating the submissions efficiently to make sure that all processes are transparent and fair.

As We guide today so that you can build tomorrow and Growing Gauteng Together to achieve a common goal, I have no doubt that that we will continue to reflect on what has been achieved through these innovative competitions with pride.