Welcoming Address by Advocate Pieter Holl
CEO: The Innovation Hub
Event: GAP AWARDS
Date: 21 November 2019
Venue The Innovation Hub, Pretoria

I'm delighted that you have accepted our invitation to come and celebrate with us, the innovators, researchers and entrepreneurs who are working on novel technologies and services intended to accelerate the efficiency of government and the private sector. Tonight, is the culmination of a year-long programme in which we sought out the best Innovations in the ICT, Medical, Bioeconomy, Green Economy and Township economy. It is a special night and I would like to welcome all the finalists, Independent panel of judges, our longstanding partners Emory University’s Goizueta Business School in Atlanta Georgia and the Technology Innovation Agency and all the guests to this prestigious evening.

The GAP Innovation competition is one of the initiatives proposed in the Gauteng Innovation Strategy to stimulate interest in innovation within targeted sectors and to improve service delivery of public and private sectors. It is through the innovations coming from this programme that we can contribute to the improvement of Infrastructure, health care sector, transport and community safety and increase competitiveness of our province.

The task of The Innovation Hub is to create a knowledge economy wherein the economic drivers of the province are a diversification of traditional resource- based industry, with the primary objective being increased human capital investment and development of our country

Since inception in 2011, the five categories of GAP attracted more than 1200 entries and invested over R14 million in seed funding and incubation support to over 77 start-ups. All the participants for this Competition see value in the developmental aspects of the Competition and those that participate indicate that It is not about winning but about the value derived, such as skills development, networking and mentorship that the programme brings to the growth of their businesses.

I thank you for joining us tonight and I wish all the finalists well, remember even if you do not win today, for the fact that you have come this far into this competition, you are all winners.