COFISA - Transforming the South African National System of Innovation

The Finnish and South African governments are partnering to enhance the country's innovation system. The Cooperative Framework on Innovation Systems between Finland and South (COFISA) was established in October 2006 to support the South African National System of Innovation (SANSI) through three pilot Regional Systems of Innovation in Gauteng, Eastern Cape and Western Cape.

The COFISA initiatives will align the national, provincial and local tiers of government and create interventions for stimulating rural innovation and alleviating poverty in the country. Together, the local Department of Science and Technology and the Finnish governments are contributing R 30 million towards project costs.

The COFISA project team includes two Finnish experts, Dr Lauri Kuukasjarvi, Chief Technical Officer and Mr Aki Enkenberg, Junior Professional Officer, who will be based in South Africa for three years. Locally Mrs Nirvashnee Seetal is acting as the SA National Coordinator and Ms Thokozile Mandyu as the Project Officer. Since the beginning of April this year the COFISA team has been operating from a project office located at The Innovation Hub. The team is supported by a team of Finnish experts in the different science and technology fields.

COFISA has selected The Innovation Hub as a strategic partner for the Gauteng region and specifically the Tshwane SmartCity Project as the pilot project for Gauteng's Regional System of Innovation. The COFISA team will help the City of Tshwane and The Innovation Hub in turning Tshwane into a SmartCity.

During the launch of the COFISA programme in September 2006, the Minister of Science and Technology, Mr Mosibudi Mangena indicated that "South Africa and Finland's common objective to mainstream knowledge and innovation as basic imperatives of the global struggle against poverty and sustainable development has found expression in different international forums, and most notably, at the recent World Summit on the Information Society. In this regard, COFISA offers us a unique opportunity to demonstrate in practice the logical interface between sustainable development and poverty alleviation, and the innovative application of knowledge and technology".

For more information on COFISA contact the project office at nirvashnee.seetal@dst.gov.za.