R&D Data meet stringent criteria for official status
South African National Research and Experimental Development (R&D) data have attained national and international recognition, according to a media release by the Department of Science and Technology (DST). The statistician-general, Pali Lehohla of StatsSA, has declared that the data of the 2001/02 National R&D survey meet the requirements for official data in terms of the Statistics Act of 1999. The DST contracted the HSRC to perform the R&D Survey, so the Department is the first member of the National Statistics System to have its data declared as official statistics. Statistics labelled as such must meet certain criteria, for example, they must protect the confidentiality of the respondents? identity and the information they provide, and be relevant, accurate, reliable and timeous. The HSRC?s Knowledge Management (KM) Programme, under the leadership of Professor Michael Kahn, conducted the survey for the department. The Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators (CESTII) is now part of KM. Kahn said he is delighted with the attainment of these milestones. ?In conferring this status on the R&D Survey time series, StatsSA has signalled its confidence that the CESTII, located at the HSRC, will continue to accord with the criteria that govern such certification. The criteria are to conduct the surveys at regular intervals to the agreed standard. This includes careful management of respondent confidentiality.? He said the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Paris-based think tank where South Africa maintains observer status, has also, for the first time, recognised the South African R&D data series. From July, the OECD has included our country?s data in its authoritative publication, Main Science and Technology Indicators, which is compiled twice a year. The OECD publication includes the key R&D indicators for South Africa, starting from 1983.
HSRC rated tops in category by PMR magazine
The HSRC came out at the top of its category in an annual survey of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and semi-privatised listed companies in the PMR (Professional Management Review) magazine, and second in the overall score of all the categories assessed. PMR conducts over 30 000 top decision-maker interviews annually in every country where it has a presence, to produce customer ratings, strengths and weaknesses. The survey is done among senior government officials at director level, senior union officials and senior management ? from business associations, analysts and economists, from stockbroking firms to financial institutions in South Africa. According to the publication, the attributes reflect trends in the most important issues pertaining to good governance and the contribution to industry in South Africa as a whole. Senior decision makers were asked to rate a predefined list of SOEs and semi-privatised listed companies overall and across a range of 16 attributes, including financial management and control; good corporate governance; sustainable business practice; risk management assessment; effective partnerships; brand building and awareness; employment equity; contribution to counter HIV/AIDS; and fulfilling their mandate as set out by the government. In the Regulatory Bodies category, the HSRC came in first with a rating of 3.74, followed by the SA Bureau of Standards. In the overall rating, the HSRC came in just below the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), which came first in the Finance and Development category with a score of 3.93.
Award for Best Scientific Paper
Tim Hart and Roberta Burgess |
Tim Hart, a Senior Research Manager at the HSRC, and Roberta Burgess, an entomologist at the Agricultural Research Council?s Infruitec-Nietvoorbij, were awarded the best scientific paper at the 39th Annual Conference of the South African Society for Agricultural Extension, in Bloemfontein in May. Their paper, Across the Divide: The Impact of Farmer-to-Farmer Linkages in the Absence of Extension Services, discusses the achievements of a small-holder apple farmer who, despite political and resource constraints, was able to enter into the national and international apple export market in the 1990s and has remained there ever since. By forging and strengthening a relationship with a large-scale commercial farmer, he was able to develop the technology that allowed him to remain in the market and to adapt to consumer preferences. The paper concludes that agricultural extension and research services need to pay more attention to farmers? own networks and their ability to innovate based on their experience and circumstances. Roberta Burgess and Tim Hart are committee members of PROmoting Local INNOVAtions (PROLINNOVA South Africa), a national network consisting of non-government organisations, government extension services and science councils, aimed at promoting and strengthening farmer innovation and experimentation in South Africa.
SAHARA journal gets international listing
The International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS) is now indexing the Journal of Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS Research (SAHARAJ), under the chief editorship of Professor Karl Peltzer of the HSRC. The Chief Editor of the French edition is Professor Cheikh Niang of the Universit? Cheikh Anta Diop. With the IBSS listing comes another accolade, namely automatic South African Post-Secondary Education accreditation with the South African Department of Education.
SAHARA conference in October in Dakar
The next Social Aspects of AIDS Research Alliance (SAHARA) Conference will take place from 10 to 14 October in Dakar, Senegal. SAHARA is an alliance of partners established to conduct, support and use social science research to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and mitigate its devastating impact on South Africa, the South African Development Community and sub-Saharan Africa. The theme of this year?s conference is ?Bridging the Gap between Policy, Research and Interventions?. SAHARA is a channel to facilitate the sharing of research expertise and knowledge and to conduct multi-site and multi country research projects. These projects are by nature exploratory, cross-sectional, comparative or intervention-based and aim to generate new social science evidence for the prevention, care and impact mitigation of HIV/AIDS. The SAHARA Research Network Project is funded by the Department for International Development in the UK and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). It is implemented by the HSRC in partnership with the Tropical Institute for Community Health in Kenya and the Universit? Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar in Senegal. For further information about the conference, visit http://www.sahara.org.za/conference/index.php Dr Olive Shisana (below, far right), President and CEO of the HSRC, facilitated a World Health Organisation (WHO) roundtable on the Prevention of HIV and AIDS in the African Region in Maputo in August. From left is Dr Antoine Kabor?, WHO Director of AIDS, TB and Malaria in Africa, and Dr Alex amugisha, Minister of State for Health (Primary Healthcare) of Uganda. One of the recommendations from the roundtable ? attended by delegates from 45 countries and ten partner organisations and chaired by Kamugisha ? was to declare 2006 the Year of Acceleration of HIV Prevention in the African Region. Another recommendation was that all the countries involved in the discussion should ensure effective advocacy and action-oriented leadership by their respective health ministries, and that HIV-prevention efforts should be re-emphasised and re-invigorated with a sense of urgency. 
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