December 2020

The TCCF is an initiative that is being driven by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) that involves 20-25 stakeholder representatives, many from different government departments, e.g. DSI, Treasury, etc. as well as SA Venture Capital Association, the CSIR and universities.  Five different workstreams have been created, that will tackle strategic initiatives that have been identified in “The National Commercialisation Strategy”.   The strategy was developed by the DTIC in conjunction with the DSI and identifies a number of challenges that South Africa faces in commercialising technologies.  The workstreams include: Funding; Market Access; Skills and Infrastructure; Knowledge; and Policy and Regulatory Framework.  I have been asked to lead Workstream 5 – Skills and Infrastructure – which does relate in part to SARIMA’s activities.

We had a first meeting of the Workstream coordinators this week and will also have a first meeting of the Workstream Committee later this week.  The aim will be to compile an action list by the end of February 2021, that covers a 3-year programme to address the strategic initiatives.  It is the start of an interesting journey and great to see the number of different entities that will be focussed on this.

Written by Andrew Bailey