60th anniversary of CSIR: renewed focus on research and innovation

19 October 2005 News

5 October 2005 marked the 60th anniversary of South Africa's Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). "We are launching a reshaped and revitalised CSIR to respond with agility and resilience to changing environments, unpredictable expectations and emerging opportunities," says Dr Sibusiso Sibisi, CSIR president and CEO.

The CSIR started with a major repositioning process in 2004 to ensure that the organisation delivers on its dual-focused mandate - to foster industrial and scientific development and to contribute to the improved quality of life of the people of South Africa. "The CSIR is entering an era of regeneration in science and technology (S&T) to create a national research and innovation icon that will make a visible difference in our country. Key factors for socio-economic success in a country are a strong national S&T base, notably highly skilled people, and an edge in research and innovation," comments Sibisi.

Knowledge generation and application reside at the core of the CSIR, with three groupings dedicated to this:

* Emerging research areas: new areas of science that the CSIR wishes to pursue. Such areas could be unique to local circumstances or be successful internationally and need to be established for local competitiveness.

* The R&D core: operating units that draw together skills from research fields and scientific disciplines to address national S&T needs. The new CSIR operating units are: Biosciences; The Built Environment; Defence, Peace, Safety and Security; Materials Science and Manufacturing; and Natural Resources and the Environment.

* National research centres: facilities of strategic importance for African science over at least the next two decades. These currently include the Meraka Institute (African advanced institute for information and communications technology), the National Laser Centre, the National Metrology Laboratory, and the Satellite Applications Centre.

For more information contact Hilda van Rooyen, CSIR, +27 (0)12 841 3638, [email protected]

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