The article 'SA electronics companies profile: Division of Defence Technology (Defencetek), CSIR' by Maurice McDowell on page 6 of the 9 August edition of Dataweek refers:
The article is factually incorrect and misleading. The author left the organisation many years ago and has not made an effort to update his knowledge of the CSIR and its present programmes. As a result, we feel compelled to respond to some of the statements and assumptions that appear in the article, as follows.
The author's perception of the CSIR is summarised in his statement that "The wheel has now turned full circle and the new president wants to see more 'blue-sky' research that will generate refereed published papers". Dr Sibusiso Sibisi, who has been the CSIR president and CEO for more than four years, has never stated that he wants 'blue-sky' research.
In accordance with the CSIR's long-standing mandate, which is stipulated in the Scientific Research Council Act (Act No 46 of 1988, as amended by Act 71 of 1990), the organisation conducts directed and multidisciplinary research and technological innovation to foster industrial and scientific development. The recent reconfiguration of the CSIR places renewed focus on its research or 'knowledge generating' activities, and on strengthening the science and technology base in order to deliver on its mandate. The strong commercial focus of the organisation in the nineties weakened this base and its research portfolio.
The author's comment that "Today, these once core activities have been scattered in the wind..." is incorrect. The activities are still part of the CSIR but have been moved to other units according to the requirements of those units for these skills. While the scope of some areas may have been reduced, others were expanded and new areas of research added in line with the changing needs and opportunities in the South African environment. Projects, project teams and hence the overall structure of any research institution are constantly changing: it is therefore not unusual for such organisations to reconfigure its science and technology base according to its strategy and focus.
The statement that a project 'just died' after the CSIR transferred it to a new black empowerment company, 'although a definite SANDF requirement existed' implies that the BEE company was at fault for the demise of the project. All technical projects carry high risk and have a high rate of failure; this project was no exception.
Finally, the author insists on using either old or incorrect names for the CSIR units. There is no 'Defencetek' or 'Division for Defence, Peace, Safety and Security'. In light of the revised strategic focus of this CSIR group, it was reconstituted and renamed as 'CSIR Defence, Peace, Safety and Security' in October 2005. The defence industry and the unit's stakeholders welcomed the new structure and name that reflect the scope of its new research and development activities.
The author is to be commended for profiling the innovative and important contribution made by the CSIR to the area of electro-optics. Change is an important and necessary part of any organisation's growth and renewal; the CSIR's recent restructuring is an essential process to ensure that it will continue to innovate and develop novel products of the kind mentioned in your article.
For instance, the CSIR issued a special edition of its quarterly publication ScienceScope recently, covering its activities in lasers, photonics and optronics. The edition features interesting and exciting research in several areas including image processing, telescope design, infrared countermeasures and biophotonics.
Dr Dave Walwyn, CSIR group manager: Research and Development
© Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd | All Rights Reserved
printer friendly version