CSIR CEO Dr. Thulani Dlamini foresees a bright future for the institution

The Centre for Science and Industrial Research (CSIR) is set to perform well in the next few years and that is according to Dr. Thulani Dlamini who is the CEO.

Dlamini says CSIR has found strategies as it navigated the national lockdown well and is now poised to perform strongly in the coming years, he said.

Dlamini was addressing a media roundtable event in Pretoria and he explained that the institution, CSIR’s net profit has grown significantly each year for the past three years – a great sign for the organisation.

When looking at CSIR’s funding and income, 25% of the entity under the department of science and innovation secures funds from the government through grants, while the other 75% of income is earned by the institution through commercialisation practices.

Dlamini expressed the need to join forces with the private sector saying being commercially profitable through partnerships is therefore extremely important.

“We have seen substantial growth from the local and international private sectors, both of which are good indicators that we are meeting our industrial development strategy’s goals,” said Dr. Dlamini.

“Key private sector KPIs such as technology demonstrators (projects that are almost ready to be commercialised), localised technologies, joint technology development agreements, support for SMMEs and license agreements (projects that have been commercialised) have increased significantly over the past three years, too.”

Based on Dlamini’s sentiments, this information indicates that the CSIR has upped its capacity to deliver more commercially-viable projects, and this translates to increased impact and revenue for the Pretoria-based institute.

Dr. Dlamini also highlighted that the CSIR has managed to achieve significant success in its strategic objectives of building and transforming its human capital.

Furthermore, this website has discovered that CSIR managed to increase its total Science, Engineering, and Technology (SET) workforce to more than 1000 while the current number of SET staffers with formal education such as PhDs sitting at 318.

BusinessTech Africa has learned that over the past three years, CSIR has increased the number of chief researchers and principal researchers – groups that are vital when it comes to leading and supervising important projects.

“We are of the view that when people talk about economic growth, many don’t recognise the scale at which research and innovation can contribute,” added Dr. Dlamini.

“The CSIR, therefore, has an important role to play in the re-industrialisation of South Africa.”

Main Image: Dr. Thulani Dlamini/Polity.Org