Innovation for Development in South Africa: Experiences with Basic Service Technologies in Distressed Municipalities

Abstract

South Africa’s National Development Plan entrenches the importance of a capable developmental state for the country’s social and economic development. Likewise, the potential of science, technology and innovation to address development challenges is emphasised. The developmental state and inclusive innovation ideas have been in and out of the policy agenda since 1996 but have recently gained renewed policy attention. As part of an inclusive innovation for development agenda, the Department of Science and Technology facilitated the demonstration of a suite of basic service innovations in ‘distressed’ municipalities. This paper, using a mixed-methods approach, draws on the assessment of these demonstrations to reflect on key features which come to the fore in both the developmental state and inclusive innovation literature as crucial for success. In order to enjoy a measure of success in terms of developmental states and inclusive innovation for development, similar conditions are necessary: the encouragement and fostering of active participation by all stakeholders; sufficient financial resources and human capabilities at all levels; and strong collaborative and cohesive networks with similar purposes in mind. Once these form part of practice we are likely to see better implementation of inclusive innovation for development.

Keywords:

• Inclusive innovation
• developmental state
• public sector innovation
• innovation capabilities
• networked governance
• basic services

ORCID

Tim G. B. Hart http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0463-9947

Irma Booyens http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5543-9780

Sikhulumile Sinyolo http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9324-081X

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the financial support of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) for our involvement in the Monitoring and Evaluation of the IPRDP from which we drew our analysis and argument. We also acknowledge the interaction of colleagues at the HSRC and fieldworkers who collaborated on the research. We thank Johann Booyens for assistance with the map. We thank the editor and the two anonymous peer reviewers for their insightful and relevant comments. This is our own original work and the views expressed do not reflect those of any other party.

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Notes on contributors

Tim GB Hart is a Senior Research Project Manager at the Economic Performance and Development unit of the Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa. He is a rural sociologist and currently doing his PhD in the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology at the University of Stellenbosch. He has worked in the field of rural and small town development for 27 years. His interests include policy implementation and practice, migration, gender, agricultural development and land reform, indigenous knowledge and innovation.

Irma Booyens is a Senior Research Specialist in the EPD (Economic Planning and Development) unit at the HSRC (Human Sciences Research Council) in Cape Town. She holds a PhD in Geography from the University of Johannesburg (2015), and a Masters in Development Studies from the University of the Free State (2008). She is a NRF (National Research Foundation)-rated researcher, also affiliated with the School of Tourism and Hospitality at the University of Johannesburg. Her research interests include local and regional economic development and planning particularly in relation to tourism, innovation and creative industries.

Sikhulumile Sinyolo is a Research Specialist at the Economic Performance and Development unit of the Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa. He completed both his MSc (2014) and PhD (2016) in Agricultural Economics at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. His research interests are in rural development and poverty reduction, focusing mainly on smallholder farming, smallholder entrepreneurship, water and food security, and rural innovation.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Department of Science and Technology (DST): [Grant Number DST/Con 0037/2015].