From enterprise development to inclusive innovation – A systemic instruments framework for regional innovation support

Abstract

Although the role and importance of innovation support in South Africa is a well-recognised concept on the national level, provincial governments have only recently started to debate, investigate and explore instruments through which innovation can be leveraged and supported regionally. Extant theory and practice is vague on providing support on how to design precise solutions. In this paper we consider the Western Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism (WCDEDAT) in South Africa. The goal of the paper is to design and populate a policy-learning framework on the provincial government level. We explore the key functions of the provincial government towards supporting innovation and propose a policy-learning framework extensively exploring possible systems instrument goals and actual instruments/ mechanisms towards performing such functions. We argue that this policy-learning framework could be useful to a wider audience and that it can also serve as a guide for regions at a similar level of development.

Keywords:

• innovation systems
• policy-learning framework
• regional economic development
• inclusive innovation
• provincial government

JEL classification:

• Q55
• Q32
• Q12

Notes

1 World Bank data: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/

SI.POV.GINI/countries/1W?display=default

2 Amongst others these projects include the development of a sector study for the Business Process Outsourcing sector for a provincial government; the development of an economic development roadmap, and a prioritisation exercise for a provincial government in South Africa.

3 Special Purpose Vehicles are non-profit initiatives run by industry specialists within the Trade and Sector development unit. These SPVs perform a wide range of functions such as facilitating cluster development, implementing specific projects and tackling constraints and blockages within the industries.

4 Exchange rate in 1994 at about 5 USD per Rand

5 Exchange rate in 2014 at about 10 USD per Rand

6 GEAR had as policy goals tighter fiscal discipline and steady liberalisation of foreign exchange controls.

7 Reconstruction and Development Programme was initiated and developed in the early 1990s towards a plan for social transformation for a post-apartheid South Africa. Five key programme goals were identified namely housing, electricity, land reform and social security and social welfare.

8 ASGISA was intended as a shared vision between all stakeholders groups towards addressed a range of constraints to growth in six categories namely macro-economic, infrastructure, industrial strategy, skills and education, the informal economy and public administration.

9 Industrial Development Zone

10 Priority clusters were determined through an in-depth prioritisation exercise. This included consideration of national policy priorities, expected growth performance, employment potential and multipliers and size of the sector

11 “Innovation platforms are ways to bring together different stakeholders to identify solutions to common problems or to achieve common goals”.

12 “Trans-disciplinary Research is defined as research efforts conducted by investigators from different disciplines working jointly to create new conceptual, theoretical, methodological, and translational innovations that integrate and move beyond discipline-specific approaches to address a common problem” (Harvard 2014)