Connecting capabilities in highly unequal developing countries: The case of the Square Kilometre Array telescope in South Africa

ABSTRACT

Innovation and skills development require interactive capabilities to function effectively. Interactive capabilities mediate between skills supply and skills demand actors in an innovation system, and in the knowledge economy more broadly. This article investigates such interactive capabilities, and the manner in which they facilitate labour market alignment. Within a case-study focus on the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope in South Africa, we investigate how organisational capabilities, structures, and mechanisms facilitate or constrain interaction between the SKA and its network partners, including universities, firms, intermediaries, and a technical college. This illustrates how pockets of excellence within an unequal South African skills and innovation landscape were effectively connected in order to build a critical mass of skills and technologies that were highly competitive on the international stage. This shows how, in highly unequal developing countries, interactive capabilities form a lever for access to the global science and technology frontier.

KEYWORDS:

• Astronomy
• skills
• innovation
• interactive capabilities

1. Introduction

South Africa's education and training system is characterised by structural inequality and low levels of average performance (Van der Berg, 2007). However, within this context, there exist pockets of excellence where the resources, networks, and capabilities of the small apex of the unequal system are concentrated: ‘South Africa can be categorised as a developing country, with pockets of developed characteristics’ (Wolhuter et al., 2003:31). One challenge, particularly in knowledge-intensive sectors, is to effectively connect these pockets of excellence in order to attain the capabilities and critical mass to compete at the global level – thus leveraging existing knowledge assets to the overall benefit of the country. Critical to this process is the development of interactive capabilities that improve alignment between the supply of competences produced by education and training systems, on the one hand, and the skills demands of the labour market of the other.

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope provides an example of strong interactive capabilities that have enabled labour market alignment and economic growth in a high-tech science-based sector. This may provide lessons that can be applied to other sectors. The SKA is a large radio telescope that will ultimately consist of a network of 3000 large radio receiver dishes and tens of thousands of smaller receivers constructed in aperture arrays. This giant radio telescope will become the largest science project ever undertaken in Africa, the world's most powerful telescope by several orders of magnitude, and also one of the largest science installations of any type in the world. The SKA organisation, which includes Australia, Canada, China, Germany, India, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, is headquartered at the Jodrell Bank observatory in the United Kingdom. The telescope infrastructure will be built mostly in South Africa, with components built in several African partner countries, including Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zambia, as well as Australia and New Zealand.

In 2003 South Africa, together with its African partner countries, entered its first bid to host the site infrastructure, based on excellent natural conditions for astronomy and on its existing astronomy capabilities. From 2003 to 2012, a South African SKA project office worked to develop skills and technologies in support of this bid, in the process developing a prototype set of seven receiver dishes, the KAT-7, and beginning construction of a 64-dish instrument, the MeerKAT. During this period, the SKA in South Africa also established formal and informal mechanisms to bolster the development of the required skills, and to ensure alignment with other actors relevant to its innovation system, in order to bring together the pockets of excellence that could make it internationally competitive against a rival bid from Australia and New Zealand. A decision was therefore taken to support students through learning pathways towards radio astronomy and the engineering skills required to design and build radio telescopes, with the overall objective of creating the required research capacity and support capacity for the MeerKAT and eventually for the SKA. This decision was supported by policy-makers through increased levels of funding.

Table 3. Overview of interactive capabilities at universities relevant to the astronomy SSI.

Institutional level	Interactive capabilities
Central university functions	Institutional planning
	Professional support and development
	Transference into the workplace.
Faculty/department	Science and engineering departments
	Highly responsive teaching and learning
	Highly responsive research and innovation
	Research and innovation networks
	Collaborative research projects with external actors
	Academic networks
	Engineering faculties
	Advisory boards
	Five-year review process, academic time allocations for working with industry
	Contract R&D for industry funding for equipment
	Close engagement with the engineering professional body
	Invited speakers from firms
Individual academics	Important role for personal relationships and networks, tacit interactive capabilities
Informal/tacit	Relationships and resource mobilisation underpinned by strong tacit interactive capabilities and informal mechanisms

In May 2012, the site allocation for the SKA infrastructure was announced, in which the majority of the project would be located in South Africa and its African partner countries, and the remainder in Australia and New Zealand. The project continues to proceed in the design and construction phases. The South African strategy, of building local capabilities to leverage its geographic advantage, was therefore successful. For policy-makers seeking to learn from this success, this raises the question: how were these technological capabilities built up, and how were existing pockets of excellence in the national education and training system aligned with the skills and technology requirements of the SKA in order to facilitate this success?

This study examines how interactive capabilities, vested in universities, colleges, firms, intermediaries, and the SKA itself, have made it possible to align skills demand and skills supply, and connect pockets of excellence in the sectoral innovation system, and thus successfully develop technological pathfinders and precursor instruments, establish relevant skills development systems, bid for the SKA project against international competitors, and continue with the ongoing progress towards construction and scientific utility. The first part of this article establishes a theoretical framework based on the innovation systems approach, with a focus on sectoral systems of innovation and interactive capabilities. This is followed by an overview of the astronomy sectoral system of innovation in South Africa, and the SKA's ‘global innovation network’. The analysis of interactive capabilities examines, respectively, the SKA, firms, intermediary organisations, and the higher education system. The conclusion reflects on how interactive capabilities within each of the main actors in the SKA's innovation network have enabled labour market alignment, and suggests that within fragmented and unequal national innovation systems in development countries, interactive capabilities may form a lever for access to the global science and technology frontier.

2. Innovation systems and interactive capabilities

At the broadest level, we adopt an innovation systems approach, which is based on evolutionary economics, taking a systemic approach to analyse the roles and relationships of actors involved at all levels of innovation systems, including the sectoral, regional, national, and international levels (Lundvall, 1992; Nelson, 1993; Toner, 2011). This approach sees innovation as a networked activity shaped by interacting agents and by the institutions within which they are embedded. The networks of actors include interaction between firm and non-firm organisations and individuals (e.g. scientists, entrepreneurs) connected through market and non-market relations. Rather than placing the actors at the centre of the analysis, this approach ‘places dynamics, process and transformation at the centre’ (Malerba 2005:64).

This approach has previously been used to study university–industry interaction, to determine what new insights the approach can provide (e.g. Albuquerque et al., 2015). We adopt this approach because the theory underlying innovation system analysis is about:

learning processes involving skilful but imperfect rational agents and organisations. It assumes that organisations and agents have a capability to enhance their competence through searching and learning, and that they do so in interaction with other agents, and that this is reflected in innovation processes and outcomes in the form of innovations and new competences. (Lundvall, 1992:331)

The theoretical framework therefore provides appropriate tools for understanding interaction towards capability building and labour market alignment. Moreover, the knowledge-intensive nature of the SKA project, and its overarching orientation towards science applications, makes the case study highly suitable for an innovation systems lens.

Innovation systems analysis can be applied at the sectoral level. Malerba (2005) defined this analytical lens as a focus on innovation systems involving sets of actors organised around specific types of productive activities and technologies, within distinct geographical and institutional settings. It is assumed that organisations in a sector require similar knowledge bases and technologies, and are influenced by the same institutional environment (Malerba 2005). Sectoral networks may facilitate or constrain the acquisition of such knowledge and technologies. The sectoral systems of innovation (SSI) approach therefore focuses on these networks, and in this case on the manner in which interactive capabilities serve to enable or constrain the efficacy of the networks in aligning the skills and knowledge requirements of employers with the skills and knowledge production activities of universities and colleges.

Within this overarching framework, we draw on the work of Von Tunzelmann (2010), which distinguishes between competencies, capabilities, interactive capabilities, and dynamic interactive capabilities. Competencies are the basic building blocks of innovation systems. They can be characterised as inputs to produce goods and services that are defined by the pre-set attributes of individuals and organisations. These attributes are typically produced by organisations such as education and training organisations (Von Tunzelmann & Wang, 2003). Capabilities are defined as ‘the knowledge and skills that the firm needs to acquire, use, adapt, improve and create technology’ (Iammarino et al., 2009:1). These can take the forms of both tacit and codified knowledge. Capabilities refer to the capacity to produce a certain output, while competencies refer to the capacity to act as a certain input. Interactive capabilities refers to the capacity for learning and accumulation of new knowledge on the part of the organisation (Von Tunzelmann & Wang, 2003, 2007; Iammarino et al., 2009), and the capacity to form effective linkages with other organisations. Dynamic interactive capabilities refers to the capacity to sense changes in the external environment, and take an effective response through strategic management.

These concepts frame our investigation into the strategies and mechanisms that employers use for meeting their skills demands, and the interactive capabilities that post-school education providers employ in order to engage with employers and align their activities accordingly. We also investigate the roles of intermediaries, and of intermediary functions within actors. Intermediaries are defined as organisations in sectoral systems of innovations that connect, translate and facilitate information flows (Van Lente et al., 2003:248). In terms of innovation, this function can be defined as ‘organisations or groups within organisations that work to enable innovation, either directly by enabling the innovativeness of one or more firms, or indirectly by enhancing the innovative capacity of regions, nations or sectors’ (Dalziel, 2010:3–4). Public-sector intermediaries tend to focus on public good and policy objectives, while private intermediaries tend to focus on industry or firm-specific issues (Intarakumnerd & Chaoroenporn, 2013).

3. Methodology

The first step in the methodology was to undertake desktop research to develop a map of the SSI, and within this to focus on the position and role of the SKA telescope. On this basis it was possible to identify key actors that are relevant to the case study. Since the unit of analysis is the SKA's innovation network, the case study focused on organisations taking part in this network, and did not include organisations that were not in the network. Employers include the SKA itself, related science facilities (such as other telescopes), and firms. The latter form a value chain with the SKA at its apex. Actors in the skills development arena primarily include South Africa's large research-oriented universities, as well as one university of technology and one vocational further education and training (FET) college. Another key set of actors are intermediaries, including both public-sector and private-sector actors.

A total of 71 interviews were conducted from September 2013 to February 2014, with senior staff from the main actors involved in the astronomy sectoral innovation system, including senior management and scientists from the SKA, three firms in the SKA's innovation network, seven universities, seven public-sector intermediaries, one private-sector intermediary, one science facility, and one FET college. Interviews with university academics and management focused on the competences, interactive capabilities, and dynamic interactive capabilities within education and training organisations in relation to three dimensions of their activity, namely what they teach (the manner in which programmes are informed by skills needs in the sector), how they teach (the approach and mechanisms that shape work readiness of graduates), and how they facilitate labour market access (the approach and mechanisms that support labour market transitions, in interaction with employers). Interviews with intermediaries aimed to understand their roles in linking demand and supply-side actors. Questions for employers, including the SKA and firms in its innovation network, centred on the drivers of innovation and technology change in the sector, and the strategies that employers use to meet their skills needs, and skills constraints, across high, intermediate and basic skills levels.

4. The SKA and the astronomy sectoral system of innovation

Astronomy is not, at least in the economics literature, commonly referred to as a ‘sector’. However, it enters the analysis of sectoral innovation systems as a clearly defined sector: a set of actors organised around the core productive activities of astronomy science and astronomy engineering, and within distinct geographical and institutional settings that apply to astronomy in South Africa. Astronomy, as an economic sector, is not strictly market-oriented at the micro level. However, at the macro level there is a global aggregate demand for astronomy facilities (embodied in observational and processing capabilities) and astronomy research, and a global aggregate supply of facilities and research capabilities.

In this marketplace, the sector in South Africa is seeking to expand its supply (of facilities and researchers) and capture a greater share of global demand. Astronomy has a long history in South Africa, forming part of indigenous culture (Snedegar, 1999, 2007; Holbrook, 2007; Chabalala, 2012) and growing since the establishment of the first observatory in Cape Town in 1820 (Paterson et al., 2005; Wild, 2012). This growth has been based on a strong comparative advantage in astronomy, which requires adequate infrastructure, clear skies, and low levels of light, dust, and radio-frequency pollution. Moreover, the Milky Way has its plane across the southern sky, making observational capacities in the south essential for observations of our own galaxy. South Africa is host to numerous telescopes, including the largest single-lens optical telescope in the Southern hemisphere – the South Africa Large Telescope (SALT). Moreover, historically inherited capabilities in the areas of telemetry and defence (Kahn, 2006) provided a pool of specialised skills that found application in the growing area of astronomy.

The SALT, KAT-7, MeerKAT, and nascent SKA have spurred expansion of the SSI as a whole, with new science facilities, increased skills demand, increased funding for studies, and increasing numbers of graduates and postgraduates with relevant skills. For example, the number of astronomers with PhDs almost doubled between 2005 and 2010 (Paterson et al., 2005; Bharuth-Ram, 2011). In the niche area of radio astronomy, this has been even more marked. At the time of the initial SKA bid, there were five or six practicing radio astronomers in South Africa. On the scale that the SKA would reach, the number of astronomers and engineers required would need to increase by several orders of magnitude. The number of PhD radio-astronomers would need to increase from 6 to 60 simply to make full use of the 64-dish MeerKAT (Bharuth-Ram, 2011), let alone the 3000-dish SKA.

Skills demand in the SSI is created by the national science facilities, such as the SKA, the SALT, the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory, and the South African Astronomical Observatory, as well as the country's leading research universities that include pockets of astronomy activity, since these also require astronomy skills for teaching and research. A major source of demand for engineering skills emanates from firms in the SKA's supply chain and innovation network, as well as the science facilities. In terms of skill supply, this emerges primarily from niche areas of astronomy-related activity, including both science and engineering, within South African leading research universities. However, a large proportion of astronomers in the SSI are foreign nationals – since the supply of astronomers has historically fallen far short of the aggregate demand in the country.

Interaction within the astronomy SSI is supported by an array of intermediary organisations operating at multiple levels and contexts (see Table 1). Key South African public-sector intermediaries include the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the National Research Foundation (NRF). International public-sector intermediaries include the African European Radio Astronomy Partnership and the US-based National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Private-sector intermediaries include the International Astronomical Union, with its associated Office of Astronomy for Development.

Table 1. Functions of public-sector and private-sector intermediaries.

Intermediary function	Public intermediaries	Private intermediaries
Funding and resources	DST, NRF, AERAP
Strategic direction	DST
Skills planning	DHET
Network-building	AERAP, DST	IAU/OAD
Knowledge transfer and diffusion	AERAP	IAU/OAD

Notes: AERAP = African–European Radio Astronomy Partnership, DHET = Department of Higher Education and Training, DST = Department of Science and Technology, IAU = International Astronomical Union, NRF = National Research Foundation, OAD = Office of Astronomy for Development

The SKA's innovation network, while partially located within this SSI, also spans international boundaries, and can be conceived as a global innovation network. This is defined by Chaminade (2009) as a ‘globally organized network of interconnected and integrated functions and operations by firms and non-firm organisations engaged in the development or diffusion of innovations’. The SKA's innovation network spans Europe, the Pacific region, China, India, and Africa. Although African partner countries are primarily involved as infrastructure locations, capacity development and networking efforts are increasingly involving scientists, engineers, and students from these countries in the SKA's activities, linking these small niche areas of capability to the SKA's broader innovation system.

The SKA is divided into a number of sub-projects, research consortia, and science projects. For example, the technology development for the SKA is parcelled into 10 consortia, each one of which operates as a global innovation network to develop the technology for a particular component of the telescope. Then, at a third scale, localised innovation networks, which link to globalised innovation networks, evolve. The SKA, from a network point of view, is thus effectively a hub for numerous innovation networks, each of which are inter-related to the others, and each of which are global in their reach. This complex structure requires advanced internal interactive capabilities in order to operate effectively, both among international partners and among South African actors in the system.

5. Interactive capabilities of the SKA in South Africa

The SKA requires advanced skills in the domains of science, engineering, information and communication technologies (ICTs), and management, as well as artisanal and vocational skills required for site infrastructure. The science objectives of the SKA require specialists in astronomy, physics, mathematics, and cosmology. Generic organisational skills also constitute an important area of skills demand, including office management, human resources, supply chain management, project management, and finance.

These skills requirements are experienced in a context of rapid change. Rapid technological change presents challenges for capability-building mechanisms and for interactive capabilities. Because ICTs in particular are constantly and rapidly advancing, the SKA needs to be able to forecast technological changes and build this into its technical and skills planning processes. To this end they interact with major firms such as Intel and IBM. Rapid organisational growth has presented challenges in terms of the dynamic interactive capabilities required to bring the required skills into the organisation at the right time – a ‘build the plane while you're flying it’ scenario. This has been accomplished through a combination of tactics, including continued interaction among all of the key players to determine future skills requirements, and ongoing assessments of future technological scenarios and what their impact might be on skills requirements. In addition, for the management of human resources within the organisation, rapid growth has necessitated the maintenance of holding patterns interspersed with internal assessments of skills requirements and actions to bring those skills in.

The SKA thus deploys a range of strategies and mechanisms for meeting its complex and rapidly changing skills needs. The most important of these mechanisms is the Human Capital Development Programme (HCDP), which by 2014 had awarded approximately 600 bursaries, grants, and fellowships, and established five research chairs as part of the South African Research Chairs Initiative. HCDP administrators closely monitor the bursary recipients and research positions supported by the programme, and maintain control over the range of disciplines and skills that are covered. This includes the disbursement of grants to students from African partner countries, thus bolstering capabilities across the continent. The allocation of funding to skills domains and research topics occurs through intensive interaction with scientists and engineers, both within universities and within the SKA itself. This is facilitated by an administrator positioned at the top of the organisation with easy access to senior management. She is placed to consult widely and interact with many different parties in order to coordinate the process and optimise the matching between the skills and knowledge needs of the SKA and the skills and knowledge production that is funded by the HCDP. The HCDP's selection panel, which selects applicants for bursary and research funding, is a powerful mechanism for interaction. Academics from the main partner universities, as well as representatives of the NRF, serve on the selection committee, thus facilitating discussions about future skills requirements, and what the capabilities and pipeline are in terms of skills supply.

Beyond the HCDP, the SKA has fostered strong engagement with universities. Relationships are well established with senior university managers – for example, with Deputy Vice-Chancellors and Vice Chancellors – and also with academics at all levels. These are largely informal relationships that succeed on the basis of tacit interactive capabilities which enable rapid, responsive, and informal communication between senior staff. Engagement with universities also takes place through an external interface mechanism – an informal, non-institutionalised Universities Working Group. This group meets on a regular basis to discuss the progress of the project, the scope of research projects, and any other items of relevance to the interaction between universities and the SKA.

The SKA organisation has advanced interactive capabilities for engaging with firms and public-sector actors. The SKA's business development manager is responsible for establishing and managing connections with firms, and for assessing their capabilities and alignment with the SKA's skills and knowledge requirements. Interviews with senior management from the SKA, DST, and NRF indicated that there are intensive formal and informal interactions involving all three organisations. Management meet regularly, both in their formal capacities and through personal relationships. These interactions help to align skills needs and possible skills supply by coordinating strategies, management, and funding for capability-building.

6. Firm strategies to address skills needs

The case-study research focused on three knowledge-intensive and technologically advanced firms that contributed to the design and manufacture of telescope components for the SKA. These firms exercise an array of tactics to effectively connect with niche areas within the higher education system, thereby meeting their skills and knowledge requirements. One firm – a well-connected small enterprise – perceived their strategy of personal contacts, academic networks, and word of mouth to be sufficient for meeting their skills needs. A larger and more established firm reported that as the firm grew, it relied less on personal networks and more on external recruitment agencies. It also engaged with universities through informal networks and individual interactions in order to learn about course content at universities, and also to influence course content. Using this information, the firm draws on exiting graduates to enter their internship programme. The largest of the three firms reported a limited range of strategies for meeting skills needs. They reportedly do not interact directly with universities, preferring to rely on recruitment agencies. Thus, of the case-study firms, the smaller firm relies more heavily on informal networks, while the larger firms rely more heavily on formal mechanisms and market structures. Both of these strategies, in the case of the SKA, have been effective in building interaction between firms and higher education organisations.

7. The roles of intermediaries

The main roles of intermediary organisations in the astronomy SSI are funding, strategy, planning, management oversight, network-building, and knowledge transfer (see Table 1). The DST is the central public-sector intermediary in terms of policy and funding. Public expenditure on astronomy, specifically that related to the SKA, has risen sharply over recent years, and is expected to increase dramatically over the medium term (National Treasury, 2013). The main form of policy support has been through the Astronomy Geographic Advantage Act, which protects geographic areas that are suitable for astronomy by restricting industrial activity, construction, or any development that emits electromagnetic interference. Beyond the explicit legislation, the tacit political support for the SKA should not be underestimated. From the early stages of its conception, the SKA bid was seen as a flagship national project with enormous potential, not just for science, technology, skills, and economic development, but also as a national symbol of world-class scientific and technological achievement (Gottschalk, 2005). This political support, leading to policy and funding support, has been a key factor behind the SKA's skills development efforts and behind the development of its interactive capabilities – and ultimately the success of the project as a whole.

The NRF is a key partner – it performs an agency function on behalf of the DST, acting as a funding channel and the direct managing agency of the SKA in South Africa. Another public sector intermediary is the Department of Higher Education and Training, which, as part of the National Infrastructure Plan, conducts detailed quantitative skills planning for 18 priority Strategic Integrated Projects. The SKA is one of these Strategic Integrated Projects, and skills planning has been undertaken in partnership with the SKA and the DST to inform funding and to assist the HCDP.

Private-sector intermediary organisations play a small but important role in the SKA's innovation system, and are primarily focused on network-building – bringing together research partners and possible funding opportunities, particularly in the international context. The International Astronomical Union is an international coordination body for astronomy, with a membership body of professional astronomers. Intermediary activities include hosting international symposia and hosting discussions about large-scale facilities such as the SKA. The African–European Radio Astronomy Platform is a stakeholder forum of industry, academia, and the public sector established to define and implement priorities for radio-astronomy cooperation between Africa and Europe, including the SKA.

8. Interactive capabilities and dynamic interactive capabilities of universities

The sample of seven universities in this study reflects the overall orientation of the SKA towards research universities, with lower levels of interaction with other types of university. Of the 23 South African universities, which include research universities, comprehensive universities, and universities of technology, the main SKA partners are overwhelmingly amongst the research universities. Only one university of technology, and no comprehensive universities, are present among the key partners. At the same time, the emphasis is also on historically advantaged (white) universities, with only one previously disadvantaged university in the sample. Both of these outcomes are a result of generally higher levels of institutional competences available at previously advantaged research universities, as well as higher levels of competences specifically relevant to radio astronomy and related engineering (see Table 2).

Table 2. University partners.

University	Type	Astronomy competences
University of Cape Town	Research university	The most active university in the astronomy SIS and in the SKA's innovation network. South Africa's only autonomous astronomy department
Rhodes University	Research university	Key actor in the domain of radio astronomy, due to partnership with HartRAO
University of Stellenbosch	Research university	Largest source of engineering skills for the SKA
University of the Western Cape	Research university (previously disadvantaged)	Emerging astronomy competences in the physics department
University of Kwazulu Natal	Research university	Inter-disciplinary research group focused on astrophysics and cosmology
University of the Witwatersrand	Research university	Main higher education partner outside the Western Cape region – emerging pockets of astronomy competences across the science faculty
Durban University of Technology	University of technology	The only higher education institution that has a close relationship with the SKA in terms of technical skills.

Notes: HartRAO = Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory, SKA = Square Kilometre Array.

Institutional-level competences act as enablers for the development of astronomy-specific competences, as well as the basic interactive capabilities that cultivate engagement with the SKA. These basic institutional competences are most advanced in the previously advantaged research universities that make up the majority of the SKA's university partners. They include the existence of strong institutional planning functions, well-developed professional support and development for university staff, and effective programmes for student transition into the workplace.

Astronomy competences available at universities have grown rapidly over recent years, with escalating staff and student numbers in the areas relevant to astronomy at all of the universities in the sample. University of the Witwatersrand, University of Kwazulu Natal, Rhodes, and University of the Western Cape are currently establishing undergraduate programmes in astronomy. This has partially been a result of the influx of funding, as well as the attraction that the SKA offers to prospective students and academics. This is an indicator of the dynamic interactive capabilities of universities – their ability to sense changes in their external environment by assessing that demand for skills in the area of radio astronomy will increase in the medium term, and adjusting teaching, learning, and research accordingly. This has been one of the key successes of the South African higher education system's dynamic interactive capabilities with respect to radio astronomy.

Formalised interactive capabilities are largely vested within faculty or department structures, while individual academics emphasise tacit capabilities for interaction. However, the structure and characteristics of interactive capabilities with respect to engineering differ from those relevant to science. A good example of a university with well-developed interactive capabilities in engineering is the University of Stellenbosch (although interactive capabilities at other engineering faculties are also well developed). Here the locus of interactive capabilities relevant to the astronomy SSI is at the faculty level. In the engineering faculty, teaching and learning have been highly responsive to changes in the astronomy sector, particularly to changes in the demand for radio-astronomy engineers for the SKA. In 2012 the faculty initiated a one-semester postgraduate course on radio astronomy that is targeted at SKA bursary holders. The aim of the course is to bridge the gap between astronomy and engineering – primarily to position engineers to play a role in astronomy.

However, interviews with academics and university management at the University of Stellenbosch, as well as all the other universities in the sample, highlighted lower levels of responsiveness at the undergraduate level compared with the postgraduate level. Undergraduate course contents are seen as foundational and relatively slow to change, and changes require lengthy approval procedures. In contrast, specialisation is seen to take place at the postgraduate level, which is thus more dynamic. However, when the pace of technological change is very rapid, as is the case with the ICT-driven technologies relevant to the SKA, a slow response at the undergraduate level can lead to the development of knowledge and skills that are no longer relevant for employers. In some cases, such as the computer sciences department at the University of Stellenbosch, the faculty administration has created space for more rapid change in the undergraduate curricula, and this has improved the relevance of the resulting competences to employers.

The Engineering faculty hosts a number of formal mechanisms and interface structures to support its interactive capabilities and its responsiveness to its external environment. This includes an advisory board which provides a critical interface between employers and academics, and a five-year review process in which half of the review team must be from employers. The faculty also has contract research partnerships with a wide range of employers, and these relationships are actively cultivated by research centres. A critical role is played by the Engineering Council of South Africa, the statutory professional body, which has a specification for the BEng degree with generic outcomes that are approved by the council – this directly shapes the curriculum at Stellenbosch and other universities. One of the most powerful mechanisms for supporting interaction is the allocation of time for external engagement. Academics are allocated 400 hours per year (approximately one day per week) to conduct work external to the faculty – largely as consultants in the private sector. There are many benefits to this mechanism: academics benefit from additional income, and engagement with employers and centres of demand for knowledge provides a source of ideas for research directions that are up to date. This mechanism provides substantial support for the faculty's interactive capabilities – it builds networks between academics and employers, and aligns the research activities of academics and postgraduate students with the requirements of employers. This has applied directly to interaction with the SKA, with members of the engineering faculty consulting with firms in the SKA's supply chain and innovation network, and also forming their own start-ups that participate in these networks.

Informal modes of interaction are also important. The faculty regularly invites guest speakers from employers to inform final-year students about what their needs are. The faculty engages through alumni functions, and a graduate group through which it builds relationships with employers. Interactive capabilities at the level of individual academics are largely informal. For example, one key informant operates in a loose collaboration with academic colleagues that are working with firms on antennae design, dish design, and radio-frequency interference mitigation. The origins of these relationships lie in the informal interactive capabilities of academics, and the ability to use networks to connect the supply of and demand for skills and knowledge.

Tacit and informal interactive capabilities are important at all of the universities. The astronomy department at University of Cape Town (UCT) clearly hosts strong tacit interactive capabilities, having proven its capacity to mobilise resources and alliances both internally (within UCT) and externally. At Rhodes, internal interaction between academics within the various fields relevant to astronomy, with a view towards coordination and focusing on the skills necessary for astronomy, is undertaken informally. Rhodes is a small university, and the academics find it easy to operate through loose and informal networks. Informal interactive capabilities are similarly important at the other research universities. For example, at University of the Witwatersrand, South African Research Chair Initiative (SARChI) chairs engage with colleagues within the SKA and bring that information back into the university, where it is discussed internally and where possible is reacted to. At Durban University of Technology, participation in the astronomy SSI and the SKA has largely been driven by a single individual with strong informal interactive capabilities, who has engaged with the SKA over several years, making a case for Durban University of Technology's role in the technical training required by the SKA.

Universities also play intermediary roles that contribute to their overall interactive capabilities. A good example of this is the National Astrophysics and Space Science Programme (NASSP) – a nationally coordinated postgraduate programme based at UCT. At the institutional level, this represents a high level of collaboration, as it is funded by the NRF, managed through the South African Astronomical Observatory, coordinated by UCT, and involves all the universities active in astronomy in South Africa. It thus represents a true confluence of actors collaborating in the area of skills development for astronomy, and is made possible by UCT's strong organisational and interactive capabilities. The NASSP, structurally, aims to make the most of South Africa's uneven and fragmented competences and capabilities in the space science and astronomy domains. This has established a pipeline of astronomy skills that supported the bid for the SKA. This represents a crucial mechanism for articulating the skills demand and skills supply organisations through long-term planning and institution-building. The NASSP has been highly effective in meeting the skills demands of the space and astronomy sectors in South Africa. Bharuth-Ram (2011) reports a rapid increase in applications to the NASSP programme in the years leading up to 2011, attributed in part to the attraction that the SKA has had for prospective students and academics.

The NASSP employs strong interactive capabilities in the process it follows to determine its curriculum in a responsive manner. Its steering committee includes SKA representatives, academics, and practicing astronomers, and is therefore an important forum for these actors to exchange views and information to inform the curriculum development. There are several students on SKA HCDP bursaries who are on the NASSP programme, so communication between these two actors, with a view to optimising the curriculum, has been vital here. One key forum for interaction at the NASSP is its Curriculum Workshop, at which all main stakeholders meet to discuss and determine the future curriculum. Key informants from all of the main actors in the SSI reported that they participated in this workshop, which included discussions about the future skills and research requirements of the various employers in the astronomy SSI, including the SKA, over the short, medium, and long term.

9. Interactive capabilities and FET colleges

While the SKA organisation has established extensive links to South Africa's universities, in many cases intertwined with networks already presented in the astronomy SSI, the same cannot be said for links to FET colleges, which have historically not featured in the astronomy skills landscape. However, the sheer scale of the SKA will require a significant artisanal and technical skills pool, and the HCDP has developed an evolving relationship with the FET sector with the aim of supporting the development of these skills. The HCDP programme assessed the South African FET landscape, and decided to initially focus on the Kimberley FET college, since this was geographically the closest to the SKA core site. HCDP staff began an ongoing engagement with the leadership of the college. However, the college holds limited interactive capabilities, with evidence of constrained communication with the SKA, and limited capacity to internalise planning and specific skills requirements. This is a reflection of South Africa's FET system in general, which has been challenged by multiple policy changes and weak overall capabilities.

At first, few graduates were produced from this engagement. However, the SKA has undertaken long-term and ongoing capability-building in partnership with the college, taking measures to train FET staff and to build basic competences that could provide a platform for improved relations and increased outputs of relevant skills. At the same time, the capabilities of the HCDP to interact with the college have grown over time, through experience. As a consequence, graduate throughput has improved, and the alignment of curricula with SKA requirements has advanced. The relationship between the SKA and the FET college thus presents a contrast to the example of the universities: weak interactive capabilities have acted as a constraint on labour market alignment. However, this example also shows how these interactive capabilities can be purposively developed in order to be more effective, and thus improve labour market alignment.

10. Conclusion: interactive capabilities and labour market alignment in knowledge-intensive sectors

A decade ago, the mission of the SKA in Africa looked like an unlikely prospect – competing on the global stage for one of the largest and most challenging science projects on the world. However, through strong interactive capabilities within the SKA and its partner organisations, labour market alignment was developed, and existing competences were leveraged to rapidly expand astronomy capabilities relevant to the SKA. In contrast, weaker interactive capabilities in relation to FET colleges constrained labour market alignment in this area. Overall, however, the expansion of a relevant skills base contributed to the success of the bid to host the SKA's infrastructure in Africa, boosted Africa's role in technology development, and set the stage for greater African participation in conducting science.

The knowledge and technology structure of the astronomy SSI influenced the distinctive nature of organisational interaction and labour market alignment within the SKA's innovation network. As a highly specialised niche area, skills in astronomy are rare and cannot successfully be treated as skills ‘commodities’, where large numbers of graduates with standardised qualifications enter a labour market consisting of a multitude of potential employers. On the contrary, in the case of astronomy, a handful of astronomers and highly specialised engineers enter a labour market consisting of only a few employers. Moreover, each employer requires such narrow skills bands that they are largely aware of who the specific individuals within the system are that hold these skills or are developing these skills. Likewise, postgraduate students or employed astronomers and engineers largely have an awareness of who the small group of actors are that require their specific skills. This structure can be seen to be a function of operating within the small apex of a skills pyramid that has a large base, as is the case in unequal developing countries such as South Africa.

We now return to the question that may be asked by policy-makers: how were pockets of excellence aligned with the skills and technology needs of the SKA in order to build the capabilities required by the project? The key findings that emerge from the case study are focused on: strong interactive capabilities within the SKA organisation itself, underpinned by formalised mechanisms as well as personal relationships; strong interactive capabilities amongst intermediaries, backed by substantial political support; a high level of responsiveness to SKA requirements within niche areas of expertise at South Africa's leading research universities; and a dense network structure within the astronomy SSI. For policy-makers this may highlight the potential of other knowledge-intensive sectors which host a fragmented SSI, which may in future benefit from more developed interactive capabilities in order to build critical mass and become more internationally competitive – for example, biotechnology, nuclear energy, and space science. The means by which the astronomy SSI has achieved such alignment may point the way towards policy interventions that can successfully leverage these capabilities for the broader benefit of the country and the region.

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge a large team of researchers who participated in the data-gathering and analysis process, as well as all of those who participated in the case studies.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The research was conducted under the Labour Market Intelligence Partnership, a research consortium led by the Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa, and funded by the Department of Higher Education and Training.