On 18 February, CSIR CEO, Dr Sibusiso Sibisi, and SAPS National Commissioner, General Riah Phiyega, signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) in Pretoria. The MoA will create an institutional framework for SAPS to have direct access to a scientific, engineering and technology base to support both the operational and strategic components of their duty towards national safety and security.
CSIR CEO, Dr Sibusiso Sibisi, and SAPS National Commissioner, General Riah Phiyega having a chat on their way to the MoA signing.
In particular, the MoA is a formal step towards the longer-term objective of establishing a Safety and Security Evaluation and Research Institute that will perform independent, on-going scientific and operational research and evaluation tasks; and provide scientific decision-support services to SAPS when required.
Sibisi emphasised the importance of partnering with the police. “SAPS has a responsibility towards the safety and security of our people. As the CSIR, it is our duty to contribute to areas of national importance – safety and security is one of our priorities. We can offer SAPS a great wealth of multi-disciplinary science and research to support smart planning, smart technology use and management and, ultimately, smart policing,” he said. “We will also be ensuring that skills and expertise are transferred to SAPS to support their technical capability,” Sibisi added.
“The CSIR is already working with various government departments including the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). So, in a way, this is a long-overdue marriage, which we are very pleased about. We entered 2014 on a very high note, excited about the positive contribution that we as SAPS continuously want to make to the wellbeing of the citizens of this country,” said Phiyega.
The institutional framework outlines a portfolio of research and technology support programmes with deliverables over a three-year period.
About the programmes
The first programme will address command, control and shared situational awarenesssolutions including technologies such as sensors: data fusion; intelligence and information gathering; display and dissemination plus associated information technology infrastructure; and operational command and control systems and infrastructure in the form of so-called ‘war rooms’. Such facilities have already been piloted and tested at the CSIR for use in large-scale national surveillance and safety operations, such as during the Soccer World Cup in 2010.
In the ICT domain, the CSIR will be focusing on optimising systems within SAPS to improve efficiency and cost-effectiveness. The programme will be conducted in alignment with the CSIR’s relationship with the State Information Technology Agency (SITA), which has a distinct statutory mandate regarding ICT services for government. The CSIR’s responsibilities will lie in research, development and include next generation network systems architecting, analysis, simulation and evaluation, wireless solutions, cyber security and digital forensics.
Dr Sibisi and General Phiyega signing the MoA while Group Executive: CSIR Strategic Alliances and Communication, Dr Rachel Chikwamba looks on.
“The sustained pace of globalisation and significant advances in Information and Communication Technology after 1994 have increased the risk factors for South Africans falling victim to cybercrime. It is these developments that have prompted us to dig deep and come up with ways that will address such developments,” explained Phiyega.
Integration and interoperability are key means of optimising existing infrastructure and resources in defence and security. This entails finding ways for the smarter use of existing equipment and systems and avoiding new investments, the pitfalls of vendor lock-in and risks of costly yet soon-to-be obsolete systems. This not only leads to better use of existing infrastructure, but also improved connectivity within SAPS operations and beyond.
Dr Sibisi explained, “Our country faces a number of challenges that require responses from multi-departments. As an example, border safeguarding is an area of importance for SAPS and also for the SANDF, the Department of Home Affairs, and even National Parks when it comes to poaching and smuggling, as well as many others. We want to demonstrate that by establishing systems, standards and procedures for interoperability. We can achieve a whole-of-government approach to combat those complex areas where stability and safety are threatened. The role of science is, after all, to act as an enabler and catalyst for impact. We look forward to contributing to this collaborative approach”, he said.
Operational quick reaction tasks are a critical component of an agile law enforcement agency. This speaks to the ability to rapidly design, engineer and create a custom solution to an urgent operational need. Examples can include urgent deployment of overhead surveillance in areas of uprisings, droppable field mission control containers, and terrain-specific vehicle adaptation. Through the MoA, SAPS will have access to knowledgeable, technically and operationally skilled personnel to respond to immediate needs at short notice to provide solutions to immediate problems. The CSIR has performed this duty for the SANDF for many years. Additionally, and with a longer-term view, the CSIR will perform operational assessments of current doctrine, tactics, procedures, and optimising the use of personnel, systems and equipment.
The programme to drive science and technology capability developmentis set to bring skills and capabilities to SAPS to support systems and product evaluation, acquisition, product deployment or customisation, as well as establish new technical capabilities that are currently under-utilised. “Research that aims at defining the causes of crime and how we use research, science and technology, will enable us to stay ahead of crime syndicates. In broad terms, crime proliferates where there is a combination of societal problems, such as poverty and inequality, creating a society that is particularly vulnerable to victimisation,” Phiyega elaborated.
This is part of a global trend for police and defence forces to train staff, not only in law enforcement skills, but also to provide varying levels of technology competence development due to the role technology plays in combatting crime and understanding greater levels of sophistication in technologies used to perpetrate crime.
Dr Sibisi and General Phiyega shake hands on the Agreement.
In the area of strategic and operational decision support,activities will focus on establishing a scientific decision support base for SAPS for both operational and strategic needs. This will include tender support, programme and project management support (quality assurance and configuration management), strategic technology forecasting, analysis and modelling (e.g. crime statistics) and facility planning.
The ultimate aim is the establishment of a strategically independent Safety and Security Evaluation and Research Institute that will serve as SAPS ‘in-house’ science and research capability.
Click here for a message from Minister Derek Hanekom on the CSIR-SAPS partnership.
News contributed by Anna Semenya, CSIR Strategic Communication.
19 February 2014
