The CSIR recently facilitated a meeting between various public and private entities from the Basque Country – an autonomous region in Spain. These entities included representatives from the technology research and development institute called Tecnalia – an institution similar to the CSIR in nature and focus. Prior to this visit, it had been engaging the CSIR on an ad-hoc basis with a strong focus in the defence and security domains. The purpose of this meeting was to explore other possible areas of collaboration.
Dr Rachel Chikwamba with the former Basque region president Mr Juan Jose Ibarretxe.
The Basque/Tecnalia delegation was led by Juan Jose Ibrarretxe, a former regional government president from January 1999 to May 2009, and Pedro Urteaga, Tecnalia Market and International Director.
In her welcome speech, Dr Rachel Chikwamba, CSIR Group Executive: Strategic Alliances and Communication, acknowledged the similarities between Tecnalia and the CSIR in terms of their mandate and focus areas. She identified these areas as ICT, biosciences, manufacturing and energy; and added that the CSIR would like to share some thoughts around commercialisation of technologies and innovation.
“There are different driving imperatives for the Basque Country and South Africa. Our (the CSIR) goal is to develop the economy by making it competitive through job creation and by reversing the legacy of apartheid by helping our country become more equitable. Technology has a very important role to play in addressing our national imperatives, but through our discussions, we can find common tangible areas of activity through which we can locate resources and means to get activities underway. We would like to get to a stage where we exchange scientists and ideas, and position the relevant teams in touch with each other to move the agenda of the intended cooperation forward,” said Rachel.
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Marian Elorza, Basque Foreign Affairs Secretary-General, said that the reason for their visit was because they had identified South Africa as a possible strategic partner in promoting social cohesion, research, commercialisation, culture and technology. She also pondered the possibility of CSIR’s assistance to companies in the Basque region to access African markets.
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To illustrate commitment and mark the importance of this visit, Ibrarretxe and Rachel signed a non-disclosure agreement, which will be followed by a programme of action. The delegation promised to send the CSIR a programme of action as soon as they have prioritised and identified areas of collaboration. Non-disclosure agreements are commonly signed when two or more entities are considering doing business together and need to understand the processes used in each other’s business to evaluate the potential business relationship. Also present was Moratabatho Sefora from the Department of Science and Technology’s International Relations department, who was pleased at the prospect of formalising the relationship between the two entities. The delegation received different presentations showing the many varied CSIR capabilities that could benefit both Tecnalia and other Basque entities. They expressed interest in the fields of energy, manufacturing and health. Thereafter, they visited some laboratories at the Pretoria campus. The delegation visited Mpumalanga before returning home to Basque Country. |
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By Anna Semenya |
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