BITRI Urges Govt To Spend More On Research
Isaac Pinielo | Monday April 4, 2016 14:11
Prof. Otlogetswe Totolo was speaking during the signing of a shareholder compact agreement between the Minister of Infrastructure, Science and Technology, Nonofo Molefhi and board chairpersons of Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH) and BITRI last week.
The shareholder compacts were designed to enhance shareholder oversight and governance of public entities through an effective relationship between the boards and government as a shareholder.
Totolo said the gross expenditure on research and technology was 0.2 percent of the GDP, which he said was disappointing for a country that hoped to build technology for economic development. He said developed countries such as Sweden, Finland, Japan and USA spent more on research and technology. In Botswana, he said, support from government was not enough, and this posed challenges for this sector.
“We plead that the GDP should be increased to at least one percent for the development of research and technology, so we can also export knowledge to other nations,” he said. Minister Molefhi said the signing of the compact agreement was the beginning of an important era in which organisations were committing themselves to deliver first class services to the economy.
“It is important that we make these commitments in writing to remove ambiguities, for ease of monitoring, tracking progress and measuring any milestones that may have been achieved at a given time,” he said.
He pledged support and guidance as might be necessary, noting that he expected nothing but achievement of the goals by BIH and BITRI.
Molefhi said government as the sole shareholder in the two institutions, invested a lot of resources in their establishment and would continue to invest in them so that they could help develop the country.
He said it was incumbent upon the two institutions to do their part in ensuring that research, science, technology and innovation brought relief through the diversification of the economy.
The permanent secretary in the Ministry of Infrastructure, Science and Technology, Dikagiso Mokotedi, said the establishment of BIH and BITRI was in recognition of the enormity and complexity of the ministry’s mandate, and that there was need for specialised outfits to focus on the two areas, which they are mandated to do.
“While BIH focuses on fostering and nurturing technological innovations, BITRI’s focus is mainly on prioritising potential areas for research with a view of finding solutions to many challenges that our country faces,” he said.