Minister of public service and administration Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi says innovation needs to be publicised more and utilised to bridge the gap between the "two economies" in SA.
Fraser-Moleketi was speaking yesterday at an event recognising previous winners of the Centre for Public Service Innovation (CPSI) Awards and the T-Systems Age of Innovation & Sustainability Awards. The awards recognise innovation within the public and private sectors respectively.
"SA has to be innovative in bridging the divide between the vibrant developed economy and the poorer underdeveloped economy. To do this, innovation needs to be publicised more and both the government and private sectors need to take risks with innovative projects, which often come out of a process of trial and error," she said.
The minister says the private sector often will only invest in innovations if it is able to get a cut of profits. But she says this mentality needs to be changed and companies need to invest for the good of country, which will in turn improve business.
She told the winners of past awards that more could be done to share their innovations and build on them.
"There is already an attempt to create more awareness through a public service journal that reports success stories. I am also chairman of the jury for the Commonwealth innovation awards, which aims to publicise innovations and create a cascading effect across the Commonwealth so that others countries can use the innovations. We need to create this cascading effect of innovations across SA as well," she says.
This year, the CPSI and T-Systems awards are being combined into a joint event: the Innovation & Sustainability Awards. Nominations for the awards close on 30 June, and winners will be announced in August.
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