Commercialisation of research: Fostering innovation in SHAPE
Delegates from the University of Cape Town (UCT), the British Council, Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education, global technology commercialisation consultancy Oxentia, the University of the Western Cape (UWC), and 18 other South African universities recently attended a day-long workshop aimed at boosting the commercialisation of Social Sciences, Humanities, Arts for People and the Economy (SHAPE) research.
The event was hosted by UCT’s Research Contracts and Innovation (RC&I) office at the university’s All Africa House on 15 March 2024. It forms part of the SHAPE project led by RC&I in collaboration with UWC’s technology transfer office (TTO) and Oxentia and funded by the British Council. The SHAPE project is an initiative that forms part of the British Council’s initiatives aimed at fortifying the innovation framework within South African universities, particularly in SHAPE.
“A culture of fostering innovation is crucial in institutions of higher learning,” RC&I Director Piet Barnard said. “As part of their mandate to lead research activities, universities have a responsibility to drive the journey of commercialisation. It is to this end that universities have technology transfer offices (TTOs). Traditionally, the focus in innovation has been on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) research, but South Africa is currently observing a shift towards the inclusion of Social Sciences, Humanities, Arts for People and the Economy (SHAPE) research.”
Barnard added that the aim of the workshop was to execute comprehensive training and disseminate materials to equip TTO professionals with the necessary tools and knowledge to effectively commercialise SHAPE research.
Meaningful partnerships
Luan Africa, Technology Transfer Specialist at UWC and Programme Director of the event, set the tone and provided background on the day. He defined SHAPE research commercialisation as “translating research outcomes from Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts disciplines into practical applications for societal and economic benefit”.
Dr Andrew Bailey, Senior Innovation Manager at UCT RC&I, said, “SHAPE research is not new in South Africa. However, translating it into SHAPE innovation and impact is a new area of focus globally, and it is great that we are there close to the outset and are able to broaden and adapt the application to the South African environment. One is needing to change researchers’ thinking about the impact that their research makes, and to enable TTOs to support SHAPE innovation, which has some aspects that are different to STEM innovation, which is well known and has up until now been their primary focus. With South Africa’s rich cultural heritage, I feel that there may well be opportunities for rural universities to translate research into tourism experiences in their immediate environment, creating jobs and stimulating the local economy.”
Dr Bailey added that partnerships with various stakeholders are critical to providing researchers with the support they need to navigate the commercialisation journey.
Success in SHAPE innovation
Attendees also attended a panel discussion facilitated by Ellen Fischat, co-founder of the NGO Inspiring African Women, that showcased the successes of partnerships in commercialisation. In conversation with Nthakoana Maema, CEO of Oribi, and Professor Rory Bester, Associate Professor at UWC, Fischat zoomed in on case studies. One example was the story of Abalobi, a UCT-born social enterprise which has been driven by the desire to make a tangible difference and has been successful in sustainable farming.
Dr Irene Dal Poz, Managing Consultant at Oxentia, said, “Oxentia has been a convener and leader in the field of SHAPE innovation and commercialisation since 2016.” She emphasised the importance of creating an effective SHAPE ecosystem that factors in strategic partnerships, as this would provide fertile ground for successful SHAPE innovation and commercialisation. “In the UK, while several factors contributed, the creation of a SHAPE ecosystem was government-led,” she added.
Niall Naidoo, New Venture Support Manager at UCT RC&I, said, “In the process of setting up the TTO foundations to support SHAPE commercialisation, focus should be placed on systems rather than projects.” Naidoo believes three types of commercialisation opportunities exist, namely policy and advocacy, interdisciplinary opportunities, and creative assets. As part of the ecosystem and to fully support commercialisation, TTOs need human resources who will “do their best work, get the innovation out to the world, add value, and get paid for it.”
Mapping the way forward
While the event was a success and strides were made in the right direction, the project is far from concluded.
Attendees made it clear that the UCT- and UWC-led SHAPE project looks forward to cultivating a UK-SA partnership for enriched knowledge and skills-sharing, as well as designing a clear route to market for SHAPE research, addressing local challenges.
“The UK is acknowledged as the lead in SHAPE innovation, and the British Council funding is enabling skills to be transferred via engagement with Oxentia and opportunities to be identified, whilst, importantly, translating and adapting practices to the South African environment,” Dr Bailey said. “Through the SARIMA (Southern African Research and Innovation Management Association) Community of Practice on SHAPE, we hope that TTOs will be able to share case studies and learning on an ongoing basis. We need case studies to share to highlight the possibilities, and the more that we can make available and distribute, the better.”
The project has been able to customise and develop SHAPE commercialisation guidelines for the South African context and equip TTOs and academics with a comprehensive toolkit for research commercialisation.
Dr Bailey said, “At UCT and UWC we will be running awareness-raising workshops with researchers in the Humanities, Arts and Social Science (HASS) space. Based on learnings from these workshops, guides that are being developed will be tweaked and finalised. We need to take care that we are equipped to support researchers who come to the TTO, and hopefully the tools developed will help them to assess their opportunities. We are identifying and defining some larger ‘systemic’ projects to run in certain departments and faculties that will provide innovation support to them.” He added that some of these approaches “will be new and able to be showcased internationally”.