12-14 May 2015
Indaba Hotel and Conference Centre
Johannesburg, South Africa
2015 is a critical year for global policy on international development. The contribution of scientific and technological endeavour and innovation to achieving development goals is beyond question. But donors and policymakers must include specific provision for these contributions in their new global development policy frameworks. Key research and innovation constituencies – including universities, funders, policymakers, and the private sector – must be able to respond to individual opportunities as well as addressing global challenges through their day-to-day operations. Stakeholders – including universities, the business community, and civil society – must ensure that the research agenda and its outputs are relevant, in order to use this potential to maximum benefit.
The key to achieving this is bringing together research institutions, funders, policymakers, and the private sector in an open, honest, and international dialogue. As such, the ACU, in conjunction with SARIMA and the National Research Foundation, will hold an international conference on Research and innovation for global challenges from 12-14 May 2015 in Johannesburg.
This conference will establish the practical structures, policies, and incentives needed to ensure that science, technology, and innovation play a critical role in development. It will move beyond making the case for and identifying good practice in universities and other research institutions, to examine how they can be supported in a coherent way to ensure impact. The conference aims to:
Read more about this event's speakers and programme here.