SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL SURVEY OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER AT PUBLICLY FUNDED RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS SECOND NAT I O N A L S U RV E Y: 2 0 1 4 – 2 0 1 8

Technology transfer (TT) is the process of translating ideas into products, processes and services. More specifically, in a South African institutional context, framed within the Intellectual Property Rights from Publicly Financed Research and Development Act (IPR Act), TT involves the identification, protection and putting into use (also referred to as commercialisation) of promising technology concepts emanating from publicly financed research activities, for the benefit of society.
This resonates with South Africa’s policy intent to improve the regulatory environment for the identification and utilisation of intellectual property (IP), which aims to increase the deployment of research results for economic impact as well as improving the living standards of its citizens.
The baseline South African National Survey of IP and TT at Publicly Funded Research Institutions, which covered the period 2008 – 2014, established a number of indicators to track overall activity in IP management and TT. This Survey, covering the period 2014 – 2018, builds and expands on the foundation set by the baseline survey. This Survey was conducted with all “institutions” as defined in the IPR Act – 26 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and 11 Schedule 1 institutions or Science Councils (SCs). All 37 institutions participated in the Survey. Overall, this Survey shows encouraging trends in a range of indicators pertaining to IP creation, TT activities and the economic impact created as a result of these.