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Technology and Human Resources for Industry Programme (THRIP)
Mission statement
To improve the competitiveness of South African industry by supporting research and technology
development activities and enhancing the quality and quantity of appropriately skilled people.
Overview
THRIP is a partnership programme which challenges companies to match
government funding for innovative research and development in South Africa.
THRIP is run as a programme from within the National Research Foundation (NRF) on a management
service provision arrangement with the dti, defined in a Memorandum of Agreement,
signed between the Director General of the dti and President of the NRF.
The NRF takes management, administrative and fiduciary accountability for the programme.
The THRIP Board is an advisory body, providing strategic advice and guidance to
the dti Director General and NRF President. It is constituted of persons of senior leadership
drawn from private sector, academia, government and labour, appointed jointly by the Director General and President.
Aims:
- To provide South African industry with the means to obtain specific responses
to its technology needs.
- To produce a flow of highly-skilled researchers and technology managers who
understand research, technology development and the diffusion of technology from
the viewpoints of both industry and academia.
- To provide a new and enhanced educational experience within the context of
technology development and/or diffusion, through participation by students in
collaborative projects.
- The programme is also designed to foster collaboration among industry, the higher
education sector and government Science, Engineering and Technology Institutions (SETIs) as a means
of contributing to the removal of past inhibitions to joint activity among these three sectors.
Objectives:
- To increase the number and quality of people with appropriate skills in the
development and management of technology for industry.
- To promote increased interaction among researchers and technology managers in
industry, higher education and SETIs, with the aim of developing skills for the
commercial exploitation of Science and Technology. This should involve, in particular,
promoting the mobility of trained people among these factors.
- To stimulate industry and government to increase their investment in research and
technology development, technology diffusion and the promotion of innovation.
Priorities:
- To support an increase in the number of black and female students who intend to
pursue technological and engineering careers.
- To promote technological know-how within the Small, Medium and Micro Enterprise
(SMME) sector, through the deployment of skills vested in HEIs and SETIs.
- To facilitate and support the enhancement of the competitiveness of black economic
empowerment and black owned enterprises (BEEs) through technology and human resource development.
- To facilitate and support multi-firm projects in which firms collaborate and share in the project outcomes, provided
that one of the industrial partners involved, is a BEE.
Products and Services
The services offered by THRIP mainly entail:
- Packaging the programme offerings.
- Calling for research proposals that meet the criteria.
- Evaluating the proposals and selecting those to be supported, using specialist panels.
- Disbursing the approved funds according to cashflow controlled by the industrialk partners.
- Monitoring performance in terms of financial management, student training, technology development and technology transfer.
Each of the 333 projects supported in 2005 is an example of THRIP's achievements, and a glimpse of the
opportunity that South African science is helping to create. THRIP funds were wisely invested in science,
engineering and technology research projects. The investment aims to facilitate the generation of knowledge,
development and enhancement of technologies and strengthening of capacities at both individual and institutional
levels for the benefit of South African industry and the economy.
| Chairperson |
Dr Willem Barnard |
| President/CEO |
Dr Khotso Mokhele |
| Tel. |
+27 (12) 481 4078 |
| Fax. |
+27 (12) 481 4197 |
| Email |
thrip@nrf.ac.za |
| Postal address |
PO Box 2600, Pretoria, 0001 |
| Website |
www.nrf.ac.za/thrip
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