{"id":31777,"date":"2026-04-14T08:53:58","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T06:53:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=31777"},"modified":"2026-04-14T10:39:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T08:39:09","slug":"sa-technology-innovation-agency-moves-to-curb-innovation-fragmentation-through-new-partnerships","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/sa-technology-innovation-agency-moves-to-curb-innovation-fragmentation-through-new-partnerships\/","title":{"rendered":"SA Technology Innovation Agency moves to curb innovation fragmentation through new partnerships"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">Speaking to Channel Africa on Monday, TIA Board Chairperson Loyiso Tyira said the agency has recently facilitated strategic partnerships through Memoranda of Understanding with key science councils and industry stakeholders. The aim is to reduce fragmentation in the national system of innovation, where strong research output has not consistently translated into scalable products, new industries and jobs.<\/div>\n<div data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\"><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Tyira said SA&#8217;s challenge is often not a lack of policy, but a gap between policy intent and what happens in practice. \u201cWe do not find issues with policy. The gap is between policy intent and what actually happens on the ground,\u201d he said. He added that reviews initiated by the Minister and National Treasury have pushed TIA to play a broader role beyond funding, positioning the agency as a \u201ccurator\u201d of the innovation ecosystem.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>According to Tyira, innovation is central to economic growth and employment, warning that without stronger innovation performance, jobs will be created elsewhere and SA will become increasingly dependent on imported goods. \u201cInnovation is key to economic growth and job creation, without which jobs get created elsewhere, and we import goods and industrialisation suffers,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>TIA\u2019s approach is anchored in what Tyira described as the quadruple helix model, which focuses on linking the full innovation value chain from academic research to commercialisation and market deployment. This includes enabling small businesses and industry players to access existing intellectual property and develop it into products and services.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>TIA is prioritising strategic sectors aligned to SA\u2019s decadal planning, including critical minerals, the digital economy, agriculture, advanced manufacturing and biotech. Tyira said programmes are being built around these areas to support small, medium, and micro enterprises&#8217; participation and strengthen pathways from innovation to industrial development.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>He argued that innovation-led industrialisation is essential to reducing unemployment and improving competitiveness. \u201cAs you innovate and build new industries and export more than you import, you create value internally,\u201d he said, adding that innovation can also help solve service delivery challenges through locally designed solutions.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>TIA says its partnerships are intended to accelerate implementation, deepen collaboration between government, researchers and the private sector, and ensure that SA innovation translates into tangible economic outcomes.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":31778,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-31777","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"South Africa's (SA) Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) says it is strengthening the country's innovation landscape by building a more coordinated ecosystem that helps move locally developed technologies from research to commercially viable businesses.","published_date":"","news_description":"South Africa's (SA) Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) says it is strengthening the country's innovation landscape by building a more coordinated ecosystem that helps move locally developed technologies from research to commercially viable businesses.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31777\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31800,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31777\/revisions\/31800"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=31777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}