Introduction - Republic of South Africa

The Republic of South Africa occupies the southernmost part of the African continent, stretching latitudinally from 22° to 35° south and longitudinally from 17° to 33° east, flanked on the west by the Atlantic Ocean and on the east by the Indian Ocean, whose waters meet at the country's most southern tip, Cape Agulhas. South Africa has common boundaries with Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, while Mozambique and Swaziland lie to the north-east. The Kingdom of Lesotho is completely enclosed by South African territory in the south-east.

South Africa has a surface area of 1,219,909 sq km, made up of nine provinces, each with its own legislature, premier and executive councils. The provinces (Western Cape, the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, the Northern Cape, Free State, North West, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo) have their own distinctive landscapes, vegetation and climate.

According to the 2018 Statistics South Africa Mid-year Report, South Africa has an estimated population of 57.75 million. About 29.5% of the population is aged younger than 15 years and c.8.5% (4.89 million) are 60 or over. The literacy rate is estimated at 94.3% (2016). Total fixed-line telephone subscriptions are estimated to be 3,629,141 (2017) with mobile-cellular teledensity of 168 telephones per 100 persons (2017, CIA World Factbook). Combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity exceeds 145 telephones per 100 persons; consists of carrier-equipped open-wire lines, coaxial cables, microwave radio relay links, fiber-optic cable, radiotelephone communication stations, and wireless local loops; key centers are Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, and Pretoria (2016).

The City of Tshwane (Pretoria) is the capital of South Africa with a population of 3.27 million. The other largest metropolitan municipalities by population include: Johannesburg (4.94 million), Cape Town (4 million), Ekurhuleni (3,.38 million), Durban (2.9 million) and Port Elizaberth (1.26 million) (2016 est. The Local Government Handbook - South Africa)

South Africa is a middle-income emerging market with abundant natural resources, well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy, commercial agriculture and transport sectors, a stock exchange ranked among the top 20 in the world, and a modern infrastructure supporting efficient distribution of goods throughout the southern African region.

According to the 2017 rankings of the World Bank, South Africa has the world's 32nd largest economy by GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and is the second largest economy in Afirca, valued at USD 349.419 million. South Africa spends close to 10% of GDP on ICT goods and services of which most are imported.

Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD) as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) or R&D intensity was 0.77% in 2014/15, The business sector was the largest performer of R&D in 2014/15, with expenditure amounting to 45.3% of GERD. The higher education sector accounted for the second-largest expenditure on R&D at 28.5% of GERD. Expenditure on R&D by science councils accounted for 17.1% of GERD, followed by government at 6.5%, while the R&D expenditure recorded for not-for-profit organisations increased by 2.7%. ICT Research and Development spend is 0.077% of GDP with overall Research and Development spend around 0.77% of GDP (The National Survey of Research and Experimental Development (R&D Survey of 2014/15 released in 2017).

In relation to Communications, according to 2017 figures (CIA World FactBook), there were 3.6 million fixed phone lines in use compared with 91.8 million mobile phones and 29.3 million Internet users. In terms of ICT infrastructure, there is an African Coast to Europe (ACE) under sea cable landed at Cape Town, EASSy (Eastern African Submarine System) and SEACOM landed at Mtunzini, South Africa Far East landed at Melkbosstrand and Mtunzini, SAT-E / WASC landed at Mtunzini andWest African Cable System landed at Yzerfontein.

South Africa has a vibrant Higher Education sector and according to the Higher Education Management Information System (HEMIS) of the Department of Higher Education and Training, there were over 1 million students enrolled in 2017 in the 26 state-funded tertiary institutions (Universities, Universities of Technology). As at 31 December 2017 there were 100 private institutions of Higher Education registered (HEMIS of the Department of Higher Education and Training). Amongst the 26 state-funded universites, three were established in the past 4 years, i.e. 2014-2016. There are currently 50 registered public Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Colleges, covering training from Grade 10 to 12 and career-orientated education and vocational training . Furthermore, there are 291 registered private TVET Colleges (Department of Higher Education and Training).

ICT Background

The South African ICT sector is the largest on the African continent. As an increasingly important contributor to South Africa's GDP, the country's ICT and electronics sector is both sophisticated and developing. The country has a network that is 99% digital and includes the latest in fixed-line, wireless and satellite communications, making it the most developed telecommunications network on the continent. South Africa's IT industry is characterised by technology leadership, particularly in the field of electronic banking services. South African companies are world leaders in pre-payment, revenue management and fraud prevention systems, and in the manufacture of set-top boxes, all exported successfully to the rest of the world. Several international corporates, recognised as leaders in the IT sector, operate subsidiaries from South Africa, including but not limited to IBM, Google, Unisys, Microsoft, Cisco, Intel, Systems Application Products (SAP), Dell, Novell, Dimension Data and Compaq. The ICT industry includes hardware, software, networking, telecommunications and related professional products and services. South Africa's ICT and electronics sectors are expected to continue showing strong growth in the future. ICT activities are coordinated across a number of government departments and agencies, research institutions, universities and the private sector.

Infrastructure investment is a key priority of the National Development Plan. There are 18 national strategic integrated projects (SIPs) whose implementation oversight is lead by the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission. The Infrastructure plan is monitored and centrally driven and has the objectives of skilling, industrialisation and R&D. SIPs 15 and 16 are focused on ICT and related fields. SIP 15 "Expanding access to communication technologies" looks at providing 100% broadband coverage to all households by 2020 by establishing core points of Presence (POP's) in district municipalities and extending new fibre networks. The schools' connectivity rollout is focusing on approximately 27000 public schools. The terrestrial broadcasting signal TV migration from analogue to digital is also included as part of SIP 15. South Africa missed the June 2015 deadline to migrate from analogue to digital. The Government has begun with the rollout of subsidised set-top-boxes to qualifying households.

SIP 16: "SKA & MeerKAT" looks at the implementation of the MeerKAT and SKA, which is a global mega science project, building an advanced radio-telescope facility linked to research infrastructure and high speed ICT capacity. The SKA is expected to be commissioned in 2026. The MeerKAT is South Africa's small version and a precursor to the SKA. As at March 2017 SANReN, which has capacity of 10Gbsp, has connected over 227 sites that include University campuses, Science councils, academic hospitals and government agencies such as the South African Weather Services.

The Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services (DTPS) is responsible for the national ICT Policy. The ICT policy review process led to the approval by Cabinet in 2016 of the National Integrated ICT Policy White Paper. The purpose of the review was to examine the policy and regulatory frameworks that affect postal services, ICT, networks, infrastructure and frequency spectrum allocation and licensing, and investments in the sector. The Broadband Policy "South Africa Connect" was adopted in 2013. The National Cyber Security Policy Framework (NCPF) is in place and its implementation plan is being developed. In this respect, the Department of Science and Technology is developing the Cybersecurity RDI Programme as part of the implementation plan of the NCPF.

The Department of Science and Technology is responsible for the ICT Research, Development and Innovation Policy. The coordination of activities under the national ICT research and development programme is informed by the ICT RDI Strategy, which was approved in 2007. The purpose of the National ICT R&D and Innovation strategy is to create an enabling system for the advancement of ICT R&D and innovation, within the context of the broader national R&D strategy.

In 2013, Cabinet approved the ICT Research and Development Implementation Roadmap. The ICT RDI Implementation Roadmap is the means by which the ICT national research, development, and innovation (RDI) Strategy is put into a coherent set of actionable plans. The roadmap provides the required strategic direction to guide South Africa in planning, coordinating and managing its investment in ICT programmes of research, technology development and innovation activity over the 10 years, i.e. 2013-2022.

In developing the ICT RDI Roadmap, a process was followed which included a baseline desktop research study, consultation with experts in the relevant fields and series of workshops with relevant stakeholders within the South African ICT RDI ecosystem. In total, 63 technology themes and trends were analysed. Utilising this total list, 27 market opportunities of interest to South African ICT RDI ecosystem were identified, evaluated and clustered. From this process, six main clusters were evident. The following are the six clusters and the market opportunities under each cluster:

- Broadband Infrastructure and Services (Future Wireless Technologies, Broadband Services Infrastructure)

- Development (e-inclusion; Development and ICT for Agriculture)

- Sustainability and Environment (Green and ICT; Global Change; Geo-spatial applications)

- Grand Science (Astronomy; Biomedical sciences)

- Industry Applications (Smart infrastructure; Mining, Manufacture; Future internet applications; Content creation and delivery; Import replacement; Supply chain optimisation; Asset management)

- The Service Economy (m-health; e-Services; e-Education; Business model innovation; Payment solutions; Outsourced SA capability; Systems integration; Content and services localisation; Mobile enablement; Trust and security).

The development of capabilities and directing funding to these areas revolves around working on partnerships between government and the private sector, academia and science councils. The ultimate goal of ICT R&D Implementation Roadmap is to accelerate the growth of ICT RDI in South Africa.

The Department of Science and Technology has since established a programme management unit (PMU) called the Office of Digital Advantage (ODA), which is tasked with coordinating the implementation of the ICT RDI Roadmap. As such, the mission of the ODA is to provide guidance and support for the implementation of the roadmap in order to strengthen the ICT RDI ecosystem in South Africa, facilitate an increase in ICT RDI investments, and provide a platform for informed decision-making with respect to strategic areas of focus and the allocation of funding.