Innovation Systems: Unlocking Potential

Being part of the COFISA Innovation Systems workshop opened the doors for many more opportunities to Technology for Community Empowerment. The African context lend itself to strong Social Innovations not just important for survival but also the possibility to globalisation.

Some of the areas that were discussed during Day 1 at the workshop was the National Implementation Innovation Strategies in both South Africa and Finland, exploring foresight as a tool for innovation, the Triple Helix Collaboration and Science Parks as Regional Development Catalysts.

Day 2 was especially interesting as the core discussions were around Living Labs, Knowledge and Innovation in Rural Development, monitoring and evaluation of Innovation Systems and some of the innovation developments in Sub-Sahara Africa.

The workshop has clearly indicated that there are a need for more innovative strategies in a developing country but also that it should be inclusive of all parties involved in the process of innovation.