Wits introduces innovation course
Alison Gaylard
Wits Business School (WBS) has developed its Master of Management in Innovation Studies, a programme that approaches innovation from strategic management of innovation, policy formulation and the impact of science and technology on society.
Director of the Master of Management in Innovation Studies at WBS, Dr Diran Soumonni says the imperative to address climate change and other pressures means an urgent need to focus on environmental sustainability and producing solutions.
“Innovation needs to address the socioeconomic challenges of the country. Finding solutions to issues such as water, sanitation, health care, lead to building the kind of competencies that can allow a country to compete on an international scale,” he says.
Soumonni adds that SA has one of the more advanced systems of innovation in Africa, which means that private and public entities interact effectively to address national goals as they relate to the diffusion of new technologies.
“The innovation strategy is primarily located in the department of science and technology, but it should have a much wider reach within other government departments and sectors of the economy, to have a greater impact on areas such as trade and industry, energy and water.”
The concept was first adopted in the 1996 white paper on science and technology, and was implemented by the department. It was reviewed in 2008 and 2018, when a draft white paper was released.
“We need a new generation of innovation managers, scholars and business leaders who have an understanding of the drivers of innovation, and a concern for equitable, human-centred development,” says Soumonni.