Read the full Annual Report in PDF format - CSIR

CSIR ANNUAL REPORT 2010/11
The CSIR continues to make information available to decision makers and society in various ways. The CSIR
Researchspace has become a popular source of information, and over 47 000 items were downloaded monthly in
2010/11. Figure 6 shows the trend of annual downloads since Researchspace was launched in 2007.
Figure 6: Annual trends of downloads
600 000
500 000
400 000
Downloads
300 000
200 000
100 000
0
07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11
Priority area: Transferring
technology and skilled
human capital
The CSIR R&D capacity provides
value to society through the Contract
R&D it undertakes and through the
commercialisation of formally protected
intellectual property.
The CSIR has provided significant
value in terms of support to national
priorities.
Examples include:
• The development of the South
African Risk & Vulnerability
Atlas, which translates global
change science to information
to support planning and decisionmaking
at national, provincial and
municipal levels;
• Publication of the Municipal Waste
Management Guidelines, providing
good practice in waste service
delivery;
• Publication of a technical guide
on causes, identification and repair
of potholes and a non-technical
guide on causes and prevention
of potholes in support of an
improved road network
infrastructure;
• Emergency response doctrine
development and implementation to
support improved effectiveness
and efficiency of Joint National
Emergency Response teams in
support of the 2010 FIFA World
Cup;
• Enterprise creation for development;
supporting more than 460 project
beneficiaries in 2010/11; and
• Implementation of a new TB facility
design to reduce the risk of crossinfection
and counter the growing
TB epidemic.
The CSIR Intellectual Property (IP)
strategy focuses on:
• Intellectual property management:
To ensure the effective
identification, disclosure,
protection and management of
discoveries and inventions
and other IP, to be able to make
deliberate choices as to how to
benefit society and the economy
with this intellectual property; and
• Technology transfer:
To develop practical applications
from the results of scientific research
and transfer these applications for
the benefit of the economy and
society.
116