Academy of Science South Africa 2005/6 Annual Report

Multi-year Strategic PlanASSAfcircles, ASSAf may eventually be unable to make itself heard clearly and loudly enough to make adifference overall.(E) Appropriate strategies to attain goals and objectivesThe ASSAf Vision Statement adopted in 2005 and modified to become a Mission Statement in (B) above,summarises the goals and objectives of the Academy clearly enough to serve as a set of high-level “cleargoals and objectives” for purposes of developing a Strategic Plan. The analysis of the Academy’s currentstrengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis) provides an additional basis forfleshing out the plan in terms of detail regarding specific actions to be taken and evaluation/monitoringto be done.The above position deals with the “goals-based” aspect of the preferred model, but not with theaspects related to issues and values. Some of the key issues are:What are the REAL priorities for effort on the part of South Africa’s high-level scholars and scientists,in terms of the actual situation of this developing country’s people?Is a national science academy presently considered by the majority of policy makers in South Africa tobe essential or important?How can effort on the part of the country’s high-level scholarly infrastructure optimally be focused onthe country’s problems in terms of efficiency and effectiveness?Should the Academy be a regionally pre-occupied (international) organisation as opposed to anationally focused one?Is there mission drift in national and international science organisations such as ICSU, the IAP and itsnewly formed regional subsidiaries, and if so, is this a bad thing?Is the positivistic thrust of the “socio-economic progress through enhanced Science and Technology”paradigm valid, or, more accurately, sufficient, to meet our national aspirations?The values involved in our Academy’s functioning are independence of government and sectoral lobbies;Annual Report 2005/0679