The Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Ms Nomalungelo Gina, has emphasised the urgent need for South Africa to strengthen the commercialisation of university-based innovations, noting that while many prototypes are developed annually, few reach the market due to high costs.
The Deputy Minister was addressing the 2nd BRICS Innovation Challenge at the University of Johannesburg’s Auckland Park Campus yesterday, which was attended by about 70 young delegates from the BRICS+ countries.
Hosted under the theme “Strengthening Digital Skills and Entrepreneurship in BRICS+ through Student Innovation”, the Challenge is a flagship initiative of the UJ BRICS Summer School, which was also an opportunity to expose learners from as far as the Northern Cape to innovation.
Deputy Minister Gina stressed that the country must accelerate efforts to transform ideas into market-ready solutions that can create jobs, foster inclusive growth, and position South Africa as a leader in the digital economy.
To address this gap, she said the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) has established the Innovation Fund and the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF), in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), to support aspiring innovators and technology entrepreneurs from idea to prototype and eventual commercialisation.
The HEIF aims to address the challenges in the innovation ecosystem, including a shortage of skilled student tech entrepreneurs who can develop and commercialise competitive, innovative products, a lack of entrepreneurial support and networks at universities and colleges, and limited exposure to opportunities, mentoring, and coaching.
Now in its second year, the BRICS Innovation Challenge provides a platform for students to showcase pioneering start-ups. Yesterday saw seven start-ups from the university competing for the top three positions following a pitching session of 10 minutes each.
Inkulumo Connect walked away with first prize of R25 000 for its AI-powered real-time translation platform for South African Sign Language (SASL). Created by Nazire Mathe and Jean-Luc Mwanza, this platform uses a bi-directional system to close the communication gap for the 235,000 users in South Africa.
According to Nazire, Inkulumo is unique as it was built from scratch with data sourced ethically in partnership with organisations for the deaf in South Africa. “This ensures our AI understands the unique grammar, culture and nuances of SASL, making it an authentic and trusted communication tool,” he said, expressing delight at winning the first prize, adding that their project highlighted a critical gap; a severe shortage of human interpreters, which left a communication chasm between the deaf community and the hearing majority in society.
The second winner of R15 000, ProcureFair, is a pre-launch e-procurement solution designed to combat fraud, exclusion, and collusion in tendering processes. Among other features, this solution features anonymous bidding, fraud alerts, and mobile accessibility to ensure inclusive participation for township and rural suppliers.
The third winner, Meta-Logistics, walked away with R10 000 for their blockchain-inspired talent verification platform for logistics. This innovation replaces traditional curriculum vitae with verified badges, leaderboards, and mentorship-driven skills development to improve graduate employability.
Deputy Minister Gina applauded the University of Johannesburg for spearheading such initiatives, saying they cement the institution’s leadership in advancing the Fourth Industrial Revolution and innovation.
She further called for stronger collaboration between universities, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) to ensure that promising innovations are widely adopted.
Placing the event in the broader BRICS context, Gina highlighted that the Challenge localises the vision of the BRICS Young Innovators Forum, a strategic platform established in 2015 to showcase youth entrepreneurship and innovation.
“When our young people participate in initiatives like the upcoming BRICS Young Innovators Forum in Brazil, they will do so as confident leaders ready to make their mark,” she said.
Adding his reflections, Professor Tankiso Moloi, Executive Dean of the College of Business and Economics at UJ, emphasised the need for strong leadership alongside innovation.
“Innovation without direction is a powerful engine without a steering wheel,” he said. “We must equip our youth not only with entrepreneurial skills, but also with cultural intelligence, digital fluency, and unshakable ethics, so that their ideas can drive inclusive progress across the BRICS+ nations.”
The event also recognised the leadership of UJ academics and organisers, including Dr Sebonkile Thaba and Prof. Vicky Graham, whose commitment was praised for laying the foundation for the Challenge’s success.
The 2nd BRICS Innovation Challenge elevated UJ’s global visibility as a hub for youth innovation and commercialisation, reinforced its commitment to BRICS cooperation and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and provided a scalable platform to expand the Challenge across BRICS+ universities in future editions.
This article was first published on 3 September by South Africa DSTI.
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