College of Business and Economics | Annual Report 2022 61 Africa Research and Innovation Hub to analyse and map emerging technology ecosystems in South Africa to gain an in-depth understanding of the landscape and context, enabling factors, risks, opportunities, and early precedents being set on use of cases, governance and enabling environment. This project has led to a follow-on project that will start in 2023, focusing in more depth on emerging digital technologies and their application in South Africa and Kenya. • Adoption of 4IR technologies in South Africa’s green economy. This project explores the adoption of frontier technologies in what is known as the “green economy”. This project involves the development of a novel questionnaire and its implementation among 300 South African firms representing the country’s green economy. Workshops and results of this work will start being visible in 2023! • Household innovations and informal entrepreneurship in South Africa. In 2022, the Trilateral Chair collaborated with researchers at Utrecht University and MIT to conduct a research project on Household Innovation and Business Development. This novel study explored the nature and processes of household innovation in South Africa, the extent to which household innovations are related to informal business development, and the shape of the ecosystem for everyday innovation and business development. The research comprised a survey, in-depth interviews, literature, and desk-research. Policy implications of this study and multistakeholder engagements to take place in 2023! • Innovation in the informal economy. The Trilateral Chair has deepened its collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in its global efforts to support innovation in the informal economy. Prof. Kraemer- Mbula helped coordinate a webinar on “Exploring the connection between innovation, Informality, and the formal broader system” on 14 December 2022, to share experiences on how innovation in the informal economy can and does facilitate the transition towards formalisation in developing countries. • Innovation for African Universities. All three partners within the Chair (UJ, ACTS and SPRU), together with partners from the Kenya Climate Innovation Center (KCIC) and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology (JOOUST), worked in 2022 on a project called “Transforming Climate Innovation Ecosystems through Inclusive Transdisciplinarity (TransCIIT)” funded by the British Council, to develop a matchmaking service between the various and evolving business needs of young and female (in particular) climate entrepreneurs and the specialist skills of postgraduate students (at master’s level). The project developed an online portal for matching students and entrepreneurs. The project has been funded for a third phase to see the institutionalisation of the matchmaking service in Kenya and other African countries. • Political Economy Analysis of Africa’s Sciences Granting Councils. This project is an IDRC-funded research collaboration between the University College London, the University of Rwanda, and UJ to conduct a political economy analysis of science systems in Africa for the Science Granting Councils in Sub- Saharan Africa. • Regulation for innovation. A team from the Chair at UJ started working with the global mining company Anglo American’s South African headquarters office, to conduct a literature review focusing on regulation for innovation. The literature review will provide Anglo with an overview of how regulation of innovation is taking place in a range of national jurisdictions. We have also been working to ensure a systemic approach is applied to thinking about innovation focused on technology used in ‘the pits’ and their operations and community development work, among others. The final literature review will be presented to the Anglo Board in early 2023. We hope this work serves as a basis for longer- term collaborations with the private sector. HARNESSING INNOVATION IN AFRICA FOR TRANSFORMATIVE CHANGE: LESSONS FROM COVID-19 This book, edited by all Chair’s partners, counts contributions from 30 scholars and practitioners from Africa and beyond. It uses the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic to provide innovative thinking on how innovation policy can be harnessed to provide short-term and long-term transformative solutions for Africa. This project has resulted in 11 working papers and one edited volume to be published in early 2023 by African Minds Read the working papers here: https://www.uj.ac. za/faculties/college-of-business-and-economics/ trilateral-research-chair-in- transformativeinnovation/trcti-publications/working-paper-series/
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