The Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) Group at CPUT had its first seminar of the year on 13 March 2008. This was a continuation of a series of discussions that had been held in 2007 covering a variety of topics that relate to indigenous knowledge systems and education.

Indigenous knowledge systems are the intricate systems that have been created, adapted, inherited and copied by communities over generations to create, store, retrieve and pass on a body of knowledge for those communities to use as they interact with their environments and forever-changing contexts. Such systems encompass all facets of life and are of special relevance and importance to the various fields of study pursued in formal education systems.

One of the presenters, Verna Jooste, discussed the indigenous methods used by African goldsmiths to smelt gold and copper and to fashion objects. Her analysis was built around objects that had been discovered at the Mapungubwe site.

Her central argument was that some of the methods used in formal design education can be inaccessible to students because of the expense. She elaborated on how one does not need sophiscated machinery to make wire and wire jewellery. She also discussed the merits of manufacturing using fire rather than bottled gas in a removed technical space and about why the gold from time gone by feels like it has such soul – because such community and energy was put into it

Ms Jooste suggests that students and teachers of design should learn more about indigenous knowledge systems as it will help them understand African traditions of working and how they are relevant to contemporary design education.

By Zininzi Ntando

Photograph: Jumpring necklaces. Source: Mapungubwe: South Africa's Crown Jewels by Sian Tiley (Sunbird, 2004).

Written by CPUT News
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CPUT recently hosted a one-day seminar at the Bellville campus IT Centre with the aim of gathering a number of local entrepreneurs to share the challenges they faced when starting up their now-successful businesses.

The workshop, titled Beyond the Starting Blocks, took place on Wednesday, 13 May 2009 and was a collaborative effort between CPUT, Stellenbosch University and the University of Cape Town (UCT).

This regional workshop, was funded by the Innovation Fund, and is part of the National Innovation Challenge (NIC) Student Business Plan Competition. It was co-ordinated locally by George Mvalo, Manager: Institutional Transformation and Diversity, who was the Project Manager on behalf of CPUT.

The Innovation Fund is an instrument of the national government Department of Science and Technology (DST) established in 1999 for the funding of innovative science, engineeringand technology development programmes and is managed on behalf of the DST by the National Research Foundation (NRF).

To open the seminar, Dr Andrew Bailey, who is joint Project Manager on behalf of the University of Cape Town and Intellectual Property (IP) Manager for Research Contracts and IP Services in the Research and Innovation Department at UCT, started off proceedings with a welcome and introduction. He explained the purpose of the day’s discussions and highlighted the main aim of “giving young entrepreneurs insight into starting and maintaining a successful business”.

Guest speakers included Dr Greg Starke (DISA Vascular), Dr Justin Devine (Synexa Life Sciences), Ali Brey (Hot Platinum (Pty) Ltd – a spin-off of a UCT/CPUT’s research project) and Retief Krige (Retief Krige Industrial Designers CC), who each gave inspirational and engaging presentations to the group, detailing their challenges from drawing up a sound business plan; finding reliable interested funders; patenting one’s idea/product to developing new concepts and products for the changing market.

One of the greatest outcomes of the day was the information sharing that took place between experts and amateurs in the business arena, with many young entrepreneurs finding mentors amongst the panel members.

Working hand-in-hand with the government, the Innovation Fund aims to improve the lives of South Africans by helping anyone with ideas for technological innovation to enter the business world and contribute to its positive growth.

The Innovation Fund is mandated to promote technological innovation through investing in late - stage research and development, Intellectual Property protection and commercialisation of novel and inventive South African technologies.

Annually, the National Innovation Challenge (NIC) hosts the Student Business Plan Competition which presents tertiary students – particularly those with a keen interest in entrepreneurship – with an opportunity to present their unique and innovative technological business concept to a panel of experts to be judged.

The most outstanding ideas submitted will then have the opportunity to be researched, developed, showcased and ultimately commercialised through the Innovation Fund.

Some of the criteria used to judge the entries include how the student originated the business idea; whether the idea is marketable; where would the entrepreneur obtain financial support and would the business service/product be sustainable in a changing economy?

To find out more information on the National Innovation Challenge, visit the Innovation Fund’s site at http://www.innovationfund.ac.za , the CPUT NIC sign-up site at http://active.cput.ac.za/nic or contact the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Innovation and Technology on 021 959 6203/6242.

By: Thando J. Moiloa

Photo: George Mvalo of CPUT (second from left) with the Joint Project Managers and guest speakers at the NIC workshop.

Written by CPUT News
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CPUT recently hosted the 2nd Research and Information Literacy Skills in the Workplace Seminar.

The hybrid event brought together industry partners, academics and librarians and attracted more than 250 participants.

“As we focus on preparing our students for industry, one of the important aspects, besides their chosen fields, is the ability to research and use information in the workplace. It is also important that industry and libraries have a dialogue regarding information skills in the workplace to ensure the academic sector, including academic libraries, understand the nature of these requirements,” said Janine Lockhart, Library Manager: Research Support and Faculty of Applied Sciences at CPUT.

“The purpose of this seminar is therefore to have open discussions between librarians, academics and industry partners with regards to research and information literacy skills within the workplace. Through this engagement we are hoping that members of industry can help us to ensure that we know and understand what skills are needed and how these skills are used within the workplace. This dialogue will inform the broader university community to improve and enhance curriculum development in information literacy so that we can produce graduates who can make a positive impact within the workplace.”

In his opening remarks, Prof Elisha Chiware, Director: CPUT Libraries, said the (Covid-19) lockdowns had created new opportunities for academic and research libraries globally to rethink how they deliver services to their clients to support learning, teaching, research and innovation and community engagement.

“We are also learning more of the demands from industry, especially in the areas of empowering all our graduates who are entering the workplace to be more tech savvy and especially in the area of data literacy.

He said one of the key emerging areas in almost all domains is the ability of any new employee to be able to handle data especially in how they source it, evaluate it, organise and interpret it as well as producing meaningful reports and providing their seniors with data for decision-making.

Dr David Phaho, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Technology Innovation and Partnerships delivered the official welcome.

“It is one thing to have a vast treasure trove of information resources at our disposal. There is still a need for students, researchers and scholars to constantly upgrade or upskill their knowledge to ensure proper, effective and efficient access to these resources. Technology innovations are evolving, so must our skills set to ensure we are not left behind on the information highway.”

The keynote speaker was Dennis Ocholla, Professor of Information Studies: University of Zululand. The title of his presentation was: The Three Sisters. Partnership between Research, Library and Library Information Science Education towards Information Literacy skills in the workplace.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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