Luci Abrahams

This article reviews some basic features of inequality in South African society and in the national innovation system, using national research survey data. It poses questions about how sub-national innovation systems might evolve in the 'less favoured regions' of South Africa. It commences with a brief overview of interpersonal inequality and the regional bias in inequality with respect to the economy. It explores this regional bias in relation to its effects on the innovation system. It integrates earlier research on innovation system perspectives in two sub-national environments, the KwaZulu-Natal and Free State provinces. The article uses particular themes from the literature on regional economies pertinent to an analysis of innovation in less favoured regions and concludes that South Africa needs locally-informed strategic approaches to push forward the formation of sub-national innovation systems, using in particular the infrastructure and resources available in universities.

SARUA is a not-for-profit leadership association of the heads of the public universities in the 15 countries of the SADC region. Its mission is to promote, strengthen and increase higher education, research and innovation through expanded inter-institutional collaboration and capacity-building initiatives throughout the region. It promotes universities as major contributors towards building knowledge economies, national and regional socioeconomic and cultural development, and for the eradication of poverty.

SOUTH AFRICA ISBN 978-0-9814099-8-6 SARUA is a not-for-profit leadership association of the heads of the public universities in the 15 countries of the SADC region. Its mission is to promote, strengthen and increase higher education, research and innovation through expanded inter-institutional collaboration and capacity-building initiatives throughout the region. It promotes universities as major contributors towards building knowledge economies, national and regional socio-economic and cultural development, and for the eradication of poverty. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. The authors are responsible for the choice and the presentation of the facts and data contained in this document and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of SARUA and do not make any commitment for the Association. STUDY AUTHORS: PRODUCTION: PROOF READER: DESIGN: LAYOUT:

This article reviews some basic features of inequality in South African society and in the national innovation system, using national research survey data. It poses questions about how sub-national innovation systems might evolve in the ‘less favoured regions’ of South Africa. It commences with a brief overview of interpersonal inequality and the regional bias in inequality with respect to the economy. It explores this regional bias in relation to its effects on the innovation system. It integrates earlier research on innovation system perspectives in two sub-national environments, the KwaZulu-Natal and Free State provinces. The article uses particular themes from the literature on regional economies pertinent to an analysis of innovation in less favoured regions and concludes that South Africa needs locally-informed strategic approaches to push forward the formation of sub-national innovation systems, using in particular the infrastructure and resources available in universities.

Background: Theory of Change for Development is a free online course developed at an African institution to strengthen evaluation capacity in the region. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) provide a platform for building skills at scale in the region. Scholars of evaluation have long pointed to a gap between supply and demand that frustrates both evaluation practitioners and commissioners. This article explores the possibilities and limitations of MOOCs to bridge this gap. Objectives: This article seeks to explore the role open online training can play in evaluation capacity development. It considers the implications of one course’s experience of evaluationsector- blended learning and instructional design in Africa for strengthening regional communities of practice, and for evaluation capacity development. Method: This article draws on current theories on online learning, specific course data from the Theory of Change course as well as experiential learning from two processes of re...

Abstract: The tipping point for African research and innovation will not be merely the ability to fully access and use the new abundance of global knowledge and ideas but to make an active and significant contribution to its creation. This study has identified key constraints ...

Abstract: The tipping point for African research and innovation will not be merely the ability to fully access and use the new abundance of global knowledge and ideas but to make an active and significant contribution to its creation. This study has identified key constraints ...

Abstract: The tipping point for African research and innovation will not be merely the ability to fully access and use the new abundance of global knowledge and ideas but to make an active and significant contribution to its creation. This study has identified key constraints ...