A gap analysis of the South African innovation system for water

Abstract

This paper draws on the innovation literature to analyse the South African system of innovation for water. Two major approaches to science and innovation from the innovation systems literature are described and compared: the neoclassical or ‘market-failure’ linear model of innovation, and the more complex and more recent innovation systems approach. It is argued that the innovation systems approach is a useful basis of analysis because of its emphasis on the diffusion of knowledge and the factors which tend to affect it – in comparison with the neoclassical model’s assumption of perfect knowledge transfer. An analysis of gaps was undertaken using an interactive web-based puzzle-building activity with participants in the water sector. The primary gaps identified are not those that state actors continue to focus on in policy interventions; instead, they include the need to enable effective demand by end users, to facilitate more direct interaction between users and researchers, and to involve the private sector much more strongly in water innovation.

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