Page 14 - University of Pretoria Research Review 2017

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The South African SDG Hub at UP
South Africa’s universities produce a vast amount
of research, a great deal of which is relevant
to realising national, continental and global development goals. Yet, a relatively small proportion of this research reaches decision-makers in the public sector. This challenge is not unique to South Africa or the developing world.
the most relevant African research. This challenge gave rise to the idea of collating and disseminating useful and potentially transformative African research and innovation to African policymakers and, by so doing, to build a research-informed and shared understanding of development challenges, and progress toward the achievement of what has come to be known as the SDGs.
By the end of 2017, more than 600 research items and numerous news features were assembled on the Hub’s online platform.
The Hub’s first iteration was launched in 2017 by Minister Jeff Radebe, then Minister in the Presidency, and it has since received support from a number of South African government departments.
The Hub currently consists of a network of online and face-to-face platforms. It is supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and an increasing number of researchers from universities across South Africa form part of its network. Importantly too, its membership of the prestigious Sustainable Development Solutions Network – the premier global network of universities that is backed by the United Nations and supports the realisation of the SDGs – embeds the Hub in a network of like- minded institutions, thereby broadening information contribution and its dissemination reach.
In addition to these activities, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) grant from Microsoft is making it possible for a group of postgraduate students at UP to investigate the potential of AI to summarise and synthesise peer- reviewed research into policy-relevant formats.
It is maintained by a small group of enthusiastic workers, strengthened by a steady flow of information on translational research that informs and can contribute to the achievement of the SDGs in Africa.
From left: Sa’diyah Ebrahim, Willem Fourie, Isak van der Walt and Lebone Nkhumeleni
A key barrier for the uptake of research into policymaking is the absence of appropriate platforms to collect, synthesise and disseminate potentially relevant research. In response to this challenge, Professor Willem Fourie at the Albert Luthuli Centre for Responsible Leadership, with the support of policymakers in the African Union and South African government, designed the South African SDG Hub.
The genesis of this initiative dates as far back as
2014. At that time, the 2030 Agenda and SDGs were still known simply as the post-2015 agenda. Yet, policymakers voiced the concern that the realisation of this agenda will be impeded by inadequate access to
The Hub’s online platform is available at www.SASDGHub.org.