National sector skills agency the Chemical Industries Education and Training Authority (Chieta) and industrial research organisation the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that will facilitate the two entities’ collaboration on research, development and innovation.

This will support the implementation of future and priority skills in digitisation, innovation, green chemistry and advance South Africa’s Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan (ERRP), while also enabling collaboration on skills development and training initiatives, as well as support implementation of future Chieta Smart Skills Centres, says Chieta CEO Yershen Pillay.

The MoU allows the entities to collaborate on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and small, medium-sized and microenterprise development and support projects.

“It also strengthens the existing partnerships and allows us to explore future collaborations, particularly in the innovation and green hydrogen space,” he says.

“The partnership is key to driving skills development and transformation initiatives aimed at women in leadership through STEM projects that are designed to grow the number of females entering the industry as a result of accurate profiling. Accurate gap analysis will result in the correct percentage shift towards the transformation of supply, as per the Chieta Research and Skills Planning and balanced scorecard measures.”

This partnership will also benefit skills development in the country, as it is envisaged that the partnership will contribute to addressing the skills development element of the ERRP, he adds.

Further, Chieta has awarded the CSIR an initial grant of R1.2-million as part of supporting and developing master’s and PhD students. This initiative is particularly important as the latest Chieta sector skills planning data reflected that in the period from 2016 to 2020, 4 109 master’s degrees were awarded in the engineering fields related to the chemical industry.

“This number has grown on average by 1% a year, while the total number of doctoral degrees decreased on average by 10.3% a year from 2016 to 2020. These statistics have an impact on the chemical industry’s skills supply as the sector relies heavily on high level skills, research and development.

“The aim of the project is to support postgraduate students at master’s and PhD level with training in critical emerging niche areas of nanotechnology, biorefining, biomanufacturing and the hydrogen economy.”

This partnership will enable the two entities to drive innovative skills development projects that focus on digital skills, and specialised technologies to produce a future-ready workforce, says CSIR CEO Dr Thulani Dlamini.

“It is critical that we prepare young people and the industry to respond to the developing digitalised and data intensive environment in which we now find ourselves by building an environment that ensures that we have essential skills to remain globally competitive.

“Our world class facilities and technical expertise will enable Chieta to deliver on its mandate of supporting the development of a future-ready workforce. We look forward to a fruitful collaboration that will see us positively contribute to the development of a sustainable chemical industry in South Africa,” he says.