Do you have what it takes to solve a societal challenge? The Unisa Directorate of Innovation, Technology Transfer and Commercialisation (DITTC) is calling on registered students to participate in the Unisa Innovation Challenge Programme. Through its goal of building and cultivating a research culture at Unisa, this programme intends to encourage and support students to get creative and develop innovative solutions that could solve societal challenges.

In its call for applications, the programme describes an innovative idea as a new approach aimed at solving an identified societal challenge. It can also be an idea that is established to improve existing solutions.

The call for applications further describes societal challenges in this context as problems that society is grappling to resolve. These may be national or community-based problems, and examples of these include poverty, food security, access to health, achieving inclusive and equitable quality education, achieving gender parity, sluggish economic growth, unemployment, access to health care and access to cheap reliable sources of energy.

Given the current global Covid-19 crisis, students are encouraged to propose solutions that will serve to address the pandemic. Unisa strives to produce skilled and competent students who will become the drivers of the economy, influencers of social consciousness and the greatest generators of ideas for a sustainable future for this continent. This programme intends to develop highly competent and confident young innovators who have the capacity to conceive and implement innovative solutions geared towards resolving societal challenges.

Basanda Pongoma, Technology Transfer Support Officer at the DITTC, explains that the country faces a number of challenges, such as access to healthcare, housing, potable water, sluggish economic growth, poverty, unemployment, and many others. "In light of this, the National Development Plan places innovation as one of the weapons in our arsenal to address these societal challenges," he says. "This programme provides a platform for Unisa students to bring forth their innovative ideas that are targeted at solving societal challenges."

Success stories

Pongoma adds that this is not the first time the directorate is running the programme. "The programme started in 2013 and provides seed funding to help students develop their innovative ideas," he says. "Over time we have had a number of interesting ideas which were proposed by students. Realising the potential of some of these ideas, we offer guidance and support. In 2019, we came up with a support programme called InnovationSense, which is a seven-week business model training course. In brief, students who have previously participated in the programme have come up with some outstanding ideas, which include a textbook trading platform for university students, an accommodation sourcing portal for students in rural settings, a device to remove invasive species in dams, a low-cost water filter for bulk filtering of water in rural communities, and a warning device for victims of gender-based violence."

Casting a wider net

Based on its work on this programme, Unisa has also been instrumental in the creation of the Tshwane Innovation Challenge for students. While in talks with the City of Tshwane (CoT) on other matters, Ayanda Noma, Director of the DITTC, suggested the idea of an innovation competition for students. The CoT liked the idea and developed the concept. It was launched last year in November and invitations were sent to all higher education institutions in Tshwane.

This inter-varsity competition is fast gaining traction and has grown to include industry stakeholders such as Eskom. There were more than 130 entries from, among others, the Tshwane University of Technology, the University of Pretoria, and, of course, Unisa.

Cool prizes to be won

In the Unisa Innovation Challenge, students stand a chance to win cool prizes. These include, among others, seed funding and an opportunity to participate in international student exchange programmes. Pongoma says that the exchange exposure opportunity aims to afford students an experience that will aid them to develop their ideas. "The exchange platforms offer international exposure and participants hail from countries like Brazil, India, France, the United States of America, and other African countries like Zambia and Tanzania," he says. "In the exchange programme, students get an opportunity to pitch their ideas, and receive training and mentoring from highly skilled entrepreneurs, professionals and funders to improve their projects."

Unisa continually strives to be the African university shaping futures in the service of humanity. Through participation in this programme, your idea could be the change the world, society, or your community has been waiting for. Full details on how to participate on this programme are available here.

* By Tshimangadzo Mphaphuli, Senior Journalist, Department of Institutional Advancement