Kagiso Jansen, project director, said the participants must present their concepts against a set of criteria, and the top three winners will receive prizes.

The initiative operates under the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, which runs a regional innovation support platform across Mangaung and the broader province.

“We come in, we help them to conceptualise, to come up with something that can resolve, or maybe farmers who experience stock theft and come up with something that can assist, maybe a tracking device on the animals or any other thing,” said Jansen.

Kagiso Jansen, project director. Photo supplied

The support platform remains active across all seasons to ensure that regional ideas obtain technical assistance up until completion, focusing on baseline skills development.

It assists students, community organisations, and small enterprises to develop new technologies or improve existing services, providing resources like skills training, software engineering, and connections to investors.

It accepts entries from all demographics, including unemployed youth, women, and people with disabilities. Current projects under development include tracking devices for community safety applications and digital tutoring platforms for students.

“It’s basically open for everyone that is in a position to create something new,” said Jansen.

Applicants who do not win the pitching prizes still receive access to the long-term development programme. The platform requires participants to sign non-disclosure agreements, which secure their conceptual designs while technical gaps are assessed.

Partners such as the product development technology station at the Central University of Technology assist inventors with physical prototyping and three-dimensional printing, Jansen said. Because the programme relies entirely on co-funding, management continues to seek additional corporate and public stakeholders to accommodate growing participant numbers.

The initiative aims to shift regional mindsets toward systematic problem-solving, which allows residents to address local challenges like crime or agricultural theft through commercial technology. Management urges members of the public with functional ideas to submit applications through the programme administrator.

“We really like to advise people to get involved in innovation and become people who solve problems in this country,” said Jansen.

OFM News/Refilwe Bekane sm

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