South Africa's national system of innovation and knowledge economy evolution: thinking about 'less favoured regions'

Abstract

This article reviews some basic features of inequality in South African society and in the national innovation system, using national research survey data. It poses questions about how sub-national innovation systems might evolve in the ‘less favoured regions’ of South Africa. It commences with a brief overview of interpersonal inequality and the regional bias in inequality with respect to the economy. It explores this regional bias in relation to its effects on the innovation system. It integrates earlier research on innovation system perspectives in two sub-national environments, the KwaZulu-Natal and Free State provinces. The article uses particular themes from the literature on regional economies pertinent to an analysis of innovation in less favoured regions and concludes that South Africa needs locally-informed strategic approaches to push forward the formation of sub-national innovation systems, using in particular the infrastructure and resources available in universities.