Soapbox Post

My biggest realization on our trip to South Africa was the idealism associated with participating in a cutting edge science like nanoscience. I found that by and large, the scientists, in particular South African nationals and other Africans, seemed inspired by the idea that they were contributing to the emergence of a new South Africa that could become globally relevant. Given the long term benefits of the nano effort, they all had well-thought out rationales for their work beyond career advancement, remuneration, and whether or not their research, strictly speaking, came to fruition or not. This came across to me in three terms that were used over and over by the scientists we talked to: “capacity building,” “beneficiation,” a term I’d never heard before, and “strategic area.”

The argument for capacity building was basically that even though the benefits of nano – such as cheaper, more efficient devices – could not necessarily be realized in the short term, the field still provided an opportunity to train emerging scientists and engineers in a cutting-edge field. In this way, they could be in a better position to take full advantage of nanotechnology, when it became more mature. In other words, if one is going to train scientists to synthesize and characterize materials at the micrometer (or micron) scale, then why not extend those techniques to the nanometer scale if the capability already exists? Why not be prepared to take advantage of any possible new opportunities down the road, while being very prudent about potentially negative consequences?

The term “beneficiation” appeared to apply primarily to mining-related activities, but in general, it meant adding value to raw materials by refining them in the country before exporting them abroad. For instance, there was an acute awareness that the highly purified platinum that the labs imported from Europe for their experiments had originally come from South Africa at a fraction of the cost and that therefore, efforts should be made for the country to process its own platinum to a higher grade. This unbalanced economic relationship, which according to dependency theorists, helps explain Africa’s subordinate position in global economic relations, has also long been recognized by many African intellectuals as a crucial development challenge that has yet to be seriously addressed.  Yet, the term “beneficiation,” which addresses this problem directly, was part of the lexicon of the South African scientists and engineers, not just policymakers, and this active consciousness was surprising to me.

The third rationale was the identification of certain areas within nano as being strategic. The reasoning here was that since South African scientists could not realistically catch up with the advanced industrialized countries in all areas of nano, they should pursue certain areas where they may have a better competitive advantage such as hydrogen generation and storage, cheaper organic solar cells, or fuel cells that use platinum as the electrode material.

The main reason why all of this struck me so sharply was because of the contrast with my previous reference points for S&T activity: the U.S. and West Africa. In the U.S., science and technology are regarded as normal and routine, and even though their importance is consistently stressed, I had the impression that it was mainly to remain a global leader in S&T, as much as it was to find technological solutions to emerging needs, wants and challenges. In West Africa, I had the impression that there was a certain resignation in the view that the region would mainly be a consumer of S&T from the rest of the world for the foreseeable future and that not much could really be done about it. But in South Africa, there was a palpable optimism, a type of techno-nationalism almost, that the country could soon turn the corner to becoming technologically proficient – and in a much more broad-based and germane manner than had been the case historically.

About the Author: Diran Soumonni is a doctoral student in the School of Public Policy at Georgia Tech and a member of the team from the CNS Thematic Research Cluster on Equity, Equality, and Responsibility researching how nanotechnology research and development in South Africa can benefit the poor.