Passage to progress - Nicoline Basson

The CSIR's journey of change, 1945-1995

Large hardcover

Dust jacket has light wear

Passage to Progress was written to commemorate the CSIR’s fiftieth anniversary celebrated in October 1995. The book takes a brief look at the dawn of technology in Africa, its subsequent progress, and the CSIR’s role in its development. The main focus is on the past 15 years, with an in-depth look at the transformation processes embarked upon within the CSIR; the learning experience associated with radical change; the effects of this change in policy in terms of the organisation and its people, and the way the CSIR is fulfilling its role in a rapidly changing environment, both locally and internationally.

Created by the Government after World War II, to provide research support for South Africa’s primary and secondary industries, the CSIR has adjusted its strategy according to the demands of the times. These demands varied from shifts in Government approaches and priorities prompted by political considerations, to changes in international trends, financial constraints that forced the CSIR to substantially increase its income from the private sector, and the realities of the new South Africa, which have brought the CSIR closer to the development and societal needs of southern Africa.

The CSIR’s research and engineering capacity is the largest on the African continent. It has fifty years of experience and has functioned under three different systems of government. Over the last decade particularly, the primary mission has become the successful innovation and implementation of technology.

Passage to Progress traces the CSIR’s journey of change from the ‘blue skies’ approach to research to the down-to-earth relevance of its present integrated role in the national science and technology strategy, which is to promote economic growth and a better quality of life for all South Africans.