AfricaLive: I’d like to begin on an issue causing concern across Africa now. When we see cuts to research budgets and reduced support for universities, how can we coordinate a global response to this challenge?

Professor Mpedi: It’s a big concern for institutions of higher learning to have research support cuts, especially in the global south where we rely heavily on donor and government funding. These institutions don’t have deep pockets or big endowments they can tap into to support much-needed resources for research.

This requires us to think outside the box about how we manage this challenging situation. Many economies are not doing well, and the lack of support isn’t mainly because of lack of political will – it’s also a challenge of prioritizing numerous competing issues.

Research is important. Science and research are important, especially cutting-edge science and research, because such research can contribute significantly to economic development and create new industries. Many countries in the global south are deindustrializing at a rapid pace, which makes it even more necessary for cutting-edge science and research to create new industries that will create job opportunities and develop skills.

What’s required is a deeper partnership approach between institutions of higher learning, governments, and industry partners so that we can address this issue of budget cuts. Institutions of higher learning must also invest heavily in ensuring that technology transfer efforts bear fruit through intellectual property protection. We cannot afford to lose the intellectual property that comes from PhD research and other studies. When patents are secured, there must be efforts to support incubation phases so that research can take off into companies that create jobs and support economic growth.

A partnership approach is necessary, and we need to be more deliberate in terms of technology transfer, entrepreneurship, and setting up enterprises flowing from university research, especially in the global south including South Africa.

I also have a sense that there’s a disconnect between institutions of higher learning and society in general. As institutions of higher learning, are we so focused on what we’re doing that we don’t invest enough to make the general public aware of our work so that there’s greater appreciation of the role and work done by universities?

AfricaLive: How is the University of Johannesburg contributing to South Africa’s vision of an innovative research ecosystem that delivers impact?

Professor Mpedi: I’m smiling when I see in your question two words that are part of our values. At UJ, we adopted a new strategic plan called Strategic Plan 2035, approved by our council last year. We work with four values – four “I’s”: inclusivity, innovation, impact, and integrity. Everything we do must be framed within these values. We need to innovate, we must be impactful, we must be inclusive, and most importantly, we must do things with integrity.

This rests on three pillars: societal impact and sustainability, global footprint and partnerships, and technology for the future, which are all intertwined. We say we are a Pan-African university, but we need to do more at home because context is important.

We don’t want to do research just for the sake of it – it must have a positive impact on society because of the challenges we’re facing. We’re fortunate that we have a strategy called “Global Excellence and Stature in the Fourth Industrial Revolution but for Societal Impact,” which is supported by our council with resources for catalytic initiatives across the university that drive innovation and impact while addressing local challenges.

We’re known as a university that embraces technology and fourth industrial revolution technologies. We do this so that people in South Africa, on the continent, and in the global south don’t see this as a threat.

AfricaLive: Can you highlight specific projects that demonstrate this approach?

Professor Mpedi: One excellent example is our partnership with the Department of Science and Innovation in South Africa on the 3D concrete printing project. Our colleagues in the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment work with 3D concrete printing devices to print low-cost houses. This machine can print a low-cost house that is strong in 8 hours, excluding the foundation setup.

When we launched this, people were concerned that this would take jobs away from builders. But it was an opportunity to educate people that these machines need to be serviced, so we need to train people to use them. We also showed that if this machine can print a house in eight hours, it means we’ll need more plumbers, more people to electrify these houses. Innovation can be feared, but as institutions of higher learning, it’s an opportunity to educate people.

My colleagues are researching alternative sources because the cement being used is expensive. They’re exploring ash, working with private partners to explore ashcrete, and even exploring the use of hemp to print houses. The beauty of hemp is that it’s fire retardant. You know the challenges in South Africa, especially now in winter, with informal settlements burning. If you can print low-cost houses that are durable, dignified, and fire retardant, we can make a huge difference.

Another example is our societal impact project where UJ adopted villages in Limpopo. It started with water-related issues using solar to pump water. We have a solar bakery there that’s now also connected to the grid because people couldn’t bake at night. We’re creating jobs – the bakery produces around 200 loaves of bread per day and services 10 communities.

Through partnerships with our colleagues from West Africa based at UJ, we identified that the environment there is suitable for growing cassava to deal with hunger issues. This is how partnerships on the continent can help us innovate, even in low-tech ways that are appropriate for local conditions and address local challenges.

AfricaLive: What does scaling up these innovations require?

Professor Mpedi: We need more partnerships. Some of the materials our colleagues are using to experiment with are byproducts of industries out there. Take ash – companies that burn coal, if we could partner with them to get more ash, we could print more houses and in the process show that there are opportunities for recycling.

To be impactful, it’s not only about economic impact. The aim should be that economic impact should be societally and environmentally friendly. We need partnerships where industry looks at ways to partner with universities, not only looking at financial resources but also coming together to address industry problems in the recycling space. We can do so much if we could get access to materials at no cost and then share the know-how and repurpose materials.

We should always aim to have social, environmental, and economic impact while focusing on local conditions and context. We want to educate people and show that it’s possible to have alternatives to environmentally harmful practices. As people with limited resources, especially in the global south, we tend sometimes to think that because we don’t have resources, solutions won’t work for us without trying.

I’ll give you an example – our electric vehicle buses project. We operate 18 buses for inter-campus transportation across our four campuses. We decided to replace internal combustion engine buses over time. We started with two buses in 2023, added three this year, so five of the internal combustion engine buses have been displaced. The aim is to eventually replace all 18 with electric vehicle buses.

People asked if we weren’t scared because of power shortages that our buses might get stuck. If we thought like that, we wouldn’t have implemented this. There are huge savings we’re making while contributing to carbon reduction. Fifteen percent of our energy comes from solar. If we listened to such concerns, we wouldn’t have done this.

These buses are 60% local – they’re locally assembled with 60% of components being local. We’re looking forward to the day when these buses are 100% local. It will bring costs down and help others adopt them. Many components like batteries are currently imported, but with time this will build confidence and local knowledge, and hopefully others will join us.

AfricaLive: Where can South Africa lead in innovation, and where can investing in innovation take the nation?

Professor Mpedi: South Africa has the infrastructure for technological innovation. It has led in the past and I believe it can with the right investments from all parties. We also have opportunities in sustainable development and green energy. When it comes to sustainability and green energy, researching these opportunities can really help us.

If we invest in innovation, we’ll be guaranteeing the future of our children and our economy. Unsustainable consumption must be a thing of the past. We must always be concerned about sustainability. If we invest wisely in technologies for the future, we’ll be creating new industries. If we invest wisely in renewables, we’ll be securing the future.

South Africa is deindustrializing. We need to come up with ways of reindustrializing this country but with new industries, and with the right innovation, we can.

At our Doornfontein campus, we have a mining simulator supported by one of the big mining houses. It’s a virtual mine where you can go in using augmented reality and virtual reality. Students learn how to blast – it’s incredible. The aim is to help our professors research and come up with new technologies because mining is evolving. As a country, we rely a lot on mining.

One participant when we unveiled this said he hopes the research done there will come up with technologies that will help the mining industry mine minerals that with today’s technology cannot be accessed. If we could come up with these technologies, we’ll be able to contribute more to the economy.

Think about mine dumps from gold mines where, with old technologies, gold could not be recovered. Now those mine dumps are disappearing because ways and means have been found to recover gold from those dumps. Through innovation, we can contribute positively, do what was previously deemed undoable or impossible, and secure our economies.

AfricaLive: What does internationalization mean to the University of Johannesburg?

Professor Mpedi: There’s an African saying: if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go with others. Gone are the days where we do things all the time as individuals. We started with the issue of shrinking budgets for science and research – we’re better off if we work together.

Gone are the days where we compete over who has the biggest equipment. We need to share, coordinate this type of investment, work together, and that way we’ll achieve a lot in a smart way where we save resources.

We have partnerships where three universities – UJ is a partner with university A and also university B, and university B and A are also partners. Sometimes instead of doing the same thing with university A and the same thing with university B, we’re exploring trilateral research opportunities. Today it works best when you have reliable partners internationally that you can work with to apply for resources.

Our partners globally can benefit from our know-how and efforts, and we can benefit from theirs. This is the direction we’re taking.

AfricaLive: What are the key considerations for education leaders adapting to advancing technology and artificial intelligence?

Professor Mpedi: Leaders must be intentional and have a long-term view when it comes to these things. They should not adopt technologies for the sake of it – they must consider the local context. Sometimes technologies available out there are not suitable for local circumstances. They should not be afraid to sit down and invest resources to come up with locally built or developed technological innovations.

Sometimes things don’t come together, but they must stay the course and keep building these things. Collaboration is key – being one-dimensional doesn’t help.

I’ll give you an example. Last year, the Faculty of Law at UJ partnered with colleagues at the business school and developed a virtual court program that won Innovation of the Year in Africa last year.

We must keep pushing ourselves, challenging ourselves, being intentional, and always striving to address local challenges. Before we go out, let’s look at what’s available and challenge ourselves to come up with homegrown solutions where necessary, where it promises to be cost-effective.

Two weeks ago, we introduced the UJDigital – the digital twin of the brick and mortar campus. It’s growing strong because we want to provide access. A lot of countries can learn from such innovation because if we talk about impactful projects for society and the economy, people need skills and we need to provide access.

We look at this holistically – the university is not something reserved for the fortunate few. We’re confident we’re going to open this university up for people all over, as long as they have internet connectivity, particularly on the African continent. We’ve seen a lot of online traffic from people interacting with this platform, making inquiries, many from the African continent.

Innovation we don’t see just in terms of research, but as a university, it’s holistic in terms of what we do to offer accessible excellence. In our enrollment processes, less than 1% of queries are escalated to a human being – all are handled by bots. WhatsApp has been integrated into our systems to register students. You don’t need to send a copy of your ID – you can take a photo, we use facial recognition. We look at innovation holistically.

AfricaLive: Are you continuing to develop new projects?

Professor Mpedi: At UJ there are many projects. There’s a village in the Eastern Cape where we’ve set up hydro panels with the support of a generous donor. They harvest a minimum of 8,000 liters from the air. That village had water scarcity issues. We’ve also established hydroponics and aquaponics for food security and set up food tunnels at a place in Mpumalanga called Pumlani.

You can’t do one thing and relax. You need to address challenges from all dimensions. We look at innovation not only from a research point of view – to provide a space where these things can happen, we need proper systems for teaching and learning. You need an integrated approach.

We have technology stations such as the  UJ Process, Energy & Environment Technology Station (UJ-PEETS) which does amazing work especially in the water area. Water is one of the biggest challenges we’re facing. Clean water, using research to come up with solutions to make sure our rivers are clean, is extremely important to note.

We invest in providing accessible excellence so that whatever we’re doing eventually is accessible.