Johannesburg - The South African Innovation Summit (SAIS) kicked off with Fem-In-Tech where top 20 female tech start-ups pitched their ideas to a panel of judges/investors, hoping to get a big break to kick start their businesses.
The Inventors Garage is no different as the top 21 incredible inventors from across the continent and different tech sectors will get the opportunity to showcase their prototypes to the world. While showcasing these products, inventors will gain media visibility, market exposure, funding, and incubation opportunities.
The Inventors Garage had two rounds prior to the summit where evaluations were done to screen submissions for validity and feasibility based on the information submitted by the inventors and the other one was selecting the top 21 submissions to go through to the summit where they will showcase their products.
The partnership between the Department of Trade, Industry and Competiton (the DTIC) and (SAIS) hosted Inventors Garage where inventors went head to head to showcase their prototypes at the summit. The competition is a tribute to the spirit of innovation and the work of dedicated inventors whose pioneering inventions provide answers to some of the biggest challenges of our times.
The Deputy Minister of Trade Industry and Competition, Nomalungelo Gina said the DTIC is excited about hosting the Inventors Garage competition this year and profile the inventions of young South Africans as well as the outputs of our technology incentive programme.
“I am looking forward to observing and soliciting feedback on how inventors have managed to adapted and channel their creative talents during the so-called ‘new normal’ we have all been subjected to as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, that has since uprooted every aspect of life as we knew it,” said Gina.
Gina also adds that the summit is foreseen to bring about an increase in awareness of innovation and new digital technologies especially to the existing black industrialists and grassroots innovators through collaboration with different economic actors.
IOL TECH