Partners

AIMday Advanced Manufacturers is organised by the Regional Innovation Forum, in partnership with the Innovation Support and Technology Transfer department of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) and the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber.

Regional Innovation Forum

The Nelson Mandela Bay / Cacadu District Regional Innovation Forum (RIF) aims to stimulate, support and promote innovation in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. RIF was established in 2010 and was officially launched on 3 March 2011. The Forum is an initiative of fourteen local organisations from government, industry and academia that have joined forces to drive innovation within the Nelson Mandela Bay and Cacadu District municipal region of the Eastern Cape, supported by the national Department of Science and Technology.

The Forum aims to:

  • Bring together industry, government and academia in the region to create an enabling environment for innovation to occur and to create synergies between the role players.
  • Link role players together to ensure there is less duplication on projects, and will drive specific projects such as a local incubator / science park.
  • Work with Provincial Government to drive innovation activities in line with Provincial priorities. To this end, RIF have been involved in the development of the Eastern Cape Innovation Strategy.

The Forum constitutes all interested parties guided by a volunteer Steering Committee (SC), chaired by the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) is a South African tertiary institution, formed through a merger of three institutions in 2005, namely the University of Port Elizabeth, Port Elizabeth Technikon and Vista University (Port Elizabeth campus). It is a comprehensive university offering professional and vocational training. The university spans six campuses – five of which are located in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape province and one in George in the Western Cape province of South Africa.

The Innovation Support and Technology Transfer department of the NMMU is the department within NMMU responsible for implementing AIMday.

The primary purpose and function of the Innovation Support and Technology Transfer department is to support innovation and technology transfer activities within the NMMU and to promote and give effect to the national policy on the protection and exploitation of intellectual property (IP) developed at publicly funded research organisations.

Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber

The Chamber is a non-profit organisation, representing the interests of business, large and small in the Nelson Mandela Bay region. It is the largest business association in the Eastern Cape with a membership of approximately 800 businesses