| Introduction : Introduction Company required to support the development of the innovation entrepreneurship ecosystem at South African universities. The purpose of this appointment/TOR is to improve the extent of innovation commercialisation by student innovators at South African universities. The overarching goal is to use innovation commercialisation to enhance youth employment and the country’s economy. By establishing improved ecosystem support for student innovators, such as driving industry/market led research and development (R&D), enhancing the capacity of university staff to scale and commercialize research, increasing access to funding for R&D and growing the skills of technical innovators, the hope is that the HEIF through the services requested herein, will grow the return on investment for R&D in South Africa and expand the country’s knowledge economy. SCOPE OF TENDER a) Major activities expected to be undertaken by the service provider/company include the following. Note that the term intervention(s) refers to the themes/activities listed under workstreams one and two in section B. o Undertake desktop research, stakeholder engagements, ecosystem assessments, etc., to design the interventions under work streams one and two which will meet the targeted themes/requirements as outlined in section B and fulfil ecosystem support gaps. o Implement designed interventions to meet the desired goals of the HEIF. This may include bolstering existing programmes where needed and implementing new programmes to fill major ecosystem gaps. o Report on project progress in intervals as agreed to with DSI/UNDP. This includes the submission of an initial inception report, a mid-term report, and a final closure report. This includes monitoring and evaluation (M&E) feedback. o Progress reporting will include written and sometimes verbal feedback (via presentations for UNDP/DSI). UNDP and DSI will also conduct site visits during the project (spot-checks). o Implement opening and closing ceremonial events for project interventions, including launch events, certifications, awards, etc., for project participants and stakeholders. o Gather and reflect on the knowledge emerging from the project and transform this into case studies or other knowledge products to share this information publicly. The goals is to use such products to support innovation entrepreneurship in SA beyond the lifespan of the project. The knowledge product should focus on success stories of innovation entrepreneurship in South Africa, draw comparisons with other African and international cases, and compare successes between South African universities. o Ensure that the proposed interventions are customized for each locality, to ensure ecosystem gaps unique to each location are met. o Given that there are 26 universities in South Africa, reaching them all through this project will be difficult. Therefore UNDP/DSI welcomes proposals that prioritize interventions in previously disadvantaged universities, and distributes these interventions across different geographic locations in the country. Suggested universities include University of Fort Hare, University of Venda, University of Zululand, or the University of the Western Cape. Universities not classified as previously disadvantaged may participate to a lesser extent, with the added goal of unearthing success stories related to innovation entrepreneurship in South Africa. These universities may include University of Stellenbosch, University of Cape Town, University of the Witwatersrand or the University of Pretoria. o The project must create mechanisms to enhance relationships/links between universities and potential funders, commercialisation specialists, and industry, in the long term. o As per section B, the proposed project must benefit both student beneficiaries and the innovation commercialisation ecosystem in the country. o To ensure the sustainability of the HEIF long term, the proposed project must make recommendations on its future sustainability, including opportunities to raise financial resources, areas of improvement, strategic direction for future interventions based on ecosystem needs, etc.
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