The impact of commercializing industrial research and development (IR&D) products under a challenging macro-economic environment: the 5-year case of Zimbabwes SIRDC

The Scientific and Industrial and Development Centre (SIRDC), established in 1993 under the provisions of the Zimbabwe Research Act of 1986, was mandated to carrying out strategic and cutting-edge industrial research and development (R&D) for the benefit of key productive sectors. Mid-2003 SIRDC introduced a business approach to all R&D activities with the full backing of the governing 13-member Board of Directors. The new SIRDC approach was anchored by the Stage Gate process and used two joint venture wings whose impact on Zimbabwean economy have been well-above expectations despite the harsh macro-economic environment. Above 500 direct jobs and over 26 000 indirect jobs for surrounding communities have been created and saved respectively. Some researchers have been retained through placement under better-paying jobs and injections into the fiscus through pay-as-you-earn and value-added tax have been going up monthly whilst key sectors have been seriously anchored through purchases of materials, spares and consumables. Fiscus injections are projected at an equivalence of US$350,000.00 per year whilst purchases from other sectors surpassed an equivalence of US$1.03 million/month. The demand for SIRDC services rose as companies are forced to look within Zimbabwe whilst the current supply constraints have made product and service marketing relatively easy. Various Zimbabwe technical universities, colleges, government technical departments as well as state research centers have now adopted the R&D commercialistion approach. This paper urges peer IR&D centers to commercialise their outputs for the benefit of shareholders, prospective employees, fiscus authorities, financial services sectors and other product sectors supplying raw materials or using IR&D outputs as inputs into own production processes.