KZNDoT Hosts the 2nd Africa Technology Transfer Conference

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport will be the proud hosts of the 2nd Africa Technology Transfer Conference from the 20th to the 23rd of September 2005 in Pietermaritzburg. The 1st Africa Technology Transfer Conference was held in Arusha, Tanzania in May 2001 under the auspices of the Tanzania T2 Centre.

Bheki Cele MEC: Transport, Community Safety & Liaison	Dr Kwazi Mbanjwa CEO: KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport

The conference attracted delegates from many parts of the world including Africa and the United States. Following on the success of the first conference, a decision was made to stage similar conferences in other African countries every two years to create a forum for exchange of experiences and ideas relevant to the transfer of road transportation technologies.

South Africa was selected as the host country for the 2nd Africa T2 conference and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport T2 Centre was nominated to host it.

The Department is committed to supporting the activities of the T2 Centre by providing the required financial and human resources. So great is the commitment that the department decided to renovate three floors of an existing building to provide modern facilities for the T2 Centre. The renovations have been completed and the centre is now housed in the new facilities.

The Theme for the 2005 T2 conference is "Transportation Technology Transfer for Africa's Renaissance". Papers will be presented on the following four broad themes:

• Theme 1: Technology Transfer Centres - challenges and opportunities
• Theme 2: Socio-economic aspects in transportation
• Theme 3: Integrated transport planning and management
• Theme 4: Appropriate innovations in transportation

Papers covering the various aspects of these themes will be presented at the conference by engineers, technicians, and policy makers from South Africa, the rest of Africa and other parts of the world.

The T2 concept was initiated by the US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to provide a forum for cost effective transfer of transportation technologies to local and state government transportation departments. Building on the success of T2 Centres in the US, FHWA started to export the idea to other continents especially South America and Africa. At present there are many T2 Centres in Latin America, Africa and the former Eastern Europe.

The first Technology Transfer Centre in South Africa was established in 1996 when the National Department of Transport signed an agreement with the US Federal Highway Administration. The centre is currently run by the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) on behalf of the Department of Transport. The second T2 Centre was started at the Transportation division of the CSIR in 2000.

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport signed a Memorandum of Understanding with FHWA in 2000 to start the first of the provincial T2 Centres. It was envisaged at that stage that the KZN T2 Centre would assist in expanding the T2 Centre concept to other provinces. Since its inception in 2000 the T2 Centre in the KZN Department of Transport has established itself as a major provider of technology transfer services for the Department and for external customers. Services provided by the T2 Centre include:

• Developing & facilitating technical training;
• Collaborating with external service providers to facilitate courses;
• Providing mentorship training to graduate engineers;
• Supporting additional mathematics and science classes for learners in disadvantaged schools;
• Supporting other activities aimed at encouraging study of mathematics and science by high school learners;
• Providing experiential training to S3 technikon students to enable them complete their studies;
• Carrying out and/or coordinating research on issues of interest to the Department;
• Managing the Departmental infrastructure system; and
• Managing the technical resource centre.

More details on the conference and the latest updates can be found here.

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