SABS Design Institute is official design partner at Innovation Summit

The South African design community faces the challenge of marshalling the power of design to contribute meaningfully to the national challenges of high unemployment, poverty and inequality in the country. South Africa needs design capability to translate research more effectively, developing invention into sustainable economic opportunities and market successes. The country also needs a design community that is responsive to the needs identified by the national economic and industrial growth policies. To this end, the SABS Design Institute facilitates access to the South African design sector, whether for design demand, supply or support.

The SABS Design Institute's position

With a rich history of more than 40 years, the DI's strategic intent has been realigned to address current national priorities (job creation, poverty alleviation and equality) with a focus on facilitating design support and design capacity building, while creating a general awareness of the value-adding quality of design.

The SABS Design Institute's role in addressing the country's challenges of job creation, poverty alleviation and equality

The Design Institute's mission is to be the centre of knowledge and delivery of design - a national change agent - aiding the improvement of South Africa's competitiveness by unlocking the economic value and direct socio-economic contribution that design can bring to our economy.

Its role is to be a catalyst of economic equity through design.

Design

The Design Institute views Design as the way we create the things we make.

All of the human interventions that have changed the world to make it a liveable place have been designed, be it an education system, a mobile phone network or a consumer product. The design process uses creativity and rational thinking at different points and is best done by a team of people, each bringing a specific set of skills to the table. Design is a disciplined process that combines creativity and rational thinking.

Design is a powerful discipline and the Design Institute strives to promote the value for the national good, by connecting design talent with design users.

Go-to-Hub for design

To do so, the SABS Design Institute has a vision to become the "Go-to-design-hub" in South Africa and selected African markets by running and managing its design process. This process transforms organizations while connecting design talent with design users.

In this regard, the SABS Design Institute recognizes that it serves as the primary public facilitator and national voice on design for all South African designers. The lead indicator of the Institute's success is the direct contribution that it makes to the National Development Plan (NDP) and the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP) commitments, which ultimately should translates in socio-economic

Focus areas of the Design Institute

• Promotion: A conscious drive to become a centre of knowledge, and targeted delivery of design, as a national change agent.
• Education: Helping to improve South Africa's competitiveness through elevating the socio-economic impact of design, directly playing a transformational role within the design talent landscape.
• Support: Managing the promotion of an applied design process for the national good and connecting design talent with design users.
• Policy: Facilitate the formalisation of design as a critical element of the National System of Innovation, ultimately leading to job creation and economic emancipation.

The SABS Design Institute's view on innovation

• Innovation differs from invention.
• The innovation process takes new insights (ideas / inventions) right through to be successfully positioned and distributed in the market.
• Innovation must demonstrate an economic output or a social impact.
• Innovation happens in the business world and/or in society.

The place of design in the innovation picture

• Design refers to how we create the things (products, systems, services) that we make.
• Design is a user-centred activity and entails the process of making an idea acceptable for the market.
• Design is therefore essential for moving an invention towards becoming an innovation and includes design research, concept development, iterative prototyping and the commercialisation of ideas.