9 – 11 December 2020, CSIR ICC, Pretoria, South Africa
SFSA 2020 was proudly hosted by the South African Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) in partnership with the Radical Reason Consortium, an initiative of the South African Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) from 9 to 11 December 2020 as a virtual event.
Programme overview
The SFSA 2020 commenced with an opening address by Dr Blade Nzimande, South Africa’s Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation. This will be followed by messages from the Forum’s strategic international partners, including the African Union Commissioner for Human Resources, Science and Technology, Prof. Sarah Anyang Agbor. Two internationally acclaimed South African scientists, renowned for their work in the fight against HIV/AIDS and, more recently, COVID-19, Prof. Quarraisha Abdool Karim and Prof. Salim Abdool Karim, delivered the SFSA 2020 plenary lecture.
The Forum programme comprised 32 different panel discussions and debates, all interrogating the critical interface between science and society. Highlights on the programme included sessions on topics such as the future of transdisciplinarity in research, African histories of technology, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the future of data protection. An exciting new addition to the Forum programme was a series of provocative conversations with global thinkers.
The Forum concluded with a series of panel discussions interrogating the role of science in advancing social justice, which was the theme for South Africa’s hosting of the World Science Forum in 2022. A final plenary discussion facilitated by the South African Affiliate Centre of the World Economic Forum’s Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution focused on the impact of disruptive technology in narrowing and widening inequality.
Theme
The theme for the Forum was Still igniting conversations about science.