The perfect symmetry of eight oarsmen positioning their blades to enter the water at precisely the same moment is a powerful demonstration of teamwork.
Unfortunately, perfect symmetry does not exist in the business world, particularly when one is trying to generate support for a business that has no profit history and is not likely to earn any profits in the foreseeable future.
It seems odd that Sibusiso Sibisi (48) should find himself in this position. Having rowed at Cambridge, Sibisi knows all about symmetry. He is chairman of the National Advisory Council of Innovation and head of the CSIR, the largest research institution in SA, so one would assume he knows what course to take. But when the various parts of the science system are not pulling in unison it is not easy. "There are funding gaps in our innovation system, and we have landed ourselves in the biggest one."
He is referring to iThemba Pharmaceuticals, which he cofounded before joining the CSIR in 2002. This is a biotechnology and pharmaceutical company devoted to helping SA create research infrastructure, keep intellectual capital and attack medical problems specific to Southern Africa.
It's not his day job, but the aspirations of the company are close to his heart.
Despite a distinguished career as a physicist and mathematician, Sibisi is no stranger to the corporate world. Since being awarded his PhD at Cambridge in 1983 he has founded a clutch of technology start-ups. He seems to gravitate naturally to the interface between the academic world of science and the profit-driven world of business. "To what extent an organisation like us and the science system in general must be involved in basic research and research that can be commercialised is a question that has absorbed me for many years." Sibisi cut his teeth on these issues at one of the world's highest-profile innovation hubs, Cambridge Science Park.
In SA the funding balance between state-funded, pure research and commercially funded contract research is 30:70. This makes Sibisi a little uneasy because, he says, it can create a particular culture - that of a contract house. But the numbers do not necessarily speak for themselves. "We actively sought additional corporate work because we were concerned government funding might fall way. But in fact we are seeing far greater attention being paid to science and technology funding."
This funding frees the CSIR to collaborate in joint research projects, such as the one involving several universities and Nasa to map the quality of air in the SA region in the long term. "Commercial spin-offs are unlikely, but if we don't drive this type of research, who will?"
After Sibisi's two years in the hot seat his energy has not abated. Certainly he gets frustrated by the limitations of a science system constrained by a skills shortage and inadequate linkages between the various participants. But instead of allowing this to get him down he channels his energy into his current passion - cycling.
