Knowledge Society for Africa: Creating a Coherence Roadmap in the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Pillar in Botswana

The paper discusses the commitment the Botswana government places on the STI pillar development. It is one of the pillars that drive the country into knowledge driven economy. The paper also highlights key stakeholders in the STI ecosystem who are instrumental in defining the country's coherence roadmap in the next 10 years. Other policies in the Education and ICT pillars complement the STI pillar in identifying key priority areas and themes in building future scenarios. In order to investigate policy coherence in the STI pillar, the following two futures thinking methodologies/tools were used: The Futures Wheel and Delphi Real Time Questionnaire. These tools helped identify and analyse gaps and opportunities in the STI pillar in Botswana. The paper further discusses major STI policy priorities and initiatives. These priorities led to the identification of four (4) major signals shaping STI in Botswana. The findings from the futures wheel highlight an increase in private sector participation, increase in innovative products and the gap in development disparity is also noted. The Delphi results show an opportunity for effective policy coherence in the three pillars of Education, ICT and STI.