Page 16 - DUT Annual Report 2023

A significant number of businesses that have been incubated through Innobiz are showing the impact of DUT’s entrepreneurial culture. Over 450 student and community businesses were nurtured, providing them with the support they need to make their ventures a success. In addition, DUT’s efforts to engage student entrepreneurs in international programmes reflect its commitment to foster a global perspective of entrepreneurship. The opportunity to participate in international entrepreneurship initiatives, to broaden their horizons, and to expand their networks was given to 10 student entrepreneurs during the year.
The university is implementing various programmes and systems which track its graduates in order to determine the extent to which they individually and collectively contribute to improving lives and livelihoods through their business initiatives, influence their employment spaces, and their involvement in civic society structures.
Conclusion
In 2023 we consolidated the successes we have been steadily making since the inception of ENVISION2030 and the Strategic Plan 2030. Our Annual Strategy Tracker Survey helps us to monitor and evaluate the performance of our plans. The summative statements on sustainability and transformation jointly and independently confirm
the growth, resilience, and durability of DUT. We are committed to defending all these gains going into the future, with 2024 becoming the first year of our Upended Phase of ENVISION2030. We sought to build and achieve a Different DUT by 2023. All evidence points towards that milestone having been realised.
Even though the heading of this section is about the management and administration of the university, I referred earlier to the unique social compact to which all DUT people are committed. In earnest, the bedrock of this unique social compact is the University Council with its bold, unwavering, consistent, and visionary leadership over the years.
The unwavering commitment of our staff in academia and support services, with only a minority wishing the status quo to prevail, is what drives the successful implementation and visible transformation at DUT. I thank management for their discipline and energy in helping me to manage a very complex environment. Lastly, we would not have made any significant progress without the enthusiastic support and ownership of the strategy by our students. In as much as many sub-cultures (e.g. violent protests) of our South African society appear to remain, we have seen many more of our student leaders mature and lead students more ethically and progressively.
PROFESSOR T. Z. MTHEMBU
Vice-Chancellor and Principal
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DUT ANNUAL REPORT 2023