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relationship/ collaboration with the utility to suggest an unfair/improper advantage, this lack of collaboration could make the solution/device less effective and it would hence be found not to be substantially effective enough to warrant procurement outside of established protocols. This path itself could take up to 3 to 5 years. The point that the authors are attempting to make is that in an effort to ensure transparency, accountability and sound financial controls in the management of the finances of state- controlled organisations, the government has made it exceedingly complex and time-intensive for an innovative product to be introduced into the market.
In summary, in the opinion of the authors, the main challenges to innovation in the South African engineering landscape are the following:
• Limited investment: There is often insufficient funding for research and development (R&D), which is crucial for innovation
• Risk-averse culture: Many companies are hesitant to take risks, prefering to stick with tried and tested methods rather than exploring new technologies
• Skill shortage: There is a lack of skilled professionals in the local engineering market, which hampers the ability to innovate. This is a result of fewer graduates, engineers emigrating and engineering professionals choosing employment in other sectors for career growth/financial incentives.
• High start-up costs: The costs of inventing, testing, and waiting for adoption for new technologies, as detailed above, can be prohibitive, especially to smaller companies/ young entrepeneurs.
• Policy and governance: The legacy of recent corruption involving state enterprises has left a fragmented and incoherent (at times) governance structure that aims to prevent repeat incidences, but ends up stifling the adoption of innovation in the public sector space.
Despite these challenges, there are opportunities for growth. Globalisation provides young entrepeneurs with access to international organisations and industry associations that support innovation and have programmes aimed at improving infrastructure in developing countries. Entrepeneurs could also consider working within government programmes to engage with National Treasury or the public utilities and offer flexible pricing models, such as performance- based contracts. This may be supported, as it removes the risk component associated with the innovation and may make it easier to justify the investment.
Conclusions
This paper has presented the design and testing of a novel theft detection and monitoring device aimed at addressing the persistent issue of electricity transmission tower component theft. The device, which integrates vibration and audio sensors with wireless communication capabilities, effectively detected theft activities in controlled experiments.
The results demonstrated that the proposed solution could provide real-time monitoring and significantly reduce response times, proving its potential as a cost- effective and scalable solution for protecting HV towers. The next step involves refining the device’s design to make it more compact and durable, allowing for a long- term pilot study. This pilot study will evaluate the device’s real-world performance, durability, and ability to minimise false alarms. Such a study is crucial to validate the device’s effectiveness in various environmental conditions and theft scenarios.
However, while an innovative technical solution exists, multiple barriers hinder its adoption. These barriers include stringent regulatory requirements, lengthy approval processes, limited funding for innovation, and a risk- averse culture within the utility sector. Overcoming these challenges will require collaboration with stakeholders, adjustments in policy, and possibly new frameworks that encourage the adoption of innovative solutions in South Africa’s energy infrastructure.
Statement on data availability: All data collected during the simulation and verification of the tool is available from the authors should it be required. Provided that Intellectual Property laws and rights are complied with, the code that was used may also be shared.
declaration of interest: Nil
authors’ contributions: J.L. Yengopal: Simulation, building and testing of the prototype. M.F. Khan: Compiling of paper, providing the topic and supervision throughout the project, and contributing to the section regarding innovation hurdles in South Africa.
references
Bloch, H.P. 2009. Ingress protection code explained, World Pumps, 11, p. 26. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0262- 1762(09)70418-3.
Bohn, R. 2013. IP ratings explained -what are IP ratings? NEMA Enclosures. Available: https://www.nemaenclosures.com/ blog/ingress-protection-ratings/ [Accessed: 2 April 2024].
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