Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (South Africa)

Funds South African science, technology, and innovation programs across research institutions and industrial partners.

South Africa's Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, currently branded DSTI, is the national department that sets science and innovation policy and allocates public research funding. It was renamed from DST to DSI in 2019 and now sits behind a 2026/27 budget of ZAR 10.44 billion.

Its portfolio spans space science, energy, biotechnology, nanotechnology, robotics, photonics, indigenous knowledge systems, and commercialisation of publicly funded research. Direct end-applicant support is limited, because much of the money flows through NRF, TIA, CSIR, SANSA, and HSRC. The direct or umbrella routes highlighted in the record include the R&D Tax Incentive Programme and the Technology Innovation Programme, with bio-innovation, hydrogen and energy, space, NIPMO, and other emerging research areas sitting underneath them.

That positioning makes DSTI a policy and coordination body first, with delivery shared across partner institutions. Universities, science councils, SMEs, and startups fit the programme logic best when they can link research outputs to transfer, deployment, or measurable innovation outcomes.