Tshwane University of Technology

Faculty Member, Institute for Economic Research on Innovation

Other Affiliations: Lund University, Forskningspolitiska Institutet

chief director

Faculty of Economics and Finance

About

Rasigan Maharajh is currently Chief Director of the Institute for Economic Research on Innovation (IERI) based in the Faculty of Economics and Finance of the Tshwane University of Technology. He was previously the Head of Policy at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) following his deployment as National Coordinator of the Science and Technology Policy Transition Project for South Africa’s first democratic government. He has also been previously employed by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC); the Education Policy Unit (EPU) of the University of Natal, Operation Upgrade of Southern Africa, the Macro-Education Policy Unit (MEPU) of  the University of Durban-Westville (UDW) and the Labour and Community Project (LACOM) of the South African Council for Higher Education (SACHED).
Whilst engaged formally in the fields of literacy, education and human development work; Rasigan simultaneously held elected leadership positions within the student, youth and organised labour structures of the United Democratic Front, the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the African National Congress.
Rasigan is an active member of the Global Network for the Economics of Learning, Innovation and Competence-building Systems (GLOBELICS) where he co-coordinates the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) Research Agenda and the Universities in Development Programme (UniDev).
Rasigan has a PhD from the Forskningspolitiska Institutet of Lund University (Sweden). He is also an alumnus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) and Harvard Business School (United States of America). He has also having been associated with the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the Institute for Policy Research in Engineering, Science and Technology (PREST) at the University of Manchester.
Rasigan conducts research in the field of evolutionary political economy, innovation systems and public policy. He is involved in numerous international, continental and regional projects on the form, function and context of knowledge generation, application and diffusion in economic development, social cohesion and democratic governance.
His most recent academic publications include: “Post-apartheid Higher Education and the System of Innovation: Enduring Challenges,” Chapter 10 in UNIVERSITIES IN TRANSITION - THE CHANGING ROLE AND CHALLENGES FOR ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS, Springer, New York, with Enver Motala and Mario Scerri, pp.193 - 218; “Economic Growth and Human Development Challenges for Science, Technology and Innovation in Africa,” Chapter 2 in AFRICAN INNOVATION OUTLOOK 2010, AU-Nepad, Pretoria, with Mario Scerri, pp. 13 - 34; and “Systemic Technological Innovation in Africa in 2030 CE,” Chapter 6 in AFRICA TOWARD 2030: CHALLENGES FOR DEVELOPMENT POLICY, Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire, with Alioune Sall and Geci Karuri‐Sebina, pp. 198 – 238 [forthcoming].

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