Key STI policy developments led to the establishment of the Technology Development Agency, which focuses on promoting commercialisation and technology transfer by and at South African research institutions. A new institutional intervention, the National Intellectual Property Management Office (NIPMO), is in the process of being established. Its function is two- fold: on the one hand, it is putting a mechanism in place to enable government to encourage, monitor and quantify intellectual property that is the result of publicly funded research and development; on the other, it is developing capacity at the level of universities and public research institutions to identify, protect and where appropriate commercialise such intellectual property. Close partnerships are nurtured with relevant national and provincial departments to support the success of high- potential research and development-led industrial development initiatives.