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BITRIBOTSWANA INSTITUTE FOR TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH AND INNOVATION

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Botswana Institute for Technology Research and Innovation (BITRI) was established in 2012 as a Government of the Republic of Botswana company limited by shares, to conduct needs-based research and development in focused areas, in accordance with national priorities. BITRI falls under the Ministry of Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology (MOTE).

The Mandate of BITRI is to identify, develop and/or adapt appropriate technology solutions that provide sustainable innovative solutions through co-creation and collaboration in line with national priorities and needs of Batswana. The technologies will as much as possible maximise the use of local materials to ensure efficiency and affordability. BITRI will harness its institutional capacity as well as collaborate with other organisations and institutions.

BITRI is situated at Maranyane House in Gaborone, Botswana. It has other campuses in Gaborone, Kanye, as well as Palapye.

BITRI THEMATIC RESEARCH AREASNatural Resources and Materials

• Building Materials Science• Climate Change• Nanomaterials

Technologies• Electronics and Communications• Energy• Information Systems Technologies

MISSION• To conduct needs-based technology research that provides sustainable innovative solutions through co-creation and collaboration.

VISION• To be the leading technology solutions provider that transforms lives.

VALUES• Empathy• Excellence• Teamwork

TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS

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INTRODUCTION

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BITRI’s Building Materials Science Division focuses on needs-based research and development of new innovative building materials from natural raw materials and from industrial by-products or waste.

THE DIVISION IS FOCUSED ON;•Developing technologies for re-cycling building materials•Identifying new/innovative uses for conventional building materials•Modifying conventional building materials to improve their performance•Testing new/innovative building materials for fitness-for-purpose, with respect to compliance with existing specifications for like conventional building materials as well as acceptability of departures from the existing specifications.•Assessing and certifying materials for performance, maintainability, sustainability and responsible sourcing (in collaboration with BOBS)•Evaluating the environmental impact of the production of new/innovative building materials in collaboration with the Dept of Environmental Science, UB)•Evaluating the cost-effectiveness of the production and maintenance of new/ innovative building materials•Evaluating the sustainability of the exploitation of resources for natural raw materials and of the stockpiles/rate of production of industrial by-products/ waste; for the production of new/ innovative building materials•Hand-holding of companies, especially start-up companies, that take up the new/ innovative building materials developed in-house or certified by BITRI•Analyzing distress and/or failure modes of both conventional and new/innovative building materials•Designing and optimizing methods of production and/or application of both conventional and new/innovative materials, to mitigate against premature distress/failure•Developing algorithms for the selection, specification and quality control of materials for given applications, to meet the following requirements:•Cost-effectiveness of both production and application•Desirability of chemical, physical and mechanical properties•Environmental friendliness of processes of both production and application•Aesthetic appeal

PROJECTKgalagadi Sand Building Block/Brick (KSBB) Technology - The BITRI Building Materials Science Team is making use of a technology to develop the KSBB and rolling out the less expensive but high quality product with much higher strength as a useful construction material.

The Kgalagadi sand covers up to 75% of Botswana. The sand is a very abundant resource in the country that has potential to help the Botswana Government achieve its goals of sustainably improving the lives of all Batswana by providing an alternative to the high costs of construction materials.

B U I L D I N G M A T E R I A L S S C I E N C E

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Successful actualization of climate change adaptation and mitigation requires sound scientific base along with stakeholder participation.

BITRI Climate Change Division focuses on understanding the impact of climate change on Botswana’s agriculture, water resources and health sectors; such as the risks of droughts, extreme weather events, increasing temperatures, vector-borne disease out-breaks and changes in water availability. This understanding is done through improving climate science and impact assessments, and incorporating the views of local communities and decision makers on potential adaptation responses to climate impacts.

The Division has developed an “Adaptation Framework” approach to integrating climate risks into development planning.

Major research areas include:Climate proofing growth and development: Provide support to focus the country to change the ways the government plans for and delivers sustainable economic growth, reduce poverty and build people’s resilience to a changing climate through integration of climate change into government plans, policies, programmes and investments.

Climate projections: Develop and adapt methods to “downscale” global climate projections to a scale appropriate for assessments and policies.

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Monitoring: Improve methods and indicators for monitoring to better inform policymakers and stakeholders about how Botswana’s climate is changing and the associated impacts.

GHG inventory: Refine emissions accounting methods, especially for short-lived climate pollutants with high potential for warming the atmosphere and for difficult-to-quantify sectors such as agriculture, waste management, and forestry.

Reducing GHG emissions: Investigate the multiple pathways that could achieve climate goals related to emissions reductions from the energy, transportation, agriculture, water, waste management, and industrial sectors. This research will advance both innovative technologies and understanding of consumer behaviour.

Preparing for a changing climate: Incorporate new climate science into a risk assessment framework using probabilistic climate change projections.

Socio-economic effects of climate impacts and policy responses: Analyse the effects of climate change and potential responses in important crosscutting areas, such as economics and jobs, consumer choice, and environmental justice.

Synergies of reducing emissions and climate risk: Give priority to research that would concurrently reduce emissions and make Botswana more resilient to climate change, while providing other co-benefits such as Climate Smart Agriculture.

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Nanomaterials Division focuses on three research areas namely; Filtration, Diagnostics and Specialty Chemicals.

Filtration TechnologiesIn Botswana, water quality becomes a challenge the further from urban centres you go. BITRI will fabricate filter materials aimed at purifying water for rural areas of the country to guarantee people a safe, clean source of drinking water. From there, we will develop a series of filtration products in the areas of water and air filtration to benefit the mining, health and military sectors of Botswana.

Diagnostic TechnologiesDeveloping countries face huge challenges in the areas of water safety, food safety and health testing. Samples are often collected and transported great distances to central testing facilities under extreme weather conditions. The central testing facilities are often overwhelmed with samples, resulting in backlogs and delays in result turnaround time that can render test results meaningless. BITRI will develop affordable, simple to use, point-of-use diagnostic tests in key areas of need for Botswana. This will enable rapid sample screening that will reduce the cost and workload on central laboratories, improving information turnaround time and testing efficiency in the country.

Specialty ChemicalsBotswana is richly-endowed with mineral resources. The country has large deposits of copper, soda ash and coal, among others. However, despite the abundance of such minerals, Botswana is not deriving meaningful benefit from its mineral reserves as the country has been exporting some of its minerals in the raw form. BITRI has initiated a project that will allow Botswana to leverage its mineral wealth beneficiation. Mineral beneficiation means adding value to minerals before exporting. The project will transform commodity minerals into finished products that have high sales value.

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The Electronics and Communications Division is a key division in the research and development of electronics and ICT-related technology solutions. This division aims to improve process efficiencies in all economic sectors including, but not limited to Government departments, Parastatals, Non- Government Organizations and private companies (established and start-ups).

The goal is also to be internationally-competitive, and to tap into the international market through innovation of cutting edge electronics and communications systems.

Projects under the Electronics and Communications division are mainly divided into two;

1. Consumer Electronics: This is a major cash cow for developed countries as well as newly-industrialised economies such as South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore. The E&C division invests a lot of research into niche areas that can help achieve market control in development of electronic and communication sub-systems. All leadership is focused at the international market to attract foreign income and to exemplify electronics as a major possibility for economic diversification in Botswana.

2. Smart Systems: current and next generation electronics are largely based on smart decision-making systems, up to full automation. The E&C division has a comprehensive coverage of wireless sensor network applications in various economic sectors with all data to be stored

E L E C T R O N I C S & C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

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in the BITRI cloud. This data is essential for customer use and remote monitoring, will be used in data analytics for informed decision-making be it in system design, policy formation, and everyday business.

MAJOR PROJECTSOne of the notable projects by the division, is the Seding® v2 solar street light, which is a response to customer feedback on the first light, adopted from CommLight by BITRI.

The light is full bright and has an autonomy of up to three days from a fully-charged battery. In completely dark areas, the lighting effect continues to range of about 100 metres. There are two variations of the light at 2000+ lumens and 3000+ lumens of illumination capacity. The compact configuration of the light enhances the integrity of all the components, including the solar panel, which is ordinarily prone to damage, theft and vandalism in similar competitor products.

In terms of harvesting solar energy and converting it into light energy, the Seding® v2 is perhaps the most efficient in the world. It takes twice the amount of power to produce the same lighting and illumination intensity from close competitors, in comparison to the current Seding® v2.

Other notable projects include;• The utilization of the Television communication band idle channels, termed TV White Spaces, for provision of internet for last mile connectivity. This project was executed alongside the Information Systems Technologies (IST) Division. These divisions had to standardise and help with the regulatory framework where the E&C team dealt with radio communications and IST engaged in smart control applications to ensure seamless utilisation of idle channels without any interference to primary users.

• The Seding v3, which is built on the Seding® v2 electronics control platforms, but with introduction of smart wireless control systems to fit the desired application. The lights can be clustered for synchronised dim/bright operation. If motion is detected by a particular light within a cluster, then the entire street can go bright and will dim at the same time for better illumination and awareness. This light’s bright is set at 4500+ lumens with dim set at 2500+ lumens.

• Water Quality and Sanitation Monitoring, for fully automated water parameter measurement and access from any smart device with internet connection through utilisation of the E&C’s own wireless communication network platform, with which various sensors utilise with data collection to the BITRI server/cloud.

• Next generation Intelligent Transport System with aims of localised control and decision making at individual traffic junctions by utilising E&C developed vehicle sensors. This system will use far less energy than the current energy-consuming systems and intelligent systems, and eliminates the need for high cost installations, support service provision fees, and maintenance fees.

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In line with BITRI’s core mandate, the IST Division works with various government departments and parastatals to help them leverage information and communications technologies to improve their processes and deliver quality services and products.

The Division is currently working with client departments from a range of sectors including health, education, agriculture, tourism, telecommunications, and law enforcement.

How We Can Help Government, Parastatals and Private Enterprise:

• Business Intelligence

• Open Data, Data Analytics, Predictions and Visualisation

• Cyber Security

• Systems Intergration

I N F O R M A T I O N S Y S T E M S T E C H N O L O G I E S

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E N E R G Y

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Energy is an essential part of life. The Energy Division is primarily focused on needs-based research and development of energy technologies to address the needs for both renewable and non-renewable energy resources for sustainable supply to the people of Botswana. As well as conducting energy research, the Energy Division also provides training and consultancy to clients on energy technologies.

FOCUS AREAS UNDER THE RENEWABLE ENERGY INCLUDE:• Solar Thermal• Solar Photovoltaic• Bio-Mass

NON- RENEWABLE ENERGY FOCUS AREAS CONSIST OF:• Coal• Energy Audits and Management

Energy-efficient Cook StoveThe division is working on a high-efficiency cook stove that reduces high usage of wood biomass is primarily for cooking and heating. The cook stove is available in both single and double burner versions.

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Financial Cost Benefit Analysis of Renewables in BotswanaThe project develops financial cost benefit of renewable energy (Hindsight and Foresight) into the Botswana electricity system.

Solar Thermal Testing Facility (STTF)This is an all-in-one Solar Thermal Testing Facility (STTF) with four independent test rigs for Performance Test and other five (5) independent quality test stations.

Load Management Device (LMD)Load management device is an instrument that helps the user to efficiently use electricity and assist them in managing their loads in or around the building.

Agro waste to Energy Project (Biogas-Digester)This UNDP-funded project investigates transformation of agro waste into biogas, hence the development of a unique biogas digester to complement the project’s overall goal.

Solar Traffic LightsThe aim of the project is to provide and demonstrate Proof-Of-Concept on the functionality of both purely solar-powered and solar-backed Traffic Light System to the city council and the government. The primary advantage is saving enormous amount of grid electricity used to power the traffic lights, and as a result, reducing the electricity bill and contributing positively to the environment.

Solar PV systems Consultancy, Design & InstallationThe division also provides Solar PV systems design and installation for a wide range of applications.

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