Any person (user) accessing this website is subject to, and agrees to, the terms and conditions set out in this legal notice. If the user does not wish to be bound by these terms and conditions, the user may not access, display, use or download and/or otherwise copy or distribute content obtained from this website.
1. Use and Copyright
1.1 Use of this portal and any services, content or applications contained herein or offered hereon is at the sole risk of the user.
1.2 Users may view, copy, download to a local drive, print and distribute the content of this portal, or any part thereof for non-commercial, informational or reference purposes only.
1.2.1 Users may not cede, sub-license or otherwise transfer any rights they may have under these terms and conditions or which may otherwise have been obtained through the use of this portal.
2. Disclaimers and Indemnities
2.1 The information on this portal is intended to provide general information on a particular subject or subjects and is not an exhaustive treatment of such subject(s).
2.2 It is the sole responsibility of the user to satisfy him or herself prior to accessing this portal that it will meet the user's individual requirements and be compatible with the user's hardware and/or software.
2.3 This entire portal, including text, images, links, downloads and coding, is provided "as is" and "as available". The Department of Science and Innovation and Department of Small Business Development, Republic of South Africa will collectively be referred to as the Parties, makes no representations or warranties, express or implied, including but not limited to warranties as to the correctness or suitability of either the website or the products, services or information contained in it.
2.4 The use of the content of this portal/website is at the user’s own risk.
2.4.1 The user assumes full responsibility and risk of loss resulting from the use of the content of this portal.
2.4.2 The Parties or any of the legal entities in respect of which information is contained on this portal, or employees of the Parties , will not be liable for any special, indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages or any other damages whatsoever, whether in an action of contract, statute, delict (including, without limitation, negligence), or otherwise, relating to the use of this document or information.
2.4.3 Subject to sections 43(5) and 43(6) of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 and to the fullest extent possible under law, Parties shall not be liable for any damage, loss or liability of whatsoever nature arising from the use or inability to use, or reasonable reliance upon this portal or the services or content provided from and through this portal.
3. Receipt and sending of data messages
3.1 Data messages, including e-mail messages, sent by users to the portal owner shall be deemed to be received only when acknowledged or responded to in writing.
3.2 Data messages sent by the portal owner to users shall be regarded as received when the complete data message enters an information system designated or used for that purpose by the recipient and is capable of being retrieved and processed by the recipient.
3.3 If a user does not receive a response within a reasonable period of time, the user should follow it up with the Innovation Bridge Portal Curator.
4. Security
4.1 The Parties has in place reasonable commercial standards of technology and operational security to protect all information provided by users from loss, misuse, alteration or destruction.
4.2 All reasonable steps will be taken to secure a user's information. Authorised employees, who are responsible for the maintenance of any sensitive data submitted, are required to maintain the confidentiality of such data. The policy applies to all employees of the Parties or public bodies that may receive such information from the Parties.
4.3 It is expressly prohibited for any person, business, or entity to gain or attempt to gain unauthorised access to any page on this portal, or to deliver or attempt to deliver any unauthorised, damaging or malicious code to this portal.
4.3.1 If a person delivers or attempts to deliver any unauthorised, damaging or malicious code to this website or attempts to gain unauthorised access to any page on this website, a criminal charge will be laid against that person, and, if the Parties or any public body should suffer any damage or loss, civil damages will be claimed.
5. Monitoring and interception of data messages
5.1 In order to provide a relevant and secure service, and when required to do so under law, the Parties may monitor and/or intercept electronic communications, such as e-mails, which are sent to and from this website.
5.2 To the full extent necessary under the law, the user hereby acknowledges that he or she is aware of such potential monitoring and/or interception and consents thereto.
6. Confidentiality of data messages
6.1 The Parties prefers not to receive confidential or proprietary information from users through this portal.
6.2 Please note that any information or material sent to the Innovation Bridge Portal will be deemed not to be confidential.
6.3 The portal will not release users’ names or otherwise publicise the fact that materials or other information has been submitted to it unless:
6.3.1.1 prior permission is obtained to use the user’s name; or
6.3.1.2 the user has first been notified that the materials or other information submitted to a particular part of this site will be published or otherwise used in a manner that reflects the user’s name; or
6.3.1.3 where required to do so by law.
7. Links to third party or external sites
7.1 The portal may provide links to other websites only as a convenience and the inclusion of any link does not imply the endorsement of such sites.
7.2 Linked websites or pages are not subject to the control of the portal.
7.3 The portal uses Google Analytics software from Google which is used to monitor how users interact with the website in order to improve its functionality and content. All data tracked by Google Analytics will remain confidential and inaccessible to other parties. We make use of Google analytics.js (Universal Analytics) which tracks only a user’s activities and no other personal information. This is to improve the user’s experience on the site.
7.4 This site is hosted by a provider that is within South African borders and is not cloud-based.
8. Intellectual property rights
8.1 All content, data and trademarks, including, but not limited to, software, technology, databases, know-how, text, graphics, icons, hyperlinks, private information, designs, programs, publications, products, processes, or ideas described in this website may be subject to other rights, including other intellectual property rights, which are the property of, or licensed to content sources on the portal.
8.2 Subject to the rights afforded to the user herein, all other rights to all intellectual property on this website is expressly reserved and by accessing data on this portal the user is not licensed or authorised.
8.3 Third party websites are welcome to link to the information that is hosted on these pages.
9. Automated searching
9.1 Automated transactions and searches are subject to these terms and conditions.
9.2 The use of malicious search technology is prohibited.
9.3 The use of search technology in an unlawful manner or for the collecting or harvesting of data for commercial gain is prohibited.
9.4 Search technology which does not unduly retard the operation of this website is acceptable but the portal owner reserves the right to prohibit any specific entity from employing search technology on the portal.
10. Applicable law
10.1 The user hereby agrees that the law applicable to these terms and conditions of use, their interpretation and any matter or litigation in connection therewith or arising from them will be the law of South Africa.
10.2 This portal is owned, hosted and maintained within the Republic of South Africa.
10.3 When using this site and agreeing to these Terms and Conditions such use and agreement is deemed to have taken place in Pretoria, South Africa.
11. General provisions
11.1 In the event of any part of these Terms and Conditions being found to be partially or fully unenforceable, for whatever reason, this shall not affect the application or enforceability of the remainder of this Agreement.
11.2 These Terms and Conditions of Use contain the record of the entire agreement between the user and the portal owner.
11.3 Failure to enforce any provision of these Terms and Conditions shall not be deemed a waiver of such provision nor of the right to enforce such provision.
11.4 The content owner or the Innovation Bridge Portal Curator has access to facilities to generate brochures that might include information uploaded to the related organisation.
12. Updating and maintenance of these Terms and Conditions of Use
12.1 The Parties reserves the right to modify, add to or remove portions or the whole of these Terms and Conditions of Use from time to time.
12.2 These Terms and Conditions of Use will take effect upon such being posted to this website.
12.3 It is the user’s obligation to periodically check these Terms and Conditions of Use on this website for updates.
12.4 The user’s continued use of this website following the posting of updates will be considered notice of the user’s acceptance to abide by and be bound by these Terms and Conditions of Use.
13. Subscriptions
13.1 Users may subscribe to multiple categories on the portal as a registered member on the portal. Members can manage their subscriptions from their Profiles. Alternatively, there is an Unsubscribe on the subscription mails.
14. Curator email interface
14.1 The curator will often communicate with the user on content related matters and information solicitation through surveys via well as share opportunities deemed relevant to them.
15. System Generated emails
15.1. The user will receive system-generated e-mails relating to updating of content, expiry of content as well as subscribed information alerts as per section 13.
16. Portal owner details
16.1 The full name and legal status of the portal owners is:
The Department of Science and Innovation and Department of Small Business Development, Republic of South Africa, Departments of the Government of the Republic of South Africa and as represented by its Director-Generals and the Ministers.
16.2 The website address of this website is: https://www.innovationbridge.info
16.3 Postal address: Private Bag X894, PRETORIA, Gauteng, Republic of South Africa, 0001
16.4 Street address: DSI Building (Building no. 53), (CSIR South Gate Entrance), Meiring Naudé Road, Brummeria, and Department of Small Business Development, 77 Meintjies Street, Sunnyside, Pretoria
16.5 e-Mail contact: curator@innovationbridge.info
17. Anonymous Contact Form
The Portal uses an anonymous contact for the purpose of sending inquiries to the information source/content owner. The information provided on the form will only be visible to the intended recipient and will not be in a readable format in the server. The server will save a backup copy for up to 7 days, whereafter it will be permanently deleted.