Government-led policies operate within distinct ‘National Contexts’, with implications from other policies. These contexts are critical for structuring innovation policies for design support. They preserve distinctive qualities such as cultural heritage and ingenious knowledge systems, and they work within socio-economic levels of maturity, autonomy, governance, market conditions, and appropriate infrastructure for design. In addition, effective innovation policy for design requires coordinated engagement of diverse stakeholders—spanning government, industry, academia, and design communities, constituting an integrated ecosystem referred to as a ‘National Design System’.

Despite its growing significance — research on Public Design and Design Policy remains very limited, yet its advancement is critical for addressing global challenges, including rising demands for high value goods and the protection of indigenous knowledge and intellectual property. This underscores an urgent need for evidence-based approaches to infrastructural development, resource allocation, skills development for design support in R&D, capability building in industry, and manufacturing support.

This paper presents findings of a five-year empirical study examining Botswana’s ‘National Design System’ and her ‘National Design Context’, with the aim of understanding the relationship between design, industrial development and public policy. The research investigates how local organisations leverage design across its three macro-areas of practice:

(i) design execution, encompassing technical operations, where human resources, technical skills, infrastructure, technology adoption, and R&D investments intersect;
(ii) design management, involving the coordination of human/financial resources and project management for design activities;
(iii) design leadership, which comprises corporate-level strategic thinking, in which design informs organisational culture and decision-making.

This research further assesses design’s contribution to business performance and competitiveness, and explores roles of governance and public policy in fostering design-driven innovation. Through a comprehensive audit of design innovation adoption and government-led initiatives, this study identifies the drivers, barriers, and the need for a national design policy to advance industrialisation in Botswana. To capture the characteristics of a large population, while ensuring diversity in enquiry, and enhancing reliability through standardization quantitative research was adopted. Data were collected using self-administered survey questionnaires — employing balanced scales, and clearly defined questions to minimize bias. Building on the previous literatures and exploratory interviews, a standardized questionnaire was developed to guide data collection. A sample of 300 employees from diverse companies, was targeted and categorized into three (3) groups —

(i) design firms,
(ii) organisations with in-house design departments, collectively classified as Design Service Providers (DSPs) and
(iii) Design Service Buyers (DSBs): organisations which buy design services. The survey process was structured into four stages — sampling, user-testing, distribution and data analysis.

Conclusions were drawn on the key drivers and barriers shaping the holistic integration of design within Botswana’s national innovation ecosystem — encompassing the National System of Innovation (NSI), Research, Science, Technology and Innovation (RSTI) System, Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) System, and recommendations for the development, implementation and governance of a design policy for industrial development, through the support of SMMEs, were presented.