DUBLIN: The Government’s plan to prepare a new strategy for science, technology and innovation (SSTI) is timely. It comes on foot of a decade that started with an exceptionally rapid expansion in funding and ended with reduced funding focused firmly on research linked directly to immediate job creation.
During the same time period, there was only a modest increase, relative to GDP, in the scale of investment in research, development and innovation (RD&I) in businesses in Ireland.
With the prospect of an improving economic climate, there is now an opportunity to take better account of the fact that the yields from successful SSTI investments are medium to longer term.
Building a strong strategy requires that enterprise-level RD&I in Ireland is linked to both the national research and innovation system and to European and global research and innovation systems. The nature and scale of this relationship is different for multinational enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and current policies under IDA and Enterprise Ireland recognise this. But the international evidence is clear that for success, policy also needs to ensure the vital connection between innovation and exporting at the enterprise level is supported.
