Speech by Minister Martin at the Conference on Exchanging Knowledge – Next Generation Researchers for Universities and Industry

Speech by Mr. Micheál Martin TD, Minister for Enterprise,Trade and Employmentat the Conference on E xchanging Knowledge – Next Generation Researchers for Universities and Industry on 30 ^th November 2005 at The Helix, DCU

Ladies and Gentlemen.

I am very pleased to address you today at the opening of your conference on the theme Exchanging Knowledge – Next Generation Researchers for Universities and Industry. At a time when Ireland is making unprecedented levels of investment in research, technological development and innovation, this particular conference is most appropriate in the context of building Ireland as a global knowledge based economy. In striving to achieve this objective, it is imperative that Ireland puts in place the necessary mechanisms to ensure the appropriate level of collaboration between industry and academia and that we have the reservoir of intellectual capital to ensure this occurs.

We are all aware that successful economies of the future will be those that embrace knowledge and learn to use it. For Ireland, this involves promoting excellence and using knowledge to bring together our best scientists, educators and entrepreneurs to work across sectors and industries. The relationship between Research and Development (R&D) and employment growth is a clear and compelling one and we are all aware that without a dynamic and forward-looking approach to R&D, our advancing economy could encounter difficulties. Global competition is creating pressure for improvements in efficiency, quality and productivity and there is a growing need to innovate and add value across all aspects of business. These pressures are only going to increase.

This Government has already placed research and development centre-stage in our economic strategy. We have allocated a five-fold increase in research investment over the course of the current National Development Plan. That decision has already markedly improved our research effort, both at the academic and industry levels, as well as delivering results in terms of our ability to compete for internationally mobile research-related investment.

There is no room, however, for complacency in this highly competitive and rapidly evolving, global trading environment. It is clear that we, like many of our EU colleagues, still have some serious catching up to do, if we are to reach the targets we set ourselves at Lisbon. The challenges and the targets have been plainly stated in our National Action Plan on R&D, Building Ireland’s Knowledge Economy, published last August - increasing overall R&D investment to 2.5% of GNP and virtually doubling the number of researchers in the country by 2010. Both the public and the private sector have a road to travel to meet these challenges and targets but I believe we can and must achieve these, if we are serious about our R&D performance and our global position.

The process of comprehensively addressing the issues impeding the achievement of these targets was commenced under the current National Development Plan. Government initiatives such as the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI) and the establishment of Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) have transformed the R&D landscape in Ireland and made it a first class location for research and development.

SFI now has funding commitments in excess of €520m across 600 projects. The sustained funding through SFI is testimony to our desire to meet our national research human capital needs. SFI is one, but nevertheless a crucial part of the overall plan to ensure that we produce the required level of researchers essential to our goal to build a knowledge economy. The Mobility Office in Ireland, under the auspices of the Irish University Association (IUA), is also playing a crucial role in attracting quality researchers to pursue careers in Ireland by providing advice, information and support to researchers and their families. These services are vital if Ireland is to increase the numbers of researchers in line with national targets.

If we are to succeed in our research efforts, it is not enough to strengthen our academic capability and output. It is also necessary to develop more research-performing companies, and to have a sharper focus in the coming period on the commercialisation of publicly-funded research.

The Enterprise Strategy group, in its report Ahead of the Curve, last year recommended that public funding for applied research and in-firm R&D should be progressively increased to match that invested by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in basic research. This includes support for in-firm capability development, commercialisation, cluster-led academic research and innovation partnerships.

It is difficult to precisely segment ‘basic’ and ‘applied’ research and development. For example, Science Foundation Ireland’s CSET programme has a strong industry-driven focus. However, it is also true that the difference between my Department’s spending on applied as opposed to basic research has perhaps not been as great as may have been perceived. While the spend on SFI programmes was rapidly stepped up in that agency’s initial years of operation, the spend on applied research is now increasing faster, and the applied spend is expected to exceed the basic spend in 2006.

Recent developments in relation to Applied Research include the implementation of recommendations from evaluations carried out on the R&D Capability programmes of EI and IDA, and of the EI-operated schemes to support collaboration between industry and the third level/research community, which are open to clients of all the industrial development agencies. Notable changes include further disaggregation and clarification of the Programmes in Advanced Technology, including the establishment of new schemes, such as the Industry-led Networks scheme, and the Applied Research Enhancement scheme to increase the research capacity of the Institutes of Technology.

While we have been working on both the applied and basic aspects of industry-relevant research, much remains to be done. Becoming a truly knowledge and innovation driven society requires a whole of government approach. We need a synergy of effort to deliver maximum results and to optimise our returns on what is significant state investment in this area. Too often in the past, our efforts have been negatively impacted upon by lack of coherence. Recognising this, the Government put in place last year a dedicated Cabinet Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Innovation, which I chair.

As part of our cross-Departmental approach to the STI agenda, the Cabinet Committee has been directing work on a major Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation to 2013, which will be completed shortly. The Strategy builds on the important work contained in our National R&D Action Plan, taking those challenging goals forward to 2013 and setting out the short and medium term steps to get us there. The Action Plan represented the beginning of a more structured approach to building Ireland's National System of Innovation. The STI Strategy will take this process one step further and bring us into the implementation phase. It will be a roadmap to our future success, one which we must follow if we are to maintain our recent economic achievements.

The objective of the new Strategy is to make a quantum leap forward in the area of R&D and to move Ireland from impressive latecomer to acknowledged leader in this critical area. Our success will be marked by demonstrable achievements in a number of areas, namely - increased participation in the sciences by young people, increased numbers with advanced qualifications in science and engineering, enhanced contribution of research to economic and social development, a transformational change in the quality and quantity of research undertaken by enterprise, increased output of economically relevant knowledge, enhanced productivity and an established international profile for Ireland in this key arena.

The Strategy will engage all of Government. There will be an impact for sectoral research activity in Departments like Environment and Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, with its responsibility for energy & marine research. The potential for health research will be brought into focus. The importance of research to the agri-food industry and, indeed, to the future of Irish agriculture will be recognised. In addition, significant policy initiatives will fall to the Department of Education and Science and to my own Department, in terms of the central targets of increasing the number and quality of researchers and encouraging a substantial increase in enterprise R&D and a transformational change in the approach to R&D by all aspects of business.

Today’s firms can only continue to grow if they invest in their pipeline through R&D and by placing technology at the heart of their business. In addition, much needs to be done to foster collaboration between academia and industry to identify areas of mutual interest and to forge productive relationships based on these. As a result of the substantial investments by SFI in Centres for Science, Engineering and Technology (CSETs), we now have world-class researchers leading by example in research and innovation and this will provide uniqueness to Ireland’s industrial activities. This will give our centres a sustainable competitive advantage and further Ireland’s reputation as an ideal location for research and development. In particular, these centres play to one of Ireland’s strengths, creating and sustaining strong and lasting partnerships between Irish researchers and industrial partners.

This collaboration between a range of academic, MNC and indigenous industry partners in CSETs reflects the increasing commonality of interests between both indigenous and multinational firms in Ireland and also between industry and academia, as a result of the wide range of knowledge requirements today. In addition to SFI funded CSETS, IDA Ireland has recognized that the increasing globalisation of R&D has provided an opportunity for Ireland to become a location for R&D operations of MNCs on the basis of the availability of a skilled labour force and growing research community.

In September of this year, the Government approved a proposal from IDA Ireland to fund the establishment of a National Institute for Bioprocessing, Research and Training (NIBRT). This new State-of-the-Art Institute is being established by four leading Irish colleges UCD, TCD, DCU and Sligo IT and will be based at the UCD Industry Park in Dublin. It is an extremely important initiative and illustrates the commitment of the Government and IDA Ireland to developing Ireland as one of the worlds leading locations for biopharmaceutical research and manufacturing. It is being funded to build in Ireland a world-class research platform in bioprocessing technologies and state of the art education and training for this emerging industry, which is constrained, globally by skills shortages and technology challenges.

While the key policy requirements for boosting research and innovation in the enterprise sector and strengthening the science base are at national level, the EU has a key role in complementing national initiatives, in particular through the Framework Programmes. The European Union's Sixth Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development, like its predecessors, has created opportunities for Irish companies, research institutes, universities and colleges to participate in high-quality research with their counterparts in Europe. Indeed, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the work and success of the IUA in helping to secure funding under the Sixth Framework Marie Curie Programme. Their recent announcement of funding of research in Irish Universities and Industry to the tune of €10 million brings the total amount of funding secured by Ireland from the Commission's highly competitive Marie Curie Programme to €42 million. The funding will expand Ireland's R&D capability by attracting a total of 220 top class researchers from around the world.

The Framework Programmes have been a crucially important source of funding in supporting the growth of the Irish research base, and have helped to increase the knowledge and credibility of the Irish research community. The new Framework Programme (FP7) will offer even greater opportunities and we must ensure that we all work together to optimise Ireland’s participation and drawdown.

Science is often seen to be all about transformation. This is a time for Government and Stakeholders to transform goals into actions. What connects science and business is technology and I want to see that connection developed to its fullest potential, ensuring that all the very real and positive effects of science have the maximum impact on the intellect, the health and the economic well-being of all our citizens. The long-term Strategy will enable us to take the necessary policy decisions, in a coordinated way, to secure Ireland’s position in the global marketplace, where R&D capacity and reputation are key factors in attracting and retaining investment and employment. Events such as today’s conference play an important role in contributing to this process, through the sharing of knowledge and best practice, through exposing emerging issues for open debate and by working in partnership towards a common goal. I wish you all a very successful conference.

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