New Zealand, Associated Country in HE under Pillar II, is currently undertaking some major remodelling of its science and innovation system.
This week was released the first report of the Science System Advisory Group (SSAG). This report focused on structural matters and provided recommendations to reshape the architecture of the science sector to address the current challenges NZ is facing.
The SSAG conducted an extensive consultation across the academic, research, government and private sectors and below are key core recommendations of the SSAG panel that the Government decided to enact in the reform:
– the establishment of the Prime Minister’s Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PMSTIAC) to bring universities, science, technology and innovation under the purview of a single Minister and provide strategic direction and national priorities.
– the merging of the Crown Research Institutes into 3 thematic Public Research Organisations (PROs): Earth Sciences, Bioeconomy and Health and Forensic Science. A fourth PRO is to be created around Advanced Technologies (AI, quantum technology and synthetic biology). A striking statement relating to the emergence of advanced technologies in the report was that “New Zealand is simply not prepared and given the pace of change will soon struggle to stay respected as a first world nation.”
– the disestablishment of Callaghan Innovation with some components integrated into the PROs.
– the creation of a new agency, Invest New Zealand, to be a one-stop-shop for foreign direct investment.
– the development of national policy for managing Intellectual Property (IP)
Two things I find of interest following the release of the SSAG report:
– there is no mention of an increase in funding for a system which is currently seriously underfunded. It will be interesting to see what will be NZ’s stance regarding its partaking into the next FP10. NZ is currently an Associated Country under Pillar II only. If NZ wants to retain and attract talents and boost innovation, it could be valuable to become an Associated Country under Pillars 1 et 3. ERC grants, MSCA Fellowships and DNs as well as EIC grants could be, in my opinion, game changers and bring much needed funding and investments to NZ research organisations and industries.
– It is sad to see how social sciences and Mātauranga Māori are overlooked in this report oriented towards innovation, economic growth and prosperity as if their importance and contributions to these topics were non-existent. Their mention in this report is at best anectodic and it is particularly troubling in regard to the move made by the NZ Government to strike the SSH panel from the Marsden Funds.
Click for more details and the SSAG report.
