OPINION:The suggested research and development alliance between Trinity and UCD is a very good idea, writes KIERAN McGOWAN
AMID ALL the turmoil and talk about rebuilding the banking system and about the restoration of the public finances, it must not be forgotten that the biggest issue facing our economy at the moment is the creation of secure, long-term jobs.
It is well recorded by now that the focal point for job creation has to be around people and knowledge. The old reliable industries – agriculture, manufacturing, construction – are important in their own right, but cannot carry the economy into the future. Instead we need to shape new economic forces that build on our specific capabilities.
In that regard the Government’s Smart Economy Framework published late last year is saying many of the right things. Delivering on that framework, however, and managing all of the many inputs required to do so requires both fortitude and tenacity in the face of many still acting in denial or out of self-interest.
The future we desire is projected to be in knowledge- and technology-intensive industries such as life sciences, ICT, green technologies, agrifood and services. In each of these areas the concentration and critical mass of expertise, the availability and development of cutting-edge technology platforms, and the presence of a supportive policy and legislative framework for innovation will be key determinants of competitiveness and success.
Notwithstanding the increased access to, and take-up of, educational opportunity, our ability to be competitive in a global market is not something that we can take for granted. It is not also as if there aren’t other nations that are likewise ambitious. Our continued success is something that must be thought through carefully and provided for.
This is a global deep pockets game where the intensity of the competition is fierce and heedless of local sensitivities, where top talent is highly mobile and where confidence is an essential ingredient.
In that context the emerging debate about the direction of research and development activity in science and technology and the focus of state investment in same is worth dwelling on. It may seem like a philosophical debate among a narrow group that are ultimately to some degree competing with each other but it is actually a lot more important than that.
There are a number of elements of the debate that need to be considered. Firstly – and maybe surprisingly – there are still many who ask should the state be investing in scientific research at all, never mind engaging in a debate about with whom and where. The answer is very much yes.
The alternative, which might seem politically attractive in the short term, is to focus on immediate-term initiatives that create jobs today – but this is futile unless those jobs are sustainable and of value over many years rather than mere months. Successful investment in the training of minds and creating of new ideas is ultimately proven by the permanency of its effect into the long term.
We then have the issue as to where or through whose hands the investment should be made. Government is rightly committed to a policy of maintaining a balance in the dispersal of resources and opportunity across the country.
The ability to compete internationally, however, specifically for capital and commercial opportunity, is driven by different forces. Internationally our scale and resources are often as big, on a good day, as those of the second or third city of the country that we are competing with.
For that reason we have to be prepared as a country to focus our resources in a small number of places to create a critical mass. The importance of scale, concentration and geographical proximity to successful innovation is not only widely recognised in the international research and policy literature but has also been flagged in sequential OECD surveys of Ireland. It is a warning which Ireland cannot ignore – our PhD student population must be let sit alongside and indeed integrate with cutting-edge innovators and entrepreneurs if this critical mass is to be achieved.
It may be challenging now in the face of calls for a greater dispersal of opportunity but if we create the opportunity effectively it is a pleasant task to disperse the benefits.
Thirdly we have to consider carefully the profile of and context in which that investment is made.
Over recent years a well-developed system of supporting and funding research has been carefully built up to ensure that good and effective research and development work is promoted and resourced. That rigour must continue but the focus of the investment must also evolve.
We have to look at alliances and structures that facilitate bringing the ideas being worked into commercial use – we must develop a focus on innovation, and it that respect the mooted alliance of Trinity College Dublin and UCD appears to be very much a positive step in the right direction.
This might require that we look outside the traditional structures with which we are currently comfortable. If that is the price that we have to pay to keep up with the challenges that are out there in the international market place then it is a challenge that I would urge our politicians, our business leaders and those in the educational sector to come together on and quickly. We have enough difficulties without passing up opportunities through any sense of self-interest.
- Kieran McGowan is chairman of CRH, a former chief executive of the IDA and a former chairman of the UCD governing authority