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The Prime Minister's Science, Innovation and Technology Advisory Council was given a mandate by the Government to review the present system and to come up with a new set of priorities to build a strategic future focused system for science, innovation and technology (SI&T). This links in with other recent changes to the structure and merger of government science institutes.
In its report, the council says government SI&T spending must, among many things, deliver high quality and internationally benchmarked research and attract global partnerships and respond to end user needs.
It also says any research must be relevant to NZ's needs, ensure that great ideas emerge and build a diverse future-ready SI&T workforce.
The Government's chief science advisor Dr John Roche, who is a member of the Council, told Rural News that the changes are about providing very clear guidelines on where the $1.7 billion in govermment money should be invested. In its report, the council notes that in the past funding has been fragmented, lacked strategic focus, was weak on commercialisation and struggled to develop, attract and retain good people.
Roche says the new system is about getting in behind those areas that NZ can grow to make the biggest difference, doing less better and creating a more flexible and nimble system for high impact areas.
"So those areas that are high risk but potentially high reward. Our funding hasn't really catered for that in the past, so there is a good opportunity there. Key is changing the narrative from funding research to investing in outcomes and a recognition that we underinvest in advanced technologies. There is a significant opportunity to grow our capability in that space," he says.
To that end, the council has set four thematic pillars for government-funded science; primary industry and the bioeconomy; technology for prosperity; environmental sustainability and resilience; and health people and a thriving society. Within this mix will be a greater emphasis than before on funding competitively funded, curiosity-driven research. In other words, more futuristic research and advanced technologies.
The council's report notes that under the present system there is a bias towards funding agriculture and environmental research, which it says is a "misalignment with emerging opportunities and international benchmarks". It's possible that some of the money currently invested in these areas will be allocated over time to boost funding for "advanced technologies", but agriculture may be an ultimate beneficiary of this.
New Funding
At present, MBIE is the decision maker when it comes to dispensing government money for science. Over the years, there have been constant complaints by scientists and researchers about the complexity and bureaucratic nature of the system and the time and cost of putting in bids. But this is set to change with the establishment of Research Funding NZ (RFNZ).
John Roche says the present funding process is rigid, with allocations only being made annually and everything lined up to that date.
"What we want now is to make the system more accessible and as nimble as possible. We want to make it similar to those small, advanced economies where we see their economies growing rapidly off the back of innovation and the IT sector," he says.
Roche says the new strategy provides a new platform for NZ to get the best value from the money government invests in science.
