Wellington
The question that has to be asked about Switzerland in the latest World Economic Forum’s GlobalCompetitiveness Report is how come it got first, and New Zealand slipped to 23 rd from20 th ?
Any jokes about cuckoo clock manufacturers is restrained when the report notes the country’sexcellent capacity for innovation (rated 2 nd for innovation capacity) and a verysophisticated business culture. It also has some of the world’s best scientific institutions andstrong collaboration between the academic and business sectors.
This collaboration, combined with high company spending on R&D ensures that much of thisresearch is translated into marketable products and processes. In other words, they make value-addedstuff that people want really cleverly.
This pacesetter performance inspired the N.Z. Institute to go and have a closer look at theEuropean nation late last year.
One powerful observation that director Rick Boven made was that a number of years ago,Switzerland had gathered up a number of small scientific institutes under one (virtual)institute.
“This provided a much more concentrated and integrated effort,” Boven says. A bulk fundingfor longer terms model is associated with these institutes, and they have external performancereview (also see, ‘Standing on the Shoulders of Science’, a NZ Institute, Dec. 2009publication).
Swiss National Centres of Competence in Research (NCCR) are reviewed every six years onscientific, administration and financial performance. The panels include international researchersand representatives of public and private sectors, served by the NCCR, and informed byrecommendations from the review panel, the NCCR’s funding is increased or decreased. NCCRs areexpected to develop their own revenue streams.
Boven says the external review process and funding processes provide incentive for institutes toperform effectively, without the disadvantages of fragmentation.
The Swiss themselves say it, with its National Science Foundation (SNSF) review of NCCRsconcluding that “Our expectations have been met to a greater extent than anticipated.”
What the Swiss have done is increase collaboration between science researchers, and betweenresearchers and industry in developing an idea into income.
There are obviously very few wasted meetings.