A proposal by Waterford Institute of Technology’s (WIT) Centre for Entrepreneurship has been named as one of 11 successful proposals out of 150 to be awarded €500,000 in funding from the EU Framework 6. The proposal aims to remove bottlenecks hindering regional technology research and development (R&D) investments.
The WIT Centre for Entrepreneurship is the lead partner in a consortium that includes Saxion Universities (Holland), Cumbria County Council (UK), University of Siegen (Germany), Novo Mesto (Slovenia) and the Baltic International Centre for Economic Policy Studies (Latvia).
The purpose of the project, titled Creating a Research and Technology Development (RTD) Investment Policy for Regions in Emerging and Developed Economies (CRIPREDE), is to analyse the current RTD policy processes of the partner regions constituting the consortium and to clearly identify the bottlenecks that are hindering effective R&D investments to improve the economic development of these regions.
The research and analysis will be informed by best practice in, and leading research on, existing entrepreneurial regions both in the EU and in some other countries outside the EU, focusing on the relationship between RTD policy and investments and its impact on regional development.
Bill O’Gorman, head of research at the WIT Centre for Entrepreneurship, explained: “From the outset enterprise development agencies and industry representatives in the respective regions will be involved in the analysis of the region and the development of both the generic model defining best practice in RTD investment.
“The outcome of this research and analysis will be a unified policy for RTD fostering entrepreneurship and technology transfer into (small) enterprises in the respective partner regions.
“The final model will become an integral element of the policy process upon which the development and implementation of knowledge-based, knowledge-led entrepreneurial regions — through greater focus on an integrative RTD investment and practice policy — will be achieved,” O’Gorman said.
By John Kennedy
