TY - JOUR
T1 - Ireland's national innovation system
T2 - An exploratory study of supporting institutions and dynamic actors
AU - Pontikakis, Dimitrios
AU - McDonnell, Thomas
AU - Geoghegan, Will
N1 - Funding Information:
The various research councils too, armed with substantial financial backing, are emerging as potent policy enactors. Of greatest relevance to the innovation system is the role played by the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (IRCSET). IRCSET caters for the human resource needs of Ireland’s innovation system with a particular concern for the scaling of scientific skills at the doctoral and post-doctoral levels. IRCSET encourages STI actor cooperation by making part of its funding for postgraduate students conditional on the presence of university– industry linkages. Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) is the policy enactor with the responsibility for the support of basic science. SFI allocates funding for basic research in pioneering fields and oversees the engagement of actors from both industry and academia. The fact that the SFI is staffed to a large extent by scientists ensures a measure of understanding of research agendas. Experts in science as well as government and industry representatives award grants following competitive review of research proposals. Other noteworthy policy enactors include the Technology Transfer Initiative and the Innovation Relay Centre. Both these organisations aim to encourage the transfer of technology across borders and across fields as well as bridge information asymmetries among industry and academia.
PY - 2006/3
Y1 - 2006/3
N2 - This paper begins with a brief look at the literature on national innovation systems (NIS). Building on the NIS approach, we present a simple conceptual framework. National innovative competence is dependent on the presence of dynamic STI actors, operating within the confines of compatible institutions. We distinguish the roles played by different STI actors and argue that heterogeneous actors engage in innovation for different reasons. Collaborative innovation is not always a natural consequence of engagement in innovation but is characterised by a distinct set of considerations. The latter part of the paper is concerned with the application of this conceptual framework to the case of Ireland. We identify the institutions pertaining to Ireland's current innovative performance. An outline of STI actors according to their role in the system is then presented. In turn we outline the various contributions of Irish STI actors and explore their motives for engaging in innovation and collaborative innovation.
AB - This paper begins with a brief look at the literature on national innovation systems (NIS). Building on the NIS approach, we present a simple conceptual framework. National innovative competence is dependent on the presence of dynamic STI actors, operating within the confines of compatible institutions. We distinguish the roles played by different STI actors and argue that heterogeneous actors engage in innovation for different reasons. Collaborative innovation is not always a natural consequence of engagement in innovation but is characterised by a distinct set of considerations. The latter part of the paper is concerned with the application of this conceptual framework to the case of Ireland. We identify the institutions pertaining to Ireland's current innovative performance. An outline of STI actors according to their role in the system is then presented. In turn we outline the various contributions of Irish STI actors and explore their motives for engaging in innovation and collaborative innovation.
KW - Incentives
KW - Innovation actors
KW - Institutions
KW - Ireland
KW - National innovation system
KW - Science and technology policy
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U2 - 10.1080/08109020600563861
DO - 10.1080/08109020600563861
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33645125658
SN - 0810-9028
VL - 24
SP - 37
EP - 58
JO - Prometheus: Critical Studies in Innovation
JF - Prometheus: Critical Studies in Innovation
IS - 1
ER -