Wales must exploit EU research and innovation funding to the full says National Assembly Committee
31 May 2013The Welsh Government must take a stronger strategic role in ensuring that Wales maximises the opportunities that will be available under the European Union research and innovation fund (Horizon 2020) worth almost £70 billion – according to a National Assembly for Wales Committee.
The Enterprise and Business Committee was struck by the progress made by Scotland and Ireland towards securing funding from Horizon 2020, which has been based on a strong strategic approach in both countries, bringing together all the key players in research and innovation
It also welcomed evidence from Cardiff University which stressed the importance of Wales working ‘on the inside’ in Europe.
The Committee has recommended that part of the role of the new Horizon 2020 unit established by the Welsh Government within the Welsh European Funding Office (WEFO) should be to raise Wales’s profile in Europe and broker agreements between industry and academic and research centres.
It concluded that closer relationships between the business and research sectors are vital given the stronger emphasis Horizon 2020 is expected to have on multi-disciplinary research, and in the greater priority it will give to innovation and commercialisation of research outcomes.
The Committee also underlined the importance of getting the right technical and scientific expertise into the support structures in Wales, which has been a strong feature of the approaches taken in Ireland, Scotland and the Spanish regions of Aragon and Catalonia to engage their business and research sectors.
“Horizon 2020 is an invaluable opportunity for Wales to exploit opportunities in the field of research and innovation and the Committee believes it is vital that Wales capitalises more on its strengths in accessing the funding,” said Nick Ramsay AM, Chair of the Enterprise and Business Committee.
“The Committee is concerned Wales could already be falling behind countries like Ireland and Scotland in its preparations to engage in Horizon 2020.
“We are recommending that the Welsh Government should use the Horizon 2020 unit within the Welsh European Funding Office to further raise Wales’s profile in Europe while also helping industry and academic institutions to broker European partnerships to ensure that innovative research carried out in Wales goes on to bear fruit in the commercial world.
“This, we believe, will help contribute to a more strategic approach to bringing the business and research sectors together instead of the rather serendipitous approach the Committee was told about.”
The Committee makes 17 recommendations in its report including:
Examine and assess the role of Ireland’s National Support Network for FP7, the lessons learned and the good practice that could be applied in a Welsh context to facilitate engagement with the Horizon 2020 framework;
Examine and assess the impact of Scotland’s Steering Group for Research and Innovation and its new Support Framework for Horizon 2020 and draw out any lessons to inform the development of a more strategic approach to providing support mechanisms in Wales;
Charge the new Horizon 2020 unit in WEFO with raising the profile of Wales in Europe, including pooling the use of people and resources in Brussels to maximise impact;
Ensure staff within the new WEFO unit have the necessary mix of technical, scientific and business skills and expertise, which have proved so successful in Scotland, Ireland, Aragon and Catalonia; and
Actively support a more strategic partnership - a Welsh version of the successful approaches in Ireland and Scotland - between higher education and businesses in Wales, in respect of the opportunities presented by Horizon 2020. This should include hosting an annual Horizon 2020 conference or science week in Wales to raise the profile of EU funded research, to broker ideas and to showcase successful projects.
The report from the Committee is the second concerning Horizon 2020 and follows publication of stage one in July last year which called for Wales to be more ‘streetwise’ in accessing EU research funding.
The Committee has also recommended that the Welsh Government should provide an update on progress against the 16 recommendations from the Committee’s first report on Horizon 2020.
The Enterprise and Business Committee
Horizon 2020 is the European Union’s (EU’s) research and innovation programme, which will succeed the current Framework Seven Research Programme (FP7). The final legislation will provide the framework into which Welsh universities, research centres and businesses will have to bid to secure EU research funding from 2014-2020.
More information about Horizon 2020