Promoting economic development by research & innovation in tunisia

Promoting Economic Development by Research & Innovation

Prof. Khemaies ZAYANI

Director of Programs and Structures of Research Valorization,

Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research-Tunisia

November  26,  2012  :  Murcia-­‐Spain  

“If a man empties his purse into his head, no one can take it from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the highest return”.

 Natural resources can help economic development but are not sine a qua non condition for inducing technological breakthrough.

 The secret of the development lies in the momentum given to research and innovation. According to Schumpeter, economic development revolves around innovation, entrepreneurship and market.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

Global Competitiviness Index (GCI): Source : World Economic Forum, 2012 Country Rank in 2012 Rank in 2011 Trend

Switzerland 1 1 Singapour 2 2 Finlande 3 4 Sweeden 4 3 Netherlands 5 7 Germany 6 6 USA 7 5 United Kingdom 8 10 Hong Kong SAR 9 11 Japan 10 9 France 21 18

Tunisia n/c 32/109 in 2010 40/142 in 2011

Very High 5,51 < GCI < 7,0 High 5,51 < GCI < 7,0

12 Pillars of Competitiviness (Source : World Economic Forum, 2012) Global Competitiveness Index

Pillar 1. Institutions

Pillar 2. Infrastructure

Pillar 3. Macroeconomic environment

Pillar 4. Health and primary education

Basic requirements subindex

Pillar 5. Higher education and training

Pillar 6. Goods market efficiency

Pillar 7. Labor market efficiency

Pillar 8. Financial market development

Pillar 9. Technological readiness

Pillar 10. Market size

Efficiency enhancers subindex

Pillar 11. Business sophistication

Pillar 12. Innovation

Innovation and sophistication

factors subindex

Key for Factor-driven

economies

Key for efficiency-driven

economies

Key for Innovation-driven

economies

Tunisia at glance

Area = 163 610 km2 Population = 10 430 200 inhabitants

GDP = 4376 US$ per capita (2009 ) Life expectancy = 75.24 years

Birth rate = 17.4 per 1000 persons (2011) Literacy = 74.3%

1. General informations

2. Higher Education and Scientific Research HESR (2010-2011) 193 public high institutes, faculties and engineering school 16486 faculty members

42 private high institutes 35 research centers

346876 students enrolled in public institutions (61.2% female)

15054 students enrolled in private institutions,

Enrollment rate of students = 36.9%, 6.1% of GDP to HESR

2032 foreign students from 61 nationalities,

83215 new students in university in 2010 versus 86035 graduates

National System of Research and Innovation (SNRI)

  Redirect the national economy to growth regime based on knowledge and expertise,

  Improve the competitiveness of industry to alleviate harsh international competition resulting from globalization,

  Accelerate the pace of start-ups’ creation to improve the growth of the national economy and provide enough jobs for youth, particularly higher education graduates,

  Search of positioning in niche markets with high added value,

  Increase the attractiveness of foreign direct investment (FDI).

1. Main challenges

Policy of Modernisation and decentralization of industrial sector + innovation

National System of Research and Innovation (SNRI)

 Guiding scientific research towards national priorities,

 Stimulate innovation and technological development,

 Generate innovative projects resulting from valorization of research results,

 Foster scientific and technological positioning of the country,

 Set up a basic advanced infrastructure for the benefit of R&D sector,

 Develop a high level scientific and technical expertise,

 Increase investment for R&D activities.

2.  Policy and outlines

Researchers are encouraged to cluster within laboratories or units. To acquire critical weight and more competitiveness, research structures are encouraged to merge into consortia.

Engineering 10%

Life Science & Biotechnology

49%

Basic Science 18%

Law, Economy &

Management 10%

Humanities & Social Science

13%

Research Units

Engineering 8%

Life Science & Biotechnology

49%

Basic Science 29%

Law, Economy &

Management 10%

Humanities & Social Science

4%

Labs

At the end of 2010: Number labs = 147 and Number of research units = 609

The typology of these research structures was as following :

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30515 Tunisian publications in the Web of Science (Ref: Thomson Reuters)

1967 1987

Basic outcomes of Tunisian Research

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Impact of Tunisian Research (Ref: Thomson Reuters)

Particularly high impacts

22+

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Cita

tions

/ ar

ticle

Tunisian publications are cited in more than 110 000 indexed

publications in the Web of Science (Ref: Thomson Reuters)

Which countries cite these publications?

Tunisia

USA 13.3% France 13.1%

China 4.6% England 4.3%

Italy 4.3%

Spain 3.8%

Japan 2.3%

Turkey 2.2%

International recognition of Tunisian Research

The concept of innovation is often defined in compliance with Oslo Manual (2005) :  

“Innovation is the implementation of a product (good or service), a new or a significantly improved process, a new marketing method, a new organizational method in business practices, the organization workplace or external relations”.

There is a certain amalgam in the public mind between innovation and novelty or the assertion "for first time in Tunisia". Even though this definition of novelty restricts the added value to local market, it can be adopted temporarily as it helps support the companies’ strengthening.

 Innovation:

MESRS

MESRS - MIT

Ikdem Management

PHENICIA - ACP

SAGES - BMN

APII

MIT

MESRS BMN

MESRS

BMN

MIT

APII

BMN

APII, BANKS & SICAR

ITP - Creation

Patents

ITP - MAN

RICTIC

PIRD

VRR

PMN

PNRI

PRF

Rechearchers’ Mobility

Seed Funds

FOPRODI

Service checks

IN’Tech

(Source: Projet Assistance technique pour l’étude, l’évaluation et l’optimisation des instruments financiers d’incitation à l’innovation et la création d’entreprise, Projet No2010/256944, Programme ENPI)

Instruments for funding innovation

A large panoply of instruments to fund innovation. One counts 14 instruments operated by 5 institutions. They can be split into 3 layers:  

Individualized support (one to none): Directed to a single recipient. Their objectives and eligibility criteria go beyond the framework of innovation (PMN, ITP, FOPRODI, DRIC, Service checks).  

Incentives for collaborative research: these instruments are intended to encourage R&D and the reconciliation between Research and Industry (VRR, PFR and PNRI).  

Financial support of own funds: Oriented to support innovative enterprises’ creation by funding certain stages of innovation process. Provision of own funds or consolidation of the financial structure of “young shoot” through bank credit.  

Instruments for funding innovation

Until now, 84 were funded by VRR projects with a total budget of 8.8 Millions of Dinars

The research preceding valorization is collaborative and intended to promote technology transfer and patents’ licenses from labs to industry. It is also targeted to leveraging the available expertise to meet national needs as well as promoting the development of prototypes within research structures.

Industrials are requested to contribute up to 10% of the project cost. The subsidy provided by the government is not capped.

The funding agreement is subjected to the favorable opinion of a panel of experts who evaluate the submission.

Research Valorisation Bridge between academia and industry

Agriculture & Fisheries

25%

Industry & Energy 20.20%

Health & Pharmacy

16.70%

TIC 13.10%

Water & Environment

13.10%

Biotechnology 10.70%

Humanities 1.20%

The relatively small number of submitted VRR projects may be ascribed to the following reasons:

Importance of the funded VRR projects according to the disciplines

  Reluctance of researchers to leverage their own research results,

 Absence of valorization cells within research structures

 Scarcity of valorization experts within research structures (engineers, lawyers, etc.)  

  Weakness of partnership between research and small and medium companies  

  Lack of valorization culture amongst researchers  

The current legislation is not stimulating as it provides authors with 25-50% of the patent's dividends, after deduction of all costs.

Intellectuel property

The disproportionality between publications and patent numbers is attributable to:

 Scientific articles are recognized in the career evolution of researchers but patents, particularly those filed in Tunisia, are less so

 Net patents revenues are small: Researchers perceive only 25-50% of the patent income after deduction of all gross outlays  

 Absence of specialized intellectual property office close to the major research poles, to help patenting and marketing operations

 Culture of intellectual property is not widespread and only few researchers are abreast of relevant mechanisms and regulations

To alleviate these cons, the following measures are undertaken :

Training on Intellectual Property with WIPO &

INNORPI

Repeal of binding regulation & proposal of

a more incentive one

Link and interface structures: BUTT, CRT (within technopoles) & 42 Business incubators

Ph.D Fellowship in companies =MOBIDOC, etc.

 Strengthen the synergy between the triptych research, training and industry, promoting thereby generation of new projects

 Encourage the establishment of firms engaged in high technology and services and polarize economic projects based on research and development

 Provide the region with a conducive environment for carrying R&D activities oriented towards advanced industrial fields that are attractive of foreign direct investment  

 Improve the competitive capacity of Tunisian companies  

  Promote the entrepreneurial spirit and encourage the establishment and incubation of start-ups

The main objectives of technopoles are: Technopoles as a lever of development

 Foster scientific research in fields related to national priorities and economic needs  

 Develop highly qualified human resources capable to manage innovative projects

 Promote partnership between public and private sectors  

Right now, there is one functional technopopole (El Ghazala) and six ongoing (Sidi Thabet, Borj Cedria, Bizerte, Sousse & Monastir, Sfax).

 Stimulate job creation, particularly for higher education graduates

These projects are burdensome and request huge investments into the intangible. Their usufruct is not immediate as they require long time for implementation.

 Researchers eager to valorize their findings can take advantage of full-time mobility to create their own companies. They may also request part-time mobility to contribute to the implementation of innovative projects either in public or in private companies.

  Mobility is intended to upgrade the productive sector by leveraging highly qualified human resources. Nevertheless, the regulation in force is rather binding since it requires researchers to fulfill all their teaching and research duties without any incitation in return.

Mobility of researchers

Need to repeal the ongoing decree and propose a more challenging regulation

Things are moving now !

 Because of the current transitional phase, things are moving and some strategies may be adjusted according to new policies.

  A national consultation will be organized by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research to draw new priorities and foster R&D to serve as a lever for economic and social development of the country.

THANKS

FOR YOUR KIND ATTENTION