The Group of Eight joins the all-but acclamation of proposals for the Strategic Examination of Research and Development.
Robyn Denholm and her SERD colleagues have released discussion papers that set what they want the review to give the government, and the research establishment is signing-up to their official-centric approach.
The Group of Eight, which has more independence to lose than most, backs an R&D model where government sets priorities. Indeed, Ms Denholm does not go far enough with a Commonwealth-level governance board to set priorities when what the Eight wants is a dedicated national agency. But an agency that will not get in the way. “Without careful design, the governance model could hinder rather than enable the agility and responsiveness.”
Although, there is a problem, “with more than half of Australia’s R&D investment coming from the business sector, there is no guarantee business investment will align with proposed national focus area.” But university engagement can help with that. The Eight propose national doctoral training centres, “that align with all key sectors of Australian economy and society and in areas of national priority” which could leverage existing expertise within various universities and from across the private and public sectors.
The Go8, in-line with other lobbies, also wants to get in on the R&D Tax Incentive action. It wants businesses to access the National Reconstruction Fund and all they have to do to score the cash is have “formal R&D collaborations” with Australian research institutions. It has other ideas to help the private sector – including grants for small businesses to turn concepts into commercially viable products and services, with help from universities.
Plus, everybody, through their super funds, should step up for R&D. The Go8 suggests there should be “clear pathways” for them “to participate in early-stage innovation,” with intermediaries and aggregators to bridge the gap between superannuation funds and early-stage enterprises.
What could possibly go wrong with that?