On 21 June 2010, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Science, the Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism, and the World Bank organized a forum entitled “Competitiveness through Research and Innovation: Strategies, Policies and Incentives”. The forum brought together representatives from the Government, the academia, the private sector and civil society, as well as the European Commission to discuss strategies and challenges to intensifying research and innovation in Bulgaria. Topics discussed at the forum included: strategies for increasing competitiveness through innovation; deploying national and European resources to meet EU 2020 targets; connecting public research to industry; as well as developing a capacity for innovation. The organizers invited the Applied Research and Communications Fund to present an overview of the financial instruments available nationally for support of innovation.
The event was opened by Mr. Traicho Traikov, Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism, Mr. Sergei Ignatov, Minister, Ministry of Education, Youth and Science, and Mr. Peter Harrold, the World Bank’s Regional Director for Central Europe and the Baltic Countries.
Research and innovation were widely cited as key factors for sustainable economic growth. There was also a special focus on the direct relation between education, economic growth, and innovation. In addition, the forum included findings from the World Bank’s analysis of Bulgaria’s performance in exports, innovation, science, and technology.
Mr. Athanasios Sofos, DG “Regional Policy”, Unit “Bulgaria”, provided an overview of the EU 2020 Strategy objectives and the use of European funds for achieving these objectives. In light of notable economic disparities between EU Member States that obstruct cohesion, a third of the European funds are geared towards strengthening cohesion within the EU. The EU 2020 Strategy is aimed at a smart, sustainable, and inclusive economic growth. EU targets such as 75% employment rate, 3% of GDP invested in R&D, reduction of the population living in poverty, and countering climate change are to be translated into national targets. Mr. Sofos identified a number of challenges that Bulgaria needs to overcome to achieve EU 2020 targets, including the lack of clear strategy, weak cooperation and coordination between institutions, low administrative capacity and slow implementation of programs, low absorption of EU funds and unclear allocation of responsibilities, etc.
Ms. Nerija Putinaite, Deputy Minister of Education and Science in Lithuania, presented a case study of absorbing EU funds to restructure the Lithuanian system and promote competitiveness, research, and innovation. In a short period of time (i.e. since 2009), four programs for research and innovation were launched in Lithuania: a program for cooperation between public R&D and the business sector; a Common National Integration program (identifying research priorities and objectives); Research Career program (aimed at the development of human capital); and a National Higher Education program (financing target areas within education). Lithuania has used available structural funds as independent sources of funding not managed by the old/existing institutions. Funds were allocated according to geographical and thematic priorities, while the future focus for Lithuania will be on the management of intellectual property.
Mr. Ruslan Stefanov, Coordinator, Innovation.bg Group, stressed on the need to prioritize those European objectives that are realistic for Bulgaria, taking into consideration the limited administrative capacity and funding. Currently, Bulgaria’s legislation related to research and innovation remains fragmentary and without adequate strategic backing, driven by external pressure as opposed to purposeful policy. The National Innovation Strategy needs updating, while the National Strategy for Scientific Research and its updated version have not been ratified by the Bulgarian parliament. In addition, funding for research and innovation remains small and variable, and assessment of the effect of implemented programs is lacking. Thus, recommendations include developing an independent evaluation and monitoring system; increasing the visibility of and participation in the National Science Fund and the National Innovation Fund; increasing and securing funding for research and innovation to enable the development of a long-term strategy; and improve coordination between education, science, and innovation policy in order to avoid duplication of funding and better reconcile their objectives.
Agenda (Adobe PDF, 354 KB)
The forum at World Bank’s website
Sixth National Innovation Forum Science, Technology and Innovation: Policies for Growth in the next Decade, 1 March 2010
