Public sector support for research report

Professor Ron Johnston is co-author (with Dr Mark Matthews) of a recently released report prepared for DETYA under its Evaluations and Investigations Program. The report is titled "˜International Trends in Public Sector Support for Research and Experimental Development'.

"The study suggests that there is compelling evidence of convergence both in policies and in R&D expenditure profiles during the 1990s. This policy convergence involves moves towards a more balanced emphasis on supporting discovery and linkage building. The Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs' proposals to improve this balance are therefore in line with overseas trends." This theme is more fully developed in the study's major recommendation that, "The best means of overcoming the industry R&D and innovation capability constraint is to facilitate stronger cross-border linkages between the Australian science base and overseas industry. This will build the Australian science base's capability to work closely with industry, which will in turn help to attract hi-tech foreign direct investment into Australia in order to exploit this discovery capacity. A more balanced emphasis on discovery and linkages in Australian R&D policy should consequently emphasise international linkages as much as domestic linkages. This international focus is also in line with overseas approaches".