Transcript government challenges on innovation - WBC

NATIONAL INNOVATION SYSTEM IN ALBANIA
Visho AJAZI
Kujtime STEFANI
IDF Becici, Montenegro 8-9 November 2010
OVERVIEW OF NIS – MAIN CHARACTERISTICS
Science system includes public and non public institutions and entrepreneurship
operating in the field of research, development and innovation :

higher education,
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scientific research,

knowledge and technology (innovation) development
GERD toward GDP: 0.02 % = 15 Mln. Euro in 2009 funded by public sector & foreign sources
Reform of the NIS from 2008
1.
Reorganized of Academy of Science (AS)
2.
Research Institutions (Ris) & AS integrated to the higher education system
3.
RIs under the line ministries reorganized in Technology Transfer Centers (TTC)
Structure & Stakeholders:

Council of Ministers - Council of Higher Education & Science - Line Ministries

National Institutions
 ARTI, NAIS, Patent Office

Research bodies
 Universities, Centers of Excellence, Academy of Science

Private institutions or NGOs

Private entrepreneurships in ICT , technology transfer & knowledge etc.
Parliament
Policy
making
&
priority
setting
Advisory
bodies
Policy design
&
Evaluation
Programme
Management
&
Monitoring
Research &
Innovation
performers
Committee on science, innovation
& technology assessment
(to create ?)
Government
Council of Ministers
National Council for
Science and Innovation
Academy of Science
Ministry of Education
& Science
Chaired by Prime Minister
Ministry of
Economy
Ministry of
Agriculture
Ministry of
Health
Ministry of
Defence
Directorate of
Scientific Research
Agency for Research, Technology
& Innovation (ARTI)
University
research institutes
Ministerial
research institutes
Centres for innovation,
technology
development & transfer
Advisory function
Organisational relation & institutional funding
Funding through competitive programmes
Private sector
enterprises
EDUCATION/RESEARCH SYSTEM
Science system includes:

12 public higher schools & 17 private higher schools

1 National Research Center – Center for Albanalogic Studies

12 Public Agencies/TTC under Line Ministries of Food & Agriculture, METE, Environment,
Tourism, Public Works & Transports

Centers/agencies/institutions & other private entrepreneurships dealing with research
technology and knowledge development and transfer
Existing Financing & future programmes:

Research-funding : a small scale competitiveness funding programme (132 projects, budged 5
m $, period 2-3 years run by MES

World Bank – equipment of teaching laboratories with a $4.9m investment

Through Brain Gain programme opened 550 vacancies in higher education and scientific
research institutions. 82 assistants and lecturers with a MA or PhD degree have been qualified
and appointed through open competitions in public and private universities.

The excellence fund for PhD studies -27 PhD students were supported by this fund during
2007–2009
Policy Intervention 5 programmes 2010-2015: Research Infrastructure Fund Albanian; Centers of
Excellence in Science (ACES); Research Eagles Grants,; National Technology Programme ;
Science Promotion and Education Programme
ENTERPRISE & INDUSTRIAL SYSTEM
The contribution of SME toward:

GDP is 80 %

Employment is 81.8%

Exports in 2008 is 69%

The share of SME is 99.9% of total number of companies

The number of Foreign & Joint enterprises are 2336 making 2.2 % of active
enterprises in the country
Policy development for SME-best practices

NRC – One Stop Shop, Registration of business within a day and cost 1 Euro –

Functioning of National Licensing Centre – NLC- as new One Stop Shop model

Fiscal reforms –tax burden : CIT 10%, Personal Income Tax 10%, Social
Security Contribution 15%

E- Government

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
Public procurement since the early of 2009 are submitted electronically
Tax payment ,on-line services
On line services at Customs
AIDA (Albinvest) manages:


The government Competitiveness Fund – 200.000 Euro/year
Export Credit Guarantee Fund (ECGF) – 1,6 Mln Euro /6 years
INTERMEDIARIES & SCIENCE-INDUSTRY COOPERATION
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In Albania business incubators are not developed, only two. None of these are
operational today;
Clusters in Albania have firstly been developed with the support of donor
organizations. Having been very important as a starting point in terms of
collaborative approaches within the Albanian business community, these initial
efforts did not succeed in establishing sustained cluster structures and activities.
UNDP is considering providing support to strengthen the capacities of the
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Energy (METE) in relation to cluster
development and assessment of clustering potential in Albania.
The Regional Competitiveness Initiative for the Western Balkans (2010-2012) 3year project, Building Excellence & Innovation into South East Europe Clusters
(BEISEEC) supported by the European Commission from 2010-2013, with the
total budget of EUR 3.8 M
METE is currently in the process of formally adopting a National Business
Innovation and Technology Strategy (BITS), which integrates the Albanian Cluster
Programme (ACP) & Business Incubation Programme. The designed Business
Incubation Programme for Albania will apply a step by step approach, by setting
up a pilot business incubator and building on its experience, in parallel taking into
consideration the experiences from other countries.
GOVERNMENT POLICY ON INNOVATION
Cross cutting strategies in support on innovation:

The National Strategy for Development and Integration (NSDI)

The Business & Investment Development Strategy (BIDS)

The National Strategy on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI Strategy) 20092015

Cross cutting strategy on Information Society

Draft Business Innovation and Technology Strategy (BITS)
The legal framework is in place :

Law on Academy of Science, Law on Higher Education, Law on Electronic Signature,
Law on Electronic Commerce , Electronic Document, E- Procurement, and soon
Protection of Electronic Data and Cyber crime services
Government institutions involved on innovation:

National Agency for Information Society (NAIS) established in 2007

Agency for Research, technology and Innovation (ARTI) established in August 2009

Ministry for Innovation and Information and Communication Technology (MITIK)
established in April 2010

Business Relay Innovation Centre (BRIC) – to be set up
BUSINESS INFRASTRUCTURE
Big investment are made in banking system , approximately 200 mln. Euro
– In Albania there are 16 private foreign banks.
 Credit to economy, which is an important indicator, rose by approximately 32%
during the last 5 years, and crediting power to the private sector accounts for 39%
of GDP in 2009
 The number of commercial banks that offer online services are increasing using
electronic access products provided by them –through payment cards, PCs or
recently even telephones
Telecommunication sector- access to ICT networks
 E-Gov which has facilitated communication and interaction between public
institutions and private sector and avoiding corruption
 Internet penetration 31.2 % in 2009
 Mobile telephony 126/100 inhabitants in 2009
 Time to install a line fix telephone for businesses in Albania is approximately 7
days comparable to other countries in the region.
ALBANIA PART OF REGIONAL &
INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS
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International cooperation through EU programmes: Tempus, Erasmus supported by
WB, CEB, EIB
Albania participate in FP 7 2007-2013 in 4 pillars: (Capacities, Cooperation,
People and Ideas) as well as the Euratom and the Joint Research Centre (JRC)
initiatives.
Albania is promoting participation in COST, EUREKA etc
Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP)
 Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (EIP)
 ICT policy support programme
 The intelligent energy- Europe programme (IEE).
IPA 2007 for business development through 2 components: 1) project “Support
SMEs to become more competitive in the EU market, through innovation and
technology transfer” and II) TAM project which help companies in improving their
management for the purpose of increasing their competitiveness.
MAIN STRUCTURAL DEFICIENCIES OF R&I SYSTEM

Albania is performing poorly on innovation. It is ranked at 96 out of 133 in the world –
(Global Competitiveness Report 2010)

Capacity and competence to manage both basic and applied research in Albania are
limited & far from standards that would enable co-operation and participation in
European or international programmes.

Scientific infrastructure is outdated and inadequate to support quality research.

Albania relies heavily on foreign funding, and in particular on the very competitive
structure of the EU’s 7th Research Framework
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Albania is highly dependent on foreign technology
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Albanian firms’ “technological capacity” to upgrade by absorbing existing advanced
technologies is weak
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'Albania lags behind all other countries in Eastern Europe in establishing proactive
policies to support technology capacity building for enterprises, particularly for SMEs.'
(WB)
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There is no dedicated institutional structure within the Albanian Government to
coordinate such activities (WB)

There is no specific strategic approach to business innovation and technological
development
GOVERNMENT CHALLENGES ON INNOVATION
 Improvement of basic research infrastructure able to support sufficiently
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university training at three levels (BSc, MSc, PhD levels)
Creation of scientific excellence in key research areas for our country
Education and retaining/attracting qualified people in the Albanian research
system
Increased public understanding of science and an improved awareness of the
role of innovation and new technologies for society and economy.
Increase public spending on research to 0.6% of GDP by 2015.
Increase the share of gross expenditure on R&D from foreign sources notably
from the EU (FP, etc.) and international donors
Improving the legal and institutional framework for research policy-making and
research funding
Internationalization and integration into ERA and the building of national
competences
Approving of the Business Innovation Technology Strategy (BITS) & Business
Relay Innovation Center (BRIC)
THANK YOU!
Visho AJAZI
[email protected]
Kujtime STEFANI
[email protected]