The Council of Ministers approves the Spanish Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation 2021-2027
The Council of Ministers has approved the Spanish Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation 2021-2027, which is conceived as the multi-year reference framework whose objectives are shared by all the Public Administrations with powers in the field of promoting scientific research, technical and innovation. One of the main objectives of the Strategy is to promote private investment in R&D in order to double the sum of public and private investments in R&D, until reaching 2027% of GDP in 2,12 (in 2018, last data available, investment was 1,24% of GDP). This significant increase is essential after a decade of budget cuts and administrative difficulties for Spanish science and innovation. The Government has already taken the first step towards this with the Shock Plan for Science and Innovation, approved last July, which contemplates 1.000 million euros in direct investment in 2020 and 2021.
The Strategy is designed for a phase of expansion of resources, with a gradual orientation that allows the consolidation of a Science, Technology and Innovation System of greater size and power in the long term. Increase the budget dedicated to R & D & I during the 2021-2027 period, and encourage private investment, until it reaches the EU average, in particular through direct aid (subsidies), and favor the establishment of adequate lines to facilitate the use of European funds, as well as compliance with the State Aid regulations.
The objective is to generate a productive fabric, based on current strengths, more innovative and dynamic. This will make it possible to increase competitiveness and, with it, the generation of quality employment and ensure the long-term sustainability of our social system, investing in the quality of life of future generations.
For this, the Strategy raises the need for a State Pact, equivalent to others carried out by the European and international community, which provides stability and is immediately translated into a forceful investment in science and innovation.
COVID-19
Although it has been in the making for months, the Spanish Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation was completed during the COVID-19 pandemic, so it includes activities specifically aimed at solving the problems caused by it, and consolidating and promoting science and innovation as a tool for the social, economic and industrial reconstruction of our country.
The health crisis has placed science in a prominent place in Spanish society and in the decision-making of administrations, and has highlighted the role of science and access to knowledge as essential levers in the reconstruction plans of Spain and the EU. However, the crisis has also brought to the fore the insufficiency of the science and innovation system in key strategic sectors and the need to develop an open and robust pan-European research model.
In these circumstances, the Strategy has been planned in two phases:
- In the first phase, 2021-2023, the efforts made will be focused on guaranteeing the strengths of the system, reinforcing the current programming, infrastructures and human resources that will benefit from the design of a well-defined research career, which allows the necessary generational change. . In this phase, it will be essential to support, clearly and forcefully, R & D & I in the health field, as well as investment in ecological transition and digitization, based on science of excellence, through specific programs, strategic actions in priority sectors , and major driving projects that allow us to face the social, economic, industrial and environmental challenges necessary to achieve sustainable well-being and inclusive growth in our country.
- The second phase, corresponding to the period 2024-2027, and after evaluation of the first phase, will allow to place R & D & I among the fundamental pillars of our State and consolidate its value as a tool for the development of an economy based on knowledge.
News and priorities
The main novelties and priorities of the Strategy include the design of a scientific and technological pathway to access the R & D & I system comparable to that of the neighboring countries (Tenure Track). Likewise, a technological itinerary will be developed in which the figure of Technologist included in the Science Law of 2011 will be developed.
On the other hand, the structuring of the programs in national missions, the strengthening of the innovation ecosystems, the increase in leading projects of the Sustainable Development Goals, the incorporation of the gender perspective, the reinforcement of research and innovation are also noteworthy. in health, the consolidation of a network of infrastructures and scientific-technical equipments that develop excellent and open science, the promotion of the associations of the Horizon Europe program and the promotion of private R + D + I through tax incentives adapted to the companies of the science and innovation system.
Objectives and strategic sectors
After carrying out a SWOT analysis of the Spanish science, technology and innovation system, the Strategy articulates a series of objectives and priorities that must be faced in the coming years.
Among the objectives, the need to generate scientific knowledge and leadership stands out, optimizing the position of research staff and institutions, as well as the quality of their infrastructures and equipment. To do this, work is already underway to establish a scientific and technological pathway to enter the R & D & I system, which will facilitate the promotion and job security of scientific, technical and innovative personnel in universities, public bodies, research institutes. health, public and private R & D & I centers and companies. This itinerary, therefore, must consider the necessary relationship with the private sector, in accordance with the needs of the productive and services sector.
In relation to the above, the need to increase Spain's capacity to attract, recover and retain talent is expressed, for which the professional advancement and mobility of research staff in the public and private sectors will be facilitated, and their ability to influence in making decisions.
Another of the main objectives is the promotion of a public-private collaboration that allows to favor the transfer of knowledge and to develop two-way links between science and companies, through the mutual understanding of needs and objectives, especially in the case of small and medium-sized enterprises. medium-sized companies (SMEs). For this, it will be necessary to ensure public-private cooperation in the different stages of the value chain, from the initial phases of the development of technologies in which the application of knowledge will be favored, until the arrival on the market of products of interest to the society. The development of this objective implies promoting R + D + I in the Spanish business fabric and encouraging the group of innovative companies to generate ecosystems with greater capacity and critical mass.
Progress in making management more flexible, without undermining budgetary control, as well as in the application of the principle of real equality between women and men in R & D & I, are two other important objectives of this strategy.
Regarding the strategic sectors, they are the following:
- Health: new therapies, precise diagnosis, cancer and aging, and special emphasis on infectious diseases.
- Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society: genesis of the human being, cognition and language
- Security for Society: inequality and migration; the market and its tensions; the protection of society and cybersecurity.
- Digital world, Industry, Space and Defense: AI, next generation internet, robotics, physics, mathematics, communication networks
- Climate, energy and mobility: fight against climate change, decarbonisation, mobility and sustainability
- Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources and Environment: from biodiversity to the smart and sustainable agri-food chain and the study of water and oceans.
Synergies with Europe
The Strategy changes its time frame from eight to seven years to facilitate the articulation of the national R & D & I policy with the policies of the European Union, especially with the research and innovation framework program, Horizon Europe (2021-2027) . In this way, the synergies between the two programs can be better exploited.
The Strategy will take into account the recommendations of the European Council on Spain's 2019 and 2020 Stability Program, which coincides with the taking of measures (in 2020 and 2021) to improve the effectiveness of R&D support policies. + I, to focus the economic investment policy on promoting innovation and the ecological and digital transition, as well as, in general, promoting research and innovation through its planning instruments.
In addition, in line with Horizon Europe, the Strategy defends the inclusion of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda among the priorities and objectives of R & D & I, which will be key in the strategic direction of the plans and state and regional funding programs.
Production process
The preparation of the Strategy has followed an open and inclusive process of the main agents of the Spanish science, technology and innovation system (companies, research and Public Administration, civil society and users of innovation). The work with the various agents has contributed to drawing the priorities and strategic lines defined in the current document and has allowed the Ministry of Science and Innovation, in collaboration with the Council for Scientific, Technological and Innovation Policy, to finalize the preparation of the Strategy after receiving the reports from the Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council and the economic planning bodies of the General State Administration.
The Strategy has also been drawn up with the participation of the ministerial departments with sectoral actions in R + D + I and with external commissions: a first one made up of representatives of the scientific field -Public Research Bodies, AEI Scientific Committee, Confederation of Societies Scientific of Spain (COSCE), Alliance of Severo Ochoa Centers and María de Maeztu Units (SOMMA) and Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities (CRUE) -, and a second commission made up of representatives from the scientific, technological, innovative and business fields and associations from different sectors -Technological Centers, Business Associations and Federations, Technology Platforms, Science and Technology Parks, Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE) and Forum of Innovative Companies-.
Source: Ministry of Science and Innovation. 08/09/2020
Link to the news: https://www.ciencia.gob.es/portal/site/MICINN/menuitem.edc7f2029a2be27d7010721001432ea0/?vgnextoid=2891ee3f0ac64710VgnVCM1000001d04140aRCRD