Apropos my recent post on the topic, this Sunday, the Sunday Business Post published an article entitled Our patents system needs a shake-up picking up many of the points raised earlier.
This might be of interest to some of you:
Reminder – New Science Careers Webinar: State of the Nation: Science in Ireland – December 10, 2008, at 4pm GMT (11.00 a.m. Eastern Time/ 8 a.m. Pacific)In recent years Ireland has made significant progress in building its scientific research capacity. Recently, the Irish government set down a bold vision to build a “knowledge economy.”
Join us for a roundtable discussion that will look at what policy decisions have been taken to deliver on this vision, consider the progress made to date and the funding and research opportunities in industry and academia in Ireland, as well as examine the challenges encountered.
Questions can be asked live! Register TODAY: www.sciencecareers.org/webinar
Adrian Weckler recently posted that Ireland sucks at filing patents, despite the significant amount of funding that has gone into research in Ireland. In his analysis he correctly identifies SFI as one of the funding sources.
I would offer a number of observations on Adrian’s post:
One final point worth bearing in mind, which these figures obscure, is that the patent filing culture is very different across different sectors and industries. In the pharma/drug discovery space, patent filings of new molecules is all important, and a real driver of activity. In my own area (software) this is much less the case.
All of this notwithstanding, SFI are tracking patent filings and awards, in particular in our larger CSET and SRC programmes, and will be monitoring this issue on an on-going basis.
TechCentral.ie posts an entry on the collaboration between the TCD GV2 guys in the SFI-funded Metropolis project and the Central Remedial Clinic.
The story is also carried by Silicon Republic and Electric News Network.
David McWilliams, that eternal doomsayer, has an interesting post on his blog recently. Here’s a snippit that sums up his view:
We have already seen how the slump in stamp duty has affected the coffers. But long-term, no country ever got rich by its people buying and selling property to each other with money borrowed from foreigners.
While I’m not an economist, I’m not sure that I completely agree with this argument. Sure, property has been bought with money borrowed from foreigners, but it will be repaid (hopefully) to those foreigners from salaries earned by selling goods and services on the international market. Granted that an internal property market per se is not a desirable thing, but surely it’s symptomatic of the behaviour of the wider economy.
On top of his usual doom-and-gloom, he does offer some hope for the future, and SFI gets an honourable mention:
Ireland has so much to offer risk takers – both our own and international – in terms of raw material. For example, Science Foundation Ireland is slated to invest €7 billion in scientific research over the next ten years. This will go to waste unless we also bring in the necessary commercial skills that can harness this research and build it into something that will be for sale. The idea should be to build companies of our own rather than just being a conveyor belt of talent for the multinationals.
I wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment.
It’s worth pointing out that SFI’s budget is nothing close to €7billion over the next ten years. According to the Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation, 2006-2013, SFI has an allocation of €1.4 b|n – a far sight from €7 b|n. Also worth noting is that that the current SSTI expires in 2013. I don’t believe that plans or budgets have been allocated beyond that – certainly not to 2018 as McWilliams implies.
Apropos my last post, there’s an interview with Bertie Ahern in the Independent where he talks about his career and decision to resign. From SFI’s point of view, there’s an interesting quote:
One of the things I am particularly proud of is the work that we did in bringing Science Foundation Ireland, bringing in proper research so that we will invent products and innovations for the next generation which will keep employment strong in this country. When I took over as Taoiseach, there was no research budget, there was very little science budget, we weren’t into the area of innovation but, as Hugh Brady said in UCD, we are now a country that is strong in that area and I am glad I have been able to give the leadership in that area for the last 10 years.
The Sunday Business Post is carrying an article about the imminent departure of Maurice Treacy, the current director of the BIO directorate in SFI.
Maurice leaves SFI to take up a position as CEO in The National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT).
Gabriella at the Interactive Design Centre in UL reports on a lecture given by Prof David Parnas of the Software Quality Research Lab. The lecture marks the end of Prof. Parnas’s time in Ireland, and we wish him well on his return to Canada.
boards.ie one of the grand old dames of the Irish internet space, is 10 years old this week. It was established by John Breslin, who now works at the SFI DERI.
Check out a nice interview and writeup in SiliconRepublic
As I mentioned previously, SFI is launching a new SRC call. We’ve just announced a number of information meetings for any interested parties: