Greece, since 1964 has undertaken a series of initiatives to organise research and technology activities at national level. It was not until the 1982 – after Greece joined the EU in 1981 – with the bill of 1266/82 that an independent Ministry for Research and Technology was established, reflecting thus the importance of research and technology attributed by the then political leadership.
Three years after, a new legal framework (1558/85) stipulated the merger of the Ministry of Research and Technology with the Ministry of Industrial Energy and National Resources65 under the form of the General Secretariat for
Research and Technology (GSRT). This merger facilitated the launch of successful programmes aimed in the development of industrial research and towards supporting research personnel. In addition, this legal act introduced an institutional framework which allowed the coordination and supervision of research institutes by the Ministry and the GSRT. In this law, the importance of researchers was recognised and their position was enhanced by rendering them equal to the academic personnel of HEIs. Therefore, this law triggered further participation of scientists in research activities and also contributed to the repatriation of scientists living abroad.
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The new Ministry was called Ministry of Industry, Energy and Technology which operated during 1985-1996. In 1996, this Ministry and the GSRT was incorporated in the Ministry of Development.
83 Since 2001, the GSRT along with the National Research and Technology Council (ESET) (2919/2001 law) was responsible for the planning and
implementation of scientific and technological policy of the country.66 In March 2008, the Greek parliament approved a new framework for governance of research and innovation including the establishment of new bodies such as: an inter-ministerial committee ensuring the coordination of research and
technological innovation activities of the different ministries; a national council that held responsibility for formulating main policy; and a national agency that was in charge of the management of research activities (law 3653/2008). Despite the approval of the law by the Parliament, the law was put into effect in January 2010 instead of January 2009. The criticism of this framework by the opposite political parties coupled with the elections and the change of the government during 2009 partly explain the postponement of this law. The new government decided to alter the Greek research governance and policy since for the first time, the GSRT shared responsibility for the research policy with the Ministry of Education. The GSRT was incorporated within this Ministry retaining its responsibilities according to the Presidential decree 189/2009 (Erawatch, 2009).
Although Greek research policy and its governance has been quite young, it has passed through turbulent times with many mergers, various legal
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Within the third Community support programme the following objectives were identified by GSRT:
Enrichment of the production chain with new activities of knowledge intensity Creation of new ventures from researchers and research institutions
Support of new ventures in science parks with consultancy services and capita
Attraction of foreign companies in the use of Greek research and technological infrastructure Support of R&T activities for competitiveness
84 frameworks and changes due to the successive governmental changes which continues until nowadays. The Greek research policy and innovation has been criticised for its discontinuity, the lack of a long term coherent policy with specific priorities, the fragmentation and limited coordination between the different actors in the national R&D system (EC, 2006; Bartzokas, 2007). These characteristics might explain to some degree the poor research and innovation performance of the country.
A plethora of policy documents regarding innovation and research policy in Greece have explored further the weaknesses of the research and innovation system but also the opportunities for its enhancement (GSRT, 2007;2003; Ministry of Economy and Finance, 2005; Bartzokas, 2007; Maroulis, 2009).
Komninos and Tsamis (2008) concluded that there are four asymmetries in the Greek system regarding innovation: the dominant role of public sector in R&D activities compared to the business sector, the high propensity in adopting rather than creating innovation, the limited number of small innovative sectors in relation to the rest of the Greek economy and the high geographical
concentration of innovation activities. These weaknesses are further
deteriorated by the discontinuity of Greek research and innovation policy and the absence of a stable public funding stream for research and innovation activities. Furthermore, Bartzokas (2007) in his distinction ‘supply-driven’ and ‘market driven’ R&D systems, highlighted that the main challenge for the Greek system is that it is a ‘supply driven system’. Thus the difference of the Greek R&D system compared to market-driven system is specified by the fact that
85 “the availability of funds drives the expansion of the system[‘supply- driven’]. In market-driven R&D systems, a mature and thick market for ideas is being activated. The process of market creation develops its own set of incentives and rules of selection. On the contrary, in supply- driven systems, institutional inefficiency is not a problem, when a continuous flow of resources takes place” (ibid, p.9-10).
The availability of funding –especially EU funding – defines to some extent the agenda of Greek research. While the number of highly skilled is increasing in Greece due to the great share of EU programmes devoted to training of postgraduates and researchers, the limited demand for research activities might have negative implications for the career prospects of young scientists (Bartzokas, 2007, p.32). For example, these EU programmes support the training and development of PhD graduates and researchers but it is doubted whether the current R&D system can absorb them.
At the same time, the fragmentation of research in Greece and specifically in the higher education sector is another weakness of the system. This research disintegration derives from the bottom up approach of the educational system according to which research priorities are defined on the basis of individual professors’ interests or funding availability by national or EU programmes (EC, 2006, p.8).
Initiatives and national programmes (such as the National Reform Programme (for 2005-2008 period), the National Strategic Reference Programme (2007- 2013), the Technology Foresights exercises67, have highlighted the importance
67 This initiative launched in 2002 under the aegis of GSRT, was funded by the Third European Community Framework and it was undertaken by a pool of 3 partners: Athens University of Economics and Business, National Technical University of Athens, Higher School of Public Health, LOGOTECH A.E for more see: , 03/08/08
86 of research human potential as a strength for the Greek economy towards the transition of Knowledge based economy (see Table 3.9). However, there is a national concern about the top level scientists pursuing careers abroad leading into the threat of ‘brain drain’ which would be discussed below. Therefore the NSRF opts – as part of its overall effort to fulfil the Lisbon objectives – to improve the human capital through appropriate reforms in education and training that would enhance the employability of the graduates, but also upgrade their skills and training required into the knowledge based economy. Postgraduate studies, research training and networking activities (where all stakeholders are engaged universities, research centres and industry) are emphasised as a means for further production and development of human resources in research, technology and innovation activities (Ministry of Economy and Finance, 2005). As highlighted in a GSRT report on R&D
“by paying appropriate attention to the development of its research workforce, Greece not only lays the foundation for a healthy tomorrow, but also defines the course for economic activities” (GSRT, 2004, p.16).
In addition, a consultative document by GSRT (2003, p.39) refer to human potential as the
“most critical factor for the success of every research and technological policy. Research industry is dependent mainly on the quantitative and qualitative efficiency of researchers and the rest of technical and administrative personnel.”
However, it is acknowledged that this factor should not be seen in isolation. It is imperative to be complemented by an educational system that will foster the development of skills and create of a pool of high level human potential (GSRT -Technology foresight, 2004). The critical role of education is highlighted in
87 nurturing a highly skilled workforce that will contribute to knowledge
production, research and innovation (Ministry of Economy and Finance, 2005).
Table 3.9 shows some of the issues mentioned in the SWOT analysis in the NSRF, emphasising points related to human resources and research.
Table 3.8 SWOT analysis – NSRF Greece 2007-2013
STRENGTHS
Considerable pool of highly skilled workforce High level human potential in research with international presence and networking with the research community of Diaspora
WEAKNESSES
Lack of educational infrastructure Low participation in LLL programmes
OPPORTUNITIES
Existence of significant scientific pool of Greek Diaspora
THREATS
Increase of the brain drain of high level scientific potential abroad
The importance of education policy is highlighted in NSRF, which includes the operational programme ‘education and lifelong learning’ aiming at enhancing the participation of the Greek population in lifelong learning and reinforce human capital in knowledge production, research and innovation (Ministry of Economy and Finance, 2005).
It is evident that education and furthermore higher education policy and its outcomes in terms of highly skilled workforce production are tightly woven with R&D activities and could critically influence its future. It would be interesting to see how higher education policy has changed or not especially regarding postgraduate education that is closer to research agenda.
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