« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
3 - Looking Ahead - Key Challenges
38. The Working Group accessed a range of futures or foresight material in order to ensure that as far as is possible policy analysis is robust and looks beyond immediate challenges. The main themes taken into account by the group were:
- The impact of demographic change in Scotland and the complex interaction of migration, age and employment factors; coupled with increasing competition for highly qualified and increasingly mobile individuals with knowledge and skills and global capital;
- Globalisation, and a recognition of the scale of investment in SET in across the world, with science and engineering being identified by most countries as a key factor in economic success; and
- The value which society invests in SET may increase in direct proportion to growth in popular perception of the threats posed by for example climate change and depletion of and competition for resources such as energy and food.
39. That said, as indicated earlier, the 2006 consultation and responses provided the Working Group with a range of long term perspectives and issues, including in particular:
- Promoting science and research links with important economies particularly in the Far East, USA and Europe
- Further development of mechanisms to attract and retain world class researchers, early career scientists and PhD students - from research fellowship schemes to investment strategy needed to be developed both for infrastructure and personal reward structures for science and scientists
- Responding to increasing competition from emerging economies such as India and China - the aim for the future should be to make Scotland a global centre for technologically-advanced and knowledge-intensive FDI;
- Most leading OECD countries undertake R&D tax incentives;
- Encouraging young researchers to spend some time abroad and then return to Scotland - for example through more international scholarships, exchange programmes and awards could be created for researcher to undertake sabbaticals in important existing or future science based economies
- The role of Scotland's Colleges as a gateway to the Higher Education system for international students and through exchange programmes e.g. Colleges are involved in both provision of, and advice on, technical education at Higher Education level in China, the Middle East and Africa
- Attracting more UKRC funding for PhD positions;
- In order to be attractive to international researchers, Scotland could host even more international scientific conferences;
- Continued investment in Universities and Research Centres to attract, reward, and retain world-class research staff within world-class infrastructure
- The problems experienced by companies and businesses engaging in EU Framework programmes;
- The sustainability of the international student market given the growth in English-language provision; and
- The role and expertise of SDI and the difficulty of supporting international staff who may not be expert in the context of a particular sector or scientific discipline.
40. These issues - and more - were captured by the Working Group in an early and very comprehensive SWOT analysis (which complements the interests and work of the other two working groups) was used as a checklist and reference guide as progress was made to final conclusions and recommendations -see Annex 2. However the Working Group subsequently prioritised the following set of inter-related challenges for Scotland's science base:
- Global competition, and the need to maintain our national pre-eminence in SET teaching and research; the threats and opportunities posed by emerging SET driven economies;
- Developing a science workforce which is aligned to the needs of the science base, by continuing to invest in basic research based primarily on excellence and by retaining or attracting scientific talent and expertise;
- Increasing business R&D and utilisation of the science base, and attracting inward investment; and
- Improving the international marketing of science in Scotland, and integrating SET messages more prominently into the international "branding" of Scotland.
41. Finally, it is important to record that the Working Group was given two very valuable presentations from Interface and the Sector Skills Council for Science, Engineering & Manufacturing Technologies ( SEMTA) about, respectively, building knowledge exchange links and the potential for a new international dimension, and science skills which are important for many science-based companies operating in Scotland and related plans to develop a new science skills forum. The latter may more properly fall to the Science Base Group to approve or pursue, but the Working Group saw real merit in bringing together all delivery stakeholders at regular intervals when new "science" labour market forecast information becomes available in order to ensure an appropriate degree of co-ordination, communication and understanding, and ultimately an increased expectation that the supply and demand for science skills might generally be more likely to be in balance.
« Previous | Contents | Next »