THE PROGRESS OF THE MACEDONIAN R&D&I SYSTEMS FROM THE EUROPEAN RESEARCH AREA PRIORITIES' PERSPECTIVE

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THE PROGRESS OF THE MACEDONIAN R&D&I SYSTEMS FROM THE EUROPEAN RESEARCH AREA PRIORITIES' PERSPECTIVE

Journal Title: Knowledge International Journal - Year 2018, Vol 26, Issue 1

Abstract

In the last decade the government of the Republic of Macedonia has expressed a high degree of commitment for implementing their economic programme through support of science, education, R&D and innovation. Therefore, the economic development and improvement of the national competitiveness and company productivity through support of research and innovation is built in the main national policies, laws and strategies. This commitment caused reorganisation of the R&D and innovation governance structure in the country, improvement of the business climate and competitiveness and strengthening the international promotion of the country as an attractive investment destination. Macedonia's Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D (GERD), which amounted to €42.15m in 2016, was significantly increased when compared to 2011, when was only €16.81m. GERD as a percentage of GDP was also increased from 0.22% in 2011 to 0.43% in 2016, however it is still one of the lowest figures in Europe. The structure of the Macedonian GERD by its sector of performance was not in line with the EU (European Union)-28 averages in 2016. The main weakness was the share of Business Expenditure on R&D, 23.4% of GERD for 2016, which was significantly lower when compared to the corresponding EU average of 64.7% for the same year. However, comparing this figure for the country with 2011, it is significantly increased, since in 2011 was 15.6%. Furthermore, the Republic of Macedonia hasn’t adopted its S3 strategy and according to the available national and international RDI (Research, Development and Innovation) statistics it is a modest innovator and has underdeveloped RDI system compared with the EU countries. Certain social and grand challenges are addressed through participation in IPA and other international funding schemes in the domain of energy, health, agriculture, biotechnology, food processing, chemistry, pharmaceutical research and environmental protection. On the other side European Research Area (ERA) is at the heart of the Europe 2020 Strategy and its Innovation Union policy flagship, which aim to ensure that new knowledge-intensive products and services contribute substantially to growth and jobs. Based on analysis of the strengths and weakness of Europe's research systems, six ERA priorities are defined: More effective national research systems; Optimal transnational co-operation and competition; An open labour market for researchers; Gender equality and gender mainstreaming in research; Optimal circulation, access to and transfer of scientific knowledge; and International cooperation. The priorities comprise a methodological framework for evaluation of the progress of the national research systems. This framework is used in this paper to assess the progress of RDI systems of the Republic of Macedonia and the level of its compatibility with ERA from the perspective of national policies in this area.

Authors and Affiliations

Sasho Josimovski, Lidija Pulevska Ivanovska

Keywords

EP ID EP50037
DOI -
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