Before the 1980s, Luxembourg lacked a clear science,
technology and innovation policy in the public sector but in the early 1980s,
there was an increasing recognition of the importance of research and
innovation for the growth of the economy.
1984: Creation of Luxinnovation, an agency for supporting
innovation in SMEs
1987: Legal
framework for the organisation of research
Creation
of three Public Research Centres (CRPs): CRP Gabriel Lippmann, CRP
Henri Tudor, CRP Santé
1999: Setting up of the Ministry
of Culture, Higher Education and Research (MCESR), as the key research
policy centre and the National Research Fund (FNR),
to distribute prioritised funding for multi-annual research programmes
2003: Creation of the University of Luxembourg
Research activities also emerged at the CEPS/Instead,
within museums, and at other public institutions.
2005: Publication of the National
Plan for Innovation and Full Employment 2005-2008 with a view to
raising investments in R&D to 3% of the GDP; increasing public spending to
approximately 220 million Euros in 2009; strengthening innovation particularly
in SMEs and fostering entrepreneurship; as well as increasing the number of
graduates in science and engineering
2011: Relocation of the CRPs and the University to
the newly built Cité des Sciences, de l'Innovation
et de la Recherche
The research landscape
has become increasingly complex, characterised by a full range of institutions,
a number of funding streams and ministry involvement. As a result, the MCESR
commissioned in 2006 the OECD to perform
a review of Luxembourg's innovation policy.
The subsequent report observed a high potential for future development with
good framework conditions for innovation, strong building blocks with the already
established institutions, but also a number of structural weaknesses and
inadequacies in research governance.
A challenging and
dynamic situation
The relatively young
public research system has the advantage of allowing a certain openness and
readiness for structural changes. Today, the Luxembourg government is dedicated
to strengthen public research. However, several
issues need to be addressed in the future:
- the
lack of strategic orientation and coordination of funding instruments;
- the
human resource policy needs further improvement;
- the
regulatory framework needs to be upgraded to provide an attractive research
environment;
- public
sector research needs to rebalance its widespread "applied research myopia"
and favour basic research;
- encourage
interdisciplinary research.
Hopefully, by addressing these challenges and by
capitalising on the current dynamic situation, research in Luxembourg will
become an exciting career opportunity, a more productive and organised
endeavour, a testbed within the Greater Region and a more visible partner
internationally.
Societal Challenges
Ageing
population.
At present, about 15% of all Luxembourgers
are older than 65 years, and this share is constantly increasing, as is the
fraction of highly aged persons. This progress in longevity has tremendous
implications e.g. for the work force available and for the health care system.
Ethnic and
cultural diversity. The Grand Duchy has taken much benefit from
its immigrants and cross-border workers. But immigration also gives rise to the
menace of "parallel societies".
Environmental
issues and climate change. Adapted strategies are required to counteract the increasing pressure
on land, energy and water resources. Energy
efficiency and renewable energies are key concepts in order to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and comply with the
requirements of the Kyoto
protocol.
Luxembourg's economy. Within the last decades the country experienced an economic expansion that
exceeded the economic trends in neighbouring countries. Nevertheless, managing
the integration of the economy into the European and global markets, coping with the dependency of the
economy on foreign and trans-border workforce, as well as with the related risks for the social systems and
social cohesion are issues that need to be faced. In addition, Luxembourg
needs to consider its sustainable economic growth, which can only be reached if Luxembourg's strong dependence on
the financial sector is minimized and new pillars for economic growth are
developed.
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