Conference on Albania’s STI Strategy

On June 17, 2009 in Tirana, Albania, the Department of Strategy, together with the Prime Minister of Albania, organised a conference on the “Strategy of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) in Albania” for the years 2009 to 2015.

Albania’s Vice Prime Minister, Genc Pollo, opened the conference by saying in his speech that the strategy should determine a very clear vision and important objectives related with research capacities and financial sources. Furthermore, he mentioned the close relationship between this strategy and the National Strategy of Development and Integration as well as the Strategy of Higher Education.

Following the speech, Mr. Raid, the Director of the Technopolis group and a consultant to UNESCO, presented the STI strategy. The STI strategy of Albania is based on a vision for a shift to a knowledge society. Thus, it is an objective to achieve “excellence in a small number of priority areas by 2015, through the concentration of national and international resources, as well as through the provision of systematic support for innovation and technology transfer to cater for the needs of the productive sector.”

The targets set are to increase public spending on research to 0.6% of the GDP by 2015, to increase the share of gross expenditure on R&D from foreign sources (EU programmes, e.g. FP7, and international donors) to cover 40% of all research spending in the years 2010 to 2015, to create four to five Albanian Centres of Excellence in Science (ACES), to double the number of researchers through “Brain Gain” incentives and training of new researchers, and to increase the innovation activities of companies.

Albania’s STI strategy also contains five main funding programmes for a longterm improvement. However, it is clear that money will not solve everything; moreover, the strategy requires stronger policy management capabilities and strong accountability through evaluation and monitoring.

In this respect, the strategy foresees the reorganisation and reinforcement of Albania's governance system. In order to strengthen the policy management of Albania, the strategy specifies that scientific advice to ministers should be improved. Furthermore, future economic and social needs and trends need to be reflected in the priority setting processes for research. The strategy also foresees the need to strengthen the ministerial capacities of policy design as well as their evaluation mandate. In addition, the plan comprises the establishment of an Albanian Research Funding Agency. Secondary, the research capacity of organisations, which intend to receive
funding, shall be increased.

The mission of the Albanian Research Funding Agency is to increase the level and rate of growth of investment (compared to 2009 as a baseline year) in scientific and applied research and innovation by Albanian research performing organisations (public, higher education non-profit and private sectors).

The Agency’s tasks comprise:
1. Management of programmes supporting scientific and applied research in higher education and non-profit researchperforming organisations and the technological and non-technological innovation sector.
2. Acting as a National Contact Point for all bilateral, European and international cooperation programmes concerning scientific and applied research and innovation.
3. Promoting a public understanding of science, technology and innovation in Albania across all relevant sectors of the economy and groups in society.

During the last months the strategy has been discussed within the Albanian scientific community. In the end it was approved by the government, which is when the government also took its decision on the creation of the Albanian
Research Funding Agency (see following article).

Albanian Research Funding Agency Established

The Albanian government took the decision to establish an Agency for Research, Technology and Innovation. Albanian Prime Minister Berisha said that the establishment of the Agency was aiming at promoting scientific research not only in public universities, but also in the private sector.

“The newness of this Agency is its innovation. We have to finance not only our universities, but also the private sector. We have to finance innovation in all fields, prioritising hi-tech, soft- and hardware-programming. It is one of the Agency’s important objectives to encourage and motivate scientists and scientific researchers to participate in the digital era and foster innovation in this sector.” During the forthcoming four years, the Albanian government has parallel objectives of improving infrastructure, roads, water supply and irrigation systems as well as schools in order to enable Albania to take part in the digital era.

The decision for the establishment of the Agency for Research, Technology and Innovation is based on the National Strategy for Scientific Research, approved by the Albanian government (see previous article).