Helsinki, Oct 2 (IANS) If Finland stands out on the global innovation map, it is thanks to the money spent on research and development, which stands at nearly $7 billion annually or close to 4 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
The money spent, combined with an enviable laboratory-industry interface, has not only resulted in some companies like Nokia and Fiskars becoming global leaders in innovation but also contributed to the nation’s priority on sustainable development.
‘Our spending on research and development is higher than that of Sweden, Japan, South Korea, the US and Germany, when measured in terms of GDP,’ said Penna Urrila, chief economic policy advisor with the Confederation of Finnish Industry.
‘Even in 2010, despite the global recession, our research and development spending remained high at nearly $7 billion,’ Urrila told a group of Indian journalists here.
During an interaction, organised by Finnfacts, the official agency that operates as an interface between foreign media and Finnish industry and business, experts said the innovation has also translated into productive use since there is a constant effort to deploy every successful research at laboratories for practical use.
Giving an example, they said the same innovation has resulted in 30.5 percent of Finland’s energy needs coming from renewable sources – compared to an average of 10.5 percent for member countries in the European Union.
In 2009, research and development expenditure represented 3.96 percent of Finland’s gross domestic product, the highest among the European Union and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Finland’s spending on research and development was nearly 6.8 billion euros in 2009.
Private sector investments constitute 71 percent of the total spending while universities account for 20 and research institutes 9 percent.
About half of the business sector investments come from electrotechnical industry, according to the official data posted on the education ministry website.
In contrast, India — said to have the largest talent pool of scientific manpower in the world — spends nearly $36 billion on research and development, which is less than one percent of its GDP.
The world’s total spending on research and development was estimated at around $1 trillion in 2010.
In the private sector, pharmaceutical industry leads the spending on research and development in India. The industry spends nearly 18 percent of its revenue on research and development.
Finland is working closely with major research and development institutions in the EU, including the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Space Agency, European Southern Observatory and European Synchrotron Radiation Facility.
To promote and honour technological innovation, Finland confers Millennium Technology Prize, often called the Nobel prize of technologies.
The prize is awarded every two year by Technology Academy Finland, an independent fund established by Finnish industry and the Finnish state in partnership.
The international panel of experts, which recommends the laureates and ultimate winner of the technology prize, is chaired by Risto Nieminen, professor of physics at Helsinki University of Technology.
V.S. Ramamurthy, renowned Indian nuclear scientist with several research contributions in the areas of nuclear fission and heavy ion reaction mechanisms, is one of the members of the selection committee.
The third generation dye-sensitised solar cells inventor Michael Gratzel was conferred the Millennium Technology Prize early this year.
