Innovation spurs competitiveness, economic growth and prosperity. To enhance innovation in Pakistan, the Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF) in collaboration with HEC initiated the process of policy and strategy formulation.

It was started with the creation of an Innovation Strategy Working Group (I-SWOG) in May 2009 comprising members from the triple helix i.e. the government, private sector as well as academia.

Subsequently two consultative workshops were organized, one in Karachi on 4th March 2010 and the second one in Lahore on 24th May 2010. Following the Karachi workshop, CSF released a Draft Strategy document called 'Pakistan Innovation Initiative: Towards Strategy and Implementation'. This paper became the sounding board for the Lahore workshop.

Scope of Work of Current Assignment

  To indigenize the strategy document and contribute citing from Pakistani specific examples and contexts of innovation enhancement in various institutional and historical settings;

2.             To review the strategy document from a macro policy perspective and identify linkages of innovation policy/strategy with other economic policies of the Government of Pakistan; and

3.            To recommend mechanism to involve the private sector in agenda setting as well as evaluation of public sector research and development initiatives

Rationale

Innovation is not a new word for Pakistan. The history goes back as far as 1953, when Pakistan Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) was created. Similarly in the agriculture sector, numerous institutions were created such as Pakistan Agriculture Research Council and National Agriculture Research Council.

Although a strategy document is too small a place to review the contribution of inventions carried out in these institutions towards economic development, a precise reference as to the key factors must be made as 'Lessons Learned'.

The innovation policy cannot be implemented in isolation from other socio-economic policies. Therefore linkages must be established and qualifications be made for successful implementation of innovation policy. For instance, universities become the natural breeding ground for innovations throughout the world. Therefore higher education policy promoting innovation is a pre-requisite. Similarly, a carrot and stick model should be adopted to engage the private sector to promote innovation. The companies adopting innovation must be rewarded and any policy obstacles that reduce the incentive to innovate be removed.

Scientific inventions not surviving the rigor of market are not suitable for economic development. There is a lot of research going on in the Pakistani public sector institutions without any institutional and valid links with the private sector. In both agenda setting and evaluation of performance of the public sector organizations, the representatives from the private sector must be taken on board. Without a strong demand-intensive approach, leaving reasonable space for academic research, innovation cannot contribute towards competitiveness.

Key activities proposed

1.   Meetings and Interviews with present and former heads of key research institutes in Pakistan

Deliverables

       A report on Pakistani experience/Lessons Learned;

   A document identifying linkages of innovation policy with overall policy environment; and

      A document on policy recommendations to suggest mechanism for active and meaningful participation of the private sector in innovation enhancement

       Any reports obtained from other institutions