NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR WRITTEN REPLY:
QUESTION NO 732
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 25AUGUST 2009: (INTERNAL
QUESTION PAPERS NO 10-2009)
"732. Mr PF Smith (IFP) to ask the Minister of Science and Technology:
When will her department start measuring the contribution of Sciences
and Technology to enhancing economic growth, competitiveness and
productivity?"
NW658E
REPLY:
The Department of Science and Technology (DST) currently measures the
contribution of science and technology in various ways.
The DST produces regular reports on expenditure and investment in science
and technology, for example, the annual national surveys on research and
experimental development and the reports on publicly funded scientific and
technological activities. The DST has also set up a monitoring and
evaluation capacity, which over time has collated information about the
outputs and effects of specific DST interventions or projects.
These initiatives are a necessary step towards measuring the contribution
of science and technology at a macro-level and assessing its impact towards
enhancing economic growth, competitiveness and productivity. Further work
still needs to be done to develop a comprehensive methodology to conduct
these measurements.
The DST is currently exploring the feasibility of creating a satellite
account that would report investment in R&D and a variety of other
intangible assets. A satellite account would make it clear that treating
research and development as an investment would have a substantial impact
on GDP and other measures. It would lead to a better understanding of the
importance of research and development to economic growth, productivity and
international competitiveness.