The Structure and Mechanism for Driving the National Research and Innovation Strategy

บทคัดย่อ

The National Council on Research and Innovation Policy has formulated the National Research and Innovation Strategy (2018-2037) which is one of the key driving forces for achieving Thailand’s 20-Year National Strategy and Thailand 4.0. The successful execution of this National R&I Strategy will depend on careful design of the structure and management mechanism. This qualitative research is based on the analysis of prior studies on the Thai and international research and innovation systems, as well as in-depth interviews of national experts on research and innovation strategies and management specialists, leading
to PESTEL Analysis, SWOT Analysis and TOWS Matrix. The result of this study could be summarised as follow there must be clear coordination and division of organisation missions of R&D institution which should be classified into 5 groups; national R&I policy unit, funding agencies, research units, standards accreditation and testing units and users of R&I result. The characteristics and mechanisms for coordination among the key players in the R&I ecosystem are also outlined. Furthermore, in order to effectively implement the National Research and Innovation Strategy, the following measures could be readily performed. 1) Accelerate the formal approval of the National Research and Innovation Strategy (2018-2037) which is gener ated through participation of all relevant stakeholders, as the key national guideline on this issue. 2) Process the National Research and Innovation Act to become the main law governing the R&I system. This Act will provide the guideline on the organisation and functions of the main stakeholders. 3) Establish the National Council on Research and Innovation Policy, chaired by the Prime Minister, as the main policy council, together with the Office of the National Council on R&I Policy as the governmental department directly under the Prime Minister performing missions on policy recommendation, budget allocation, monitor and evaluate performance of key stakeholders and important programs. 4) Reorganise by integrating Funding agencies under the Office of the National Council on Research and Innovation Policy, in order to coordinate the policy into practice. 5) Reform and reorganize structure of the research and innovation organisations especially clarifying the organisation missions and key performance indicators and coordinate the functions to be aligned with national agendas. 6) Integrated budget system according the strategies outlined by the national agendas, by coordinating among the Office of the National Council on Research and Innovation Policy and the Budget Bureau. 7) Establish national research and innovation
database for both information and management system. 8) Establish both hard and soft infrastructure for R&I, including standards, procedures and guidelines in compliance with international standards.