The difference is subtle, but the reality is, how many No 8 wire gadgets have we exported?
To contribute to the economy, an invention (the process of discovery) needs to be turned into something for which others will pay. There lies the innovation (finding a new use for our discovery) and creativity and in the past we have given our discoveries away.
Our efficiently produced logs, grazing systems and frozen whole carcasses are testament to this, but they are increasingly of the past.
There are few who would gainsay the need to export finished products instead of logs (adding at least another zero to the billion-dollar value of the wood). Changes are already being made in the marketing of grazing systems, and most of our lamb exports now go as chilled cuts.
Furthermore, the DNA easiTrace system means that all parts of a carcass can be traced back to their origin. This is important for discerning consumers concerned with method of production or attempting to avoid certain diseases.
The primary industries are clearly responding to the challenge of being creative and innovative, and should be lauded. They also deserve support.
In July's Fortune magazine, Strategos chairman Professor Gary Hamel explained the mathematics of innovation.
For every 1000 nascent business plans, only 100 will have enough promise to merit initial investment and perhaps 10 will warrant venture capital. Out of these, only one or two will succeed.
What he didn't mention was that the 1000 business plans, and patently the one or two successful ones, are underpinned by a great deal of research and technological development, which in turn is underpinned by scientific research, both fundamental and applied.
In New Zealand, the fundamental research is funded by the Government, as is the technological development, but the funding for applied research (the bit in-between), is in contention at present.
Innovation, as explained by Edwin Patterson of the University of Auckland's Knowledge Wave think-tank, requires not only the appropriate culture (no more hacking at tall poppies) but also a reliable infrastructure (properly developed Government policy, research and development) and an integrated network (free-flowing information exchange and an agreed overall vision).
New Zealand's foundation for research is unstable because of annual changes in science-funding policies in the past decade, and a competitive funding system. Innovation is at present based on historical research.
AgriQuality chairwoman Sue Suckling told the Primary Resource Forum in June that 25 per cent of the value of dairy exports comes from products launched within the past five years. These were developed with money from public-good research funds during the previous 20 years.
The role of industry is to evaluate new products and look at the top 1000 of the 10,000 created by scientific research.
The role of Government research funding should be to plug the gaps of the research triangle to ensure that at the tip we do have innovation creating marketable products to ensure that the money fountain has a solid foundation.
Prime Minister Helen Clark and Auckland University vice-chancellor Dr John Hood are to be congratulated for their initiative in holding the Knowledge Wave conference, but Parliament buildings and the University of Auckland are a long way from the heartland of New Zealand's economy. Innovation cannot happen in a vacuum. There has to be a product with which to be innovative, and that product comes from applied scientific research.
New Zealand will not be able to ride the Knowledge Wave without scientists; overriding the farmers' research needs will inevitably result in canning out.
* Jacqueline Rowarth is president of the NZ Institute of Agricultural Science and Unitec research director.
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