INSTITUTES OF TECHNOLOGY FORUM Delivery of the NDP 200713 Challenges and Opportunities for the IoTs

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INSTITUTES OF TECHNOLOGYFORUMDelivery of the
NDP 2007-13Challenges and Opportunities for the
IoTsMarch 29-30, 2007
Dr Jim Fitzpatrick Managing Director Fitzpatrick
Associates, Economic Consultants 122 Ranelagh
Village, Dublin 6
Tel [phone] Fax [phone] E-mail
jfitzpatrick_at_fitzpatrick-associates.com www.fitzpa
trick-associates.com
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CONTENTS

• HEIs and Economic Success
• New NDP 2007-13
• Challenges for HEIs national
• Challenges for HEIs regional
• Opportunities and Challenges IoTs
• Some Possible Steps?

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INGREDIENTS OF MODERN ECONOMIC SUCCESS

• Human resources
• Innovation/RTDI
• Infrastructure/utilities
• Regulatory context
• Environment, quality of life
• Energy supplies
• Broadly true at both national and regional level

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MAIN SOCIO-ECONOMIC ROLES OF HEIs

• National
• education
• research/innovation
• advisory/consultancy services
• cultural/artistic life

• Regional/local also
• major employers of skilled people
• expenditure of staff/students
• buzz factor

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NEW NDP 2007-13

• a superb country in which to live, learn, work
  and play
• 184 bn investment across the main socio-economic
  sectors
• generally reflects other sectoral strategies
  (Transport 21, SSTI, ESG)
• large-scale investment directly related to third
  level education
• STI 6.1 bn
• HE 13.0 bn
• many other priorities also relevant, e.g.
  training, environment, social inclusion
• reinforces National Spatial Strategy, (inc.
  Gateways/hubs)

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CHALLENGES FOR HEIs/IoTs NATIONAL LEVEL

• quantity of activity
• fourth-level education
• life-long learning
• RTDI, inc. commercialisation
• economic and social role
• quality/world class
• Already reasonably well identified/articulated by
  OECD, SSTI, etc.

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IRISH HEIs IN SELECTED INTERNATIONAL RANKINGS
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CHALLENGES FOR HEIs/IoTs REGIONAL LEVEL

• NDP puts NSS back centre state as Irelands
  regional policy
• regional role much stated but less well
  specified
• HEIs inc. IoTs emphasised in NDP Regional
  Development Section (esp in new Gateways)
• SSTI also has sections on Spatial Dimension (p.
  86) and on Regional Innovation and the IoTs (p.
  45)

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THE REGIONAL CHALLENGE?
FULL TIME THIRD LEVEL RESEARCHERS BY LOCATION

• 94 of full-time researchers in the four
  university cities

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OPPORTUNITIES FOR IoTs 2007-13

• broad recognition of importance of your role
• policy environment supportive
• large-scale funding potentially available
• institutional changes in train
• key regional role flagged under NSS

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CHALLENGES FOR IoTs 2007-13

• scale, critical mass (esp. in smaller locations
  where much expected)
• variety of situations (not one policy fits all)
• responding to regional role (clustering)
• going beyond ST to a broadly based local
  institution
• being proactive rather than reactive
• prioritisation, differentiation, USPs

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IoT SCALE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES?

• Full-time undergraduate entrants to third-level
  courses (2002/03)
• total 133,887 of which IoTs 53,586 (40)
• biggest individual HEIs UCD 16,313, UCC 12,993,
  DIT 10,307
• all IoT/Technological Colleges 3.3 times bigger
  than largest university (UCD)
• IoTs in eight non-Dublin Gateways total 32,801
  full-time enrolment, 25 of all HEIs and twice as
  big UCD!

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POSSIBLE IoT RESPONSE

• partnering with universities, Irish and overseas?
• new/emerging areas (overseas students, ethnic
  minorities/languages, life-long learning)?
• a different relationship with HEA?
• shared strategies with/for local areas?
• relationship with other Irish RTDI and other
  institutions?
• more central/common functions, common face (a
  virtual institution)?
• THINKING MORE GLOBALLY ACTING MORE LOCALLY

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