CroatiaICT Research Environment

& Priorities 2009-2013

Dr. Diana Šimić

ICT Research EnvironmentPolicy Framework

2002 Strategy “ICT – Croatia in 21st Century” 2004 E-Croatia Programme 2004 One Stop Shop (HITRO.hr) Strategy 2005 National Programme on Information Security 2006 Science and Technology Policy 2006 Open Source Policy 2006 Broadband Development Strategy 2006 National Programme for the Digitalisation of Archival,

Library and Museum Holdings 2007 Strategy for the Development of eBusiness 2008 Strategy for Digital TV Switchover 2008 eGovernment Strategy … currently drafted

ICT Research EnvironmentInstitutional Framework

Ministry of Science, Education and Sports National Foundation for Science, Higher Education

and Technological Development Agency for Science and Higher Education National Council for Science Croatian Institute of Technology – HIT (Foresight) Business Innovation Centre of Croatia – BICRO National Council for Information Society (UNESCO

IFAP)

ICT Research EnvironmentResearch Activities

Ministry funds more than 100 projects in ICTs FP6 IST – Croatia participated in 23 projects FP7 – 5 projects from calls in 2007 70% of projects carried on in top 8 institutions

from Zagreb, Varaždin, Split, Osijek and Rijeka

Wide coverage of research fields Little cooperation with commercial

enterprises

ICT Research EnvironmentResearch Infrastructure

Well developed communication network Services: AAI, Eduroam, access to research

literature CRO-GRID No testing labs, infrastructure for testing new

technologies

ICT Research EnvironmentKey Drivers

ICT sector is experiencing steady growth Opening of telecom market Steady growth of both private and business users 30.6% of households have broadband access 98% of businesses are connected to Internet 18% of businesses plan to increase ICT budget in

next 12 months National Competitiveness Council

6 recommendations for ICT competitiveness

ICT Research CapacityStrengths

ICTs among national priorities Developed institutional support for RTD Initiated Technology Foresight Policy of growth in R&D funding Number of public and private institutions

participating in ICT research Presence in EU programmes

ICT Research CapacityWeaknesses

Lack of specific ICT priorities Implementation mechanisms Communication on institutional support Communication on funding opportunities Lack of joint research between universities

and private sector Communication on EU policies Project management skills

ICT Research CapacityOpportunities

New job openings approved by the Ministry Strategy for Development of eBusiness Affiliation with FP7 Public administration reform and eGovernment

Strategy Digitalisation of cultural heritage EU accession process Health system reform Growing number of broadband users (both business

and citizens) Global financial crisis

ICT Research CapacityThreats

ICT research infrastructure Brain drain Global financial crisis

ICT Research PrioritiesReadiness

ICT for Enterprises and eBusiness ICTs for Government and eGovernmentSoftware Engineering ICTs for Learning and eLearningSpeech & Language Processing

ICT Research PrioritiesFuture Potential

ICTs for Health and eHealthSecurity Technologies Internet & Broadband TechnologiesDigital Content & Digital LibrariesGrid Technologies