National Survey of Research and Experimental Development - Main Report (2018/19)

In the previous R&D Survey Main Report, covering the 2017/18 reference period, expenditure and personnel trends were interrogated to identify specific areas of growth, decline and stagnation, and to prompt policy-relevant questions. In this report we continue with this approach through an updated, disaggregated analysis of the 2018/19 R&D data. The analysis is organised into three sections.
Section 1 focuses on how R&D is oriented to address national priorities. Section 2 interrogates R&D funding flows. Section 3 considers trends in the growth of the human capabilities for R&D. The analysis in each section highlights evidence that is pertinent to policy concerns.
Actors in the national system of innovation, whether government departments, business support groups, universities or civil society organisations, attempt to understand the current R&D trends shaping the future, and the potential R&D growth points in the private and public sectors. At a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is still unfolding, and its long-term societal and economic impacts
remain uncertain, reliable data-informed analysis is essential. This report is thus oriented to the needs of officials in government departments, leaders in businesses and business support groups, science council executives, university research leaders, and civil society practitioners.