Innovation, Productivity and Sustainability in Food and Agriculture by OECD

Author:OECD
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: environment/socialissues/agriculture
Publisher: OECD Publishing
Published: 2019-10-03T00:00:00+00:00

Box 5.4. The Top Sector policy in the Netherlands

Implementation

The Top Sector policy subjects the granting of public funding to participation in PPPs within top sectors and gives industry a leading role in setting innovation agendas. Public funds have to be matched with an equivalent contribution from the private sector (50-50), which can be in kind (access to facilities) or financial, in which case it can benefit from public support (investment or tax rebates).

In the Top Sector policy the business community sets together with the government and scientists the agenda for R&D investments in its field. The government invites businesses and scientists to draw up action plans, which serve as a base to develop concrete lines of actions.

Each top sector has created one or more Top Consortia (TKI) for knowledge and innovation, where entrepreneurs and researchers work together in innovative products and concepts. Every TKI has a board with members from business and knowledge institutes. The government is an observer in the board. Programming is done by calls to tender leading to a number of identifiable projects since 2012. The activities of top sectors are regularly monitored through TKI's reports.

The basis for the implementation of innovation activities is the Innovation Contract. Each Top Sector draws up an Innovation Contract, in which researchers, entrepreneurs and the governments (represented in the so-called Top Team) agree on measures (mix of fundamental research, applied research, valorisation), plans to develop innovative products and services, and financial contributions.

Initial findings

One original objective of the Top Sector Policy was to leverage business-sector R&D and increase the applicability of public research. While companies participating in top sectors already invested in innovation, public co-funding focussing on pre-competitive research was expected to reinforce their contribution in this area. Early findings suggest companies, including multinational ones, increased investment in pre-competitive research, but that total private expenditures did not increase overall.

The policy was also expected to promote closer co-operation between knowledge institutes, public authorities and business. In the food industry, they improved co-operation between the processing and retail levels, as co-operation already existed among other components of the chain. All top sectors have a human capital agenda meant to strengthen the linkages between education institutes (from vocational training to university) in order to meet the needs of the sector itself.

The PPP approach is also to facilitate the marketing and adoption of innovation, and reduce the technological gap between small and large companies through knowledge transfer, as quality systems become more complex.

Source: OECD (2015b), Innovation, Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability in the Netherlands, https://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264238473-en.

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