Libro Blanco Vol I en Ingles

TOWARDS A NATIONAL INNOVATION STRATEGY FOR COMPETITIVENESSVOLUME 1Thus, the urgency of an institutional redesign that ensures a high degree of governability and coherenceof the system becomes patent. Moreover, the analysis made by the Council during 2006 reinforces the convictionthat a body is necessary to propose consistent directions that contribute to the pertinence and coordination ofpro-innovation public policies, clearly separating the responsibility of proposing policies from the tasks offormulating and executing specific programs. Additionally, and most importantly, it must verify the execution ofthe policies that the Government commits itself to. This body should also have: i) a level of autonomy thatallows the Council to notify any eventual deviations from the agreed strategy to the Government, in order tocounteract any dynamic inconsistencies of the government; ii) a very good level of auditing and evaluation 76 totackle the problems of agency, and iii) optimally, to not have any kind of commitment with private interests, totackle the dangers of capture.Best international practices show that an efficient National Innovation System requires a managing,coordinating and guiding institutional framework at the highest levels of government. This is precisely what oursystem lacks –in the opinion of external evaluators. These considerations, combined with the need to count onthe visible and permanent commitment of the government at the highest level, led the Council in February 2006to discard recommending the option of creating a sectoral Ministry of Innovation and instead suggest creating amultidisciplinary and multi-sectoral National Council of Innovation for Competitiveness (that includes thegovernment). As an advisory body for the Presidency of the Republic, it should be responsible for proposing themain outlines of a long-run National Innovation Strategy that will serve as a guiding framework for the specificpublic policies and the operation of mechanisms for supporting business innovation, the formation of humancapital, scientific research and technology transfer.THE ROLE OF THE COUNCILBefore forming the Council, it is crucial to define the best link that a body of this type should have withthe government. For this, three options have been identified.A first model may be that of simply advising. In this role, the Council recommends the strategic actions inthe area of innovation as an expert consultant and defines mechanisms that facilitate the coordination ofvarious actions related to innovation, ensuring they are consistent with one another. This is a model that, even76 The proposal is not that the Council should do the auditing and evaluations by itself, which could lead to a heavy bureaucraticmachine, but it should have the minimum capabilities needed to sub-contract those services and define and control the terms of itswork.102FIGURE 2THREE BUDGET CONSIDERATIONSThere is a consensus at the heart of this Councilregarding three budget aspects essential for a goodperformance of the body.i) It is indispensable to have a minimum butautonomous budget to fulfil its functions, although thisautonomy does not imply that the implementation ofthese funds is not subject to evaluations, for example,through external audits.ii) One of the fundamental ways in which the Councilwill fulfil its evaluation tasks in the execution of theStrategy is the recommendation of global allocationsof the entire public budget related to innovation, yearto year.ii) This recommendation will reflect the generalperspective of this Council and will seek to ensurethat the funds allocations are adjusted to the broadlines of the strategy, but without ever entering into thedetails of those allocations.In addition to proposing a strategyand making recommendations on theuse of public resources for innovation,the Council has to evaluate theimplementation of the strategy adoptedby the Government, periodically reviewits bases and directions and, above all,caution society about when the systemdeviates from the objectives laid out.