Govt researchers 'need exposure'
The government has been urged to allow researchers in public laboratories to work in private companies for a couple of years, as part of an effort to commercialise innovative products.
Pichet Durongkaveroj, secretary-general of the National Science Technology and Innovation Policy Office, said he would propose that the government change outdated regulations governing research and development.
He said that Thai researchers could not commercialise their inventions and most of their work stays idle on their laboratory shelves.
“All they can do currently is publish their work,” he lamented last week as Bangkok hosted the World Economic Forum on East Asia.
To solve this problem, they should work in private companies for a while to help corporates develop new products or services, he said.
In this way, researchers would also enhance the experience and knowledge they hand down to students when they return to the universities.
