Pros and cons expressed over new national research body

THE sudden birth of the country’s new super-research body has brought hope to some and concerns to others.
The National Council of Research and Innovation Policy (NCRIP) will function in place of the boards of three key existing organisations – the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT), the National Science Technology and Innovation Policy Office (STI) and the National Innovation Development Committee.
It comes into existence through the latest order of the military’s ruling National Council for Peace and Order, which was published in the Royal Gazette on Thursday.
Federation of Thai Industries vice president Thavorn Chalassathien said the new research body, chaired by the prime minister, should ensure research work had clear targets and moved faster.
Associate Professor Dr Supot Hangnongbua, a former dean of Chulalongkorn University’s faculty of science, said that while the launch of the body promised to steer the country’s research projects in the same direction, he had concerns about its board structure.
“In the past, the NRCT board had 12 academic committees in place and they were from 12 academic fields. But the new body will have just eight academic specialists on its board and there are no clear specifications about their academic fields,” he said.
Supot used to sit on the NRCT’s academic committee.
He is also worried that the NCRIP board will be filled mostly by Cabinet members and these ex officio members will more often than not assign someone else to attend meetings on their behalf.
“Because of their other obligations, they may not be able to attend all the meetings. Without regular attendance, continuity may be lacking,” he said.
He also wondered whether all NCRIP board members would have a solid understanding of research projects and understand that basic research was also important.
“Without these papers, there will be no groundbreaking research,” he explained. “In some cases, it takes several research jobs over the course of many years to deliver an innovation.”
Supot said the government should not try to rush such jobs because quantity alone would not translate into quality and could result in “OTOP-style” research.
Surachai Sathitkunarat, senior director for SRT Information and Foresight, is a fan of the NCRIP.
“By having ministers from all ministries on the NCRIP board, jobs from all ministries will be integrated,” he said.
He pointed out that every ministry had engaged in research work in some way anyway.
Surachai also argued that policymakers did not need to have in-depth knowledge about the topics of research, because they were supposed to focus on the direction of research.
“The details rest with the researchers,” he said.
Thavorn said that with the introduction of the NCRIP, the country’s research would be in line with the government’s “Thailand 4.0” and “Industrial 4.0” policies.
“I also believe new research will help add business value,” he said.