The relevance of research and development in every country in the world cannot be overemphasized enough. The progress of any nation is undeniably dependent too in its ability to provide research funding to its local researchers as well as start up SMEs.
“Research and development is the bedrock of innovation. A big investment in R&D indicates a thriving and entrepreneurial industrial spirit, and figures from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) highlight the countries spending the most – and least – on this important driver of economic growth, which covers three activities: basic research, applied research and experimental development,” wrote Paul Muggeridge of World Economic Forum’s site weforum.org in the article Which countries spend the most on research and development?
According to the World Economic Forum, among of the Asian countries who spend a big amount for research and development in 2013 are Israel (1st spot), Korea (2nd), Japan (3rd), Taiwan and China( 7th) and even Singapore (18th place). Here is a figure below shared in the article of Muggeridge for W.E.
In Singapore for instance, research funding is often sought by a lot of businesses and individual researchers as the government has a very good marketing and campaign ads for research grants. “As the government of Singapore is dedicated to provide a number of research grant, the budget it gives annually to r&d is among the industry that gets a big chunk of funds from the administration,” said Ally King-Chui who works in a local r&d unit of the government. She added, “the process of applying a grant is very much tedious, as the grantors want to make sure that the best research projects will be awarded with the financial support. King-Chui also added that the government also offers research grant even to those who do not live in Singapore as they believe in global development as well.
Yetilú de Baessa, PhD talked about the significance of continuous research and knowledge of psychology especially on developing countries in her article titled Research in a Developing Country for apa.com, “Psychology can have an enormous impact in countries where there are few research projects and a lack of expertise to evaluate projects funded by international agencies. What is required to successfully conduct research or to evaluate a project in a developing country? My guess is that colleagues from Canada, the United States or Europe would have a quick answer to that question: a good research design and a good researcher. But beyond that, and perhaps even more importantly, doing research in areas such as Central America or Africa requires an enormous amount of patience, creativity, cultural sensitivity and resourcefulness.” She further wrote, “Another example comes from an experience in an African country where the staff seemed very motivated. They clearly wanted to learn how to develop questionnaires and conduct interviews and to collect and analyze the data. However, because they were more relationship oriented than task oriented, it was necessary to advance the training at their pace, not mine. In that culture, it is impolite to rush people. Even in an emergency, it is important to ask how the family is doing, how they are doing, and maintain a courteous conversation. In spite of the time pressure to finish the job, it was necessary to comply with the cultural rules to get the work done.”
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