Denmark needs to focus, council says

Denmark should spend more money on existing strengths to boost innovation, the Danish Council for Research and Innovation Policy (DFiR) has said.

As a small country, Denmark should think hard about its priorities and focus on its strengths, DFiR said in its third annual report, published on 2 June. The government should have a clear division of responsibilities between ministries, and clear tasks at national, regional and municipal levels, the report said.

DFiR, which advises the science ministry and the parliament on research and innovation, said that Denmark could achieve higher levels of innovation through increasing the number of public-private partnerships. Over the past decade, innovation policy has focused on small and medium-sized businesses, the report said. However, as 92 per cent of Danish companies are SMEs, the effort cannot be characterised as focused, it added.