TT gets $64 million from EU for innovation plans

The European Union has contributed $64 million to a government programme designed to support innovation in TT.

According to a release from the Ministry of Planning and Development, the government signed a EUR 8 M financing agreement with the EU under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) for grant funding.

The programme – Support to a Competitive and Innovative Economy in TT – was designed to drive economic growth and jobs by supporting the building of an innovative and competitive economy through diversification in a sustainable way.

It was developed through a partnership between the ministry, the EU and the Inter-American Development Bank, with Cariri as the key implementing partner.

Planning and Development Minister Camille Robinson-Regis said innovation was one of eight medium-term priorities of Government for 2021 to 2025 to stimulate the economy and secure the lives and livelihoods of citizens. Therefore, the programme was a key element in the fulfilment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which form the building blocks of the National Development Strategy, Vision 2030.

“This grant resource will be made available to both the public and private sectors and will specifically target organisations that have developed and are bringing new and innovative products and services to the market," she said. "The grant will benefit the business sector by assisting those innovators who have developed a new product or service that is market ready and has the export potential necessary the generate foreign revenue.”

Sanjin Soldatic, charge d'Affaires at the EU Delegation to TT, added, “The funding for this initiative forms part of Team Europe, the global EU response to covid19 supporting partner countries, as the need to drive growth has become even more urgent now due to the impact of covid19. It is fortunate, therefore, that a main component of the programme, the Innovation Challenge Fund, targets SMEs – the group that has been especially hard-hit.”

Ninety per cent of the programme budget would be used to establish an innovation challenge program targeting private, state, and civil society organisations. Grant financing and technical support would be provided to assist in developing goods, services, business models and export market access.

The second component will be a bid to forge closer ties between academia and private sector firms. Tertiary graduate students will be linked with local organisations to solve specific challenges and conduct applied research for innovation.

This will involve participation by the University of TT and the University of the West Indies. Organisations that wish to participate will be required to define and submit a specific challenge/scope of work that will be required, while technical backstopping and quality assurance will be provided by university faculty in collaboration and consultation with the partner organisations senior management.

The third component will be the development of a network model “to drive and sustain coordinated support for innovation during and beyond the duration of the proposed intervention.”

It is expected to address the lack of local, regional and global networking and co-ordination to support innovation in the country. It will link local actors, external accelerators, incubators, academic institutions, venture capital funds, and company builders so innovators can access the support and linkages required for success.