The 10th of July is a significant currency day for New Zealand. In 1967 we decimalised to align with Australia. 10th of July this year we took a step further afield announcing we had signed an agreement that secured our entry into Pillar II of Horizon Europe – the European Union’s flagship funding programme for research and innovation.
Pillar II provides funding for research relating to societal challenges and drives innovation-led growth. Amongst the categories are Health, Culture, Creativity, Digital Industry, Climate, Energy, Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment.
But aside from the €53.5 billion allocated to Pillar II (56% of the total Horizon Europe funding) we should reflect on what brought New Zealand’s science and innovation to this prestigious table, and the further opportunities it brings to us.
NZ has established a strong reputation in areas such as agriculture, environmental services, earthquake engineering and renewable energy, and fostered an ecosystem that has encouraged startups to develop novel solutions.
Horizon Europe will bring grant revenue to NZ researchers until 2027, but it would be short sighted to stop there. Inclusion in this European Union initiative opens the opportunity to widen collaborations, springboarding global partnerships with highly respected institutions where IP is shared and solutions that will bring improvements to people’s lives are accelerated.