Malta’s draft Strategic Plan for Research and Innovation aims to provide a holistic vision for the development of R&I in Malta, in line with the stated vision and mission expressed in the same document.  To achieve the vision and mission, the draft Strategy highlights the need to proceed with the implementation of several recommended reforms as identified through the specific advice provided by the European Commission Policy Support Facility (PSF) Peer Review of the national R&I system (https://ec.europa.eu/research-and-innovation/en/statistics/policy-support-facility/peer-review-maltese-research-and-innovation-system). The embedding of R&I in the national economic strategy was one of the key recommendations. This draft Strategic Plan thus aims to ensure that a stronger governance framework, and the necessary resources are in place for the expanded role of R&I as a driver of economic development. The Plan is designed to ensure a lasting impact on the national R&I landscape if adequate levels of resources are attributed for its correct and timely implementation. It is imperative and a precondition for this Strategic Plan to work, that R&I is prioritized through a “whole-of-government" approach. 

This Plan is based on five main overarching goals:  governance and priority-setting, enhanced directionality, local ecosystem development for enhanced R&I performance in the private sector, mainstreaming R&I in public policy and strengthening implementation structures. 

This Strategic Plan draws on current context as well as performance and progress on the goals set in the previous Strategy. The main trends and findings together with the implementation status of the National R&I Strategy (2014-2020) are summarized in a SWOT. The implications of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine from an economic, technological, and political/policy perspective are identified together with the impact on R&I policy. Part 2 focuses on the five main overarching goals and Part 3 on Monitoring. ​

The public is warmly invited to review this draft document and provide feedback by 31st January 2023 on strategy.mcst@gov.mt.