What is R&D?
It is the systematic foundation for conducting creative activities aimed at enhancing the knowledge repository gained from cultural and societal knowledge of humans and utilizing this repository to design new applications.
To better understand the concept of R&D, it’s beneficial to share the types and criteria of research activities. Types of R&D Activities R&D generally encompasses three types of activities.
– Basic Research Research studies conducted to acquire knowledge and discover the unknown.
– Applied Research It is the study carried out to utilize the knowledge obtained from basic research to achieve specific practical goals and objectives.
– Experimental Development Systematic efforts based on existing information to create new products or processes, or to innovatively improve existing products and processes.
R&D Criteria
The five criteria that define the R&D identity are:
1) Aim to achieve new discoveries (Innovative)
2) Should be original. Not known or used before (Creative)
3) The ultimate outcome should be uncertain, with a broad scope (Uncertainty)
4) Should be conducted through planned activities (Systematic)
5) Results should guide new products and processes (Transferable)
What is Innovation?
Innovation is not ‘everything that is new’, but rather ‘innovations that are transformed into or result in economic and social added value’. If the developed product or service does not provide an economic benefit to you and a social benefit to the user, it cannot be considered as an innovation.
R&D and Innovation
R&D is the collection of activities conducted to reach the innovative innovation you aim for. In short, R&D is a prerequisite for innovation. Therefore, while R&D and innovation define different concepts, they complement each other as two interrelated terms. The Importance of R&D If we consider the food sector, due to changing dietary habits and evolving technology, R&D activities are crucial for all businesses. R&D is a prerequisite for differentiation and being a leader rather than a follower in the sector. Nowadays, we come across manufacturers who are trying to enhance their portfolios through R&D activities. In our country, industrial food producers allocate only 1-2% of their revenue to R&D activities. This proportion is inadequate to talk about qualified R&D activities at a national level. The table below shows the share of R&D expenditures in GDP for OECD countries.
As a country rich in food raw materials and agricultural products, we should strive for knowledge to reduce our dependence on food imports and add value to our raw materials. We should prioritize science, and allocate more resources to R&D.