Multinational research and development projects. The impact of co-funding on the utilization of cross-border knowledge

Abstract

Innovation is believed to be an important contribution to the progress of firms and society. It is not only of vital importance to develop new and improved products and services to meet increased competition, but also to meet requirements due to climate change, contribute to sustainability, and to meet ever-increasing demands in health services, just to name a few. To induce even more effective innovation activities, policymakers have emphasized cross-border collaboration between those who receive grants for R and D projects. This research deals with the question of the impact of these new demands for cross-border collaboration. A qualitative methodology was applied, where twelve participants involved in innovation projects which received grants from the Icelandic Technology Development Fund were interviewed, whereof six who received grants within the Eurostars funding programme, which requires cross-border co-operation, and six who received what we refer to as local grants. The results indicate that the projects based on cross-border cooperation certainly benefit from the broader knowledge base they have access to. The grantees developed their network in a wider and more effective way than when the projects were based only on local grants. This study contributes to a greater understanding of cross-border collaboration in innovation projects, which is increasingly important to meet today’s ever-increasing demands for rapid response in global innovation. The limitation of this study is mainly twofold, firstly that it is only based on interviews with 12 individuals, all from the same country and culture and, secondly that interviewees who participated in the Eurostars projects might be more experienced with using grants and may therefore be more capable in utilizing knowledge from partners. The main contribution of this research is therefore that it provides good insight into the topic rather than offering results that are generalizable.