Introduction to the Moroccan R&D and Innovation system. A presentation made during the preparatory meeting of American Moroccan competencies network forum New York, june 23, 2012

1. Preparatory Meeting of American-Moroccan Competencies
Network Forum New York, June 23, 2012
Introduction to the Moroccan Research and Innovation
System
Ilyas AZZIOUI Date : 23 June 2012
Preparatory meeting of American-Moroccan competencies Network Forum New York June 23, 2012

2. Research Policy
ty
niv ersi
e of U
l rol
o mica 2009-2012 Emergency Pgm:
con 
c io-e Projet 14: € 72 M
a so for research
rds
T owa
2005
 Vision 2025 +
2003
2006-2010 PLAN
2000 
1999 Evaluation of the
 Research System
COSEF Charter Law 01-00
Linking University- Role of the university in
entreprise : priority the dvlpt of the country
Preparatory meeting of American-Moroccan competencies Network Forum New York June 23, 2012

3. Research Policy
The major goals for Project 14 “Promotion of Scientific Research” were as
follows:
•To increase the percentage of accredited research structures within universities
from 69% in 2008 to 92% in 2012;
•To increase Moroccan scientific publications in indexed periodicals from 1991 in
2008 to 3500 in 2012;
•To increase the number of PhD theses from 820 in 2009 to 2300 in 2012;
•The registration of 330 patents by Moroccan universities in the period of
2009-2012.
Preparatory meeting of American-Moroccan competencies Network Forum New York June 23, 2012

4. Research System
Preparatory meeting of American-Moroccan competencies Network Forum New York June 23, 2012

5. Resources for
R&D
GDP (2010): € 67 billion

Inter Coop GERD/GDP (2010): 0,73 %
(2006): 3 %  GERD/GDP (2006): 0,64 %

GERD (2010): € 560 M

Inter Coop (2010): 
1.5 %
Public GERD
Private GERD  (2010)
(2006): 12 %
68 %


Private GERD Public GERD (2006)
(2010): 30 % 82 %
Preparatory meeting of American-Moroccan competencies Network Forum New York June 23, 2012

6. Societal Challemges
for R&D
According to the vision 2025, the main societal challenges that should drive
Moroccan research in the future are:
• Education and training
• Access to basic services (infrastructure, potable water, electricity,
health, etc.)
• Fight against poverty and social exclusion
• Other challenges: fight against drought’s effects, environment
degradation, slums and diseases (AIDS, Malaria, etc.)
Preparatory meeting of American-Moroccan competencies Network Forum New York June 23, 2012

7. Priorities for R&D
Thematic S&T Priorities are as follows:
• Agriculture in difficult conditions
• Improved quality of life
• Knowledge, preservation and valorisation of natural resources
• Environment and sustainable development
• Biotechnology
• Risk management
• Innovation and competitiveness of enterprises
• Cultural and socio-economic development
Preparatory meeting of American-Moroccan competencies Network Forum New York June 23, 2012

8. HR for R&D
 There are 37246 researchers in the country (headcount, not full-time
equivalent) out of which 12166 are faculty members who work in universities and
17686 are PhD student (2010)
 According to the advisory report published by the Hassan II Academy of
science and technology in 2009:
Morocco has to train about 15000 (professors-researchers or full time researchers )
for the next decade to face the research quality requirements, the increasing number
of students and retirement departures
Researchers represented a share of 1,89/1000 of the economically active
population in the age group 25-64 in 2005
Across disciplines, 37% of the R&D personnel belong to the field of Social and
Human Sciences, 32% are in Natural and exact sciences, 22% operate in
Engineering Sciences and 9% in Medical Sciences
 In 2006, 12643 were registered as PhD students (56% in Social and Human
Sciences) but only 785 theses were defended the same year (69% in Social and
Human Sciences).
Preparatory meeting of American-Moroccan competencies Network Forum New York June 23, 2012

9. Other Policies
 Digital Morocco (Maroc numéric): A budget of € 520 million (5.2 billion DH) was
allocated to support the plan during the period 2009-2013. Launched by the Ministry
of Industry, Trade and new technologies to promote the IT sector in Morocco, ( support
RDI activities, a seed capital fund (Maroc numeric fund), promotion and creation of new
technoparks and incubators in different regions and last but not least the creation of a
Soft Centre for software development (brings together public and private actors and
offers R&D services to Moroccan IT companies).
 GREEN MOROCCO PLAN (2010-2020) (Plan Maroc Vert) is a national strategy
based on a new, ambitious and pragmatic vision for the promotion of the agricultural
sector in Morocco. Green Morocco Plan devised several measures to raise the
agricultural GDP from € 7 to 10 billion (70 to 100 billion DH). Some of these measures
could have a direct or indirect impact on sectoral research in this field such as the
creation of new research centres, agro-poles.
 The Moroccan Solar Power Plan was launched November 2, 2009 in Ouarzazate by
HRH the King Mohammed VI, with an investment cost estimated at 9 billion US dollars. It
is part of the Moroccan energy strategy aiming to increase electricity production and
implement five Concentrated Solar Power plant of a total power output of 2000 MW by
2020.
Preparatory meeting of American-Moroccan competencies Network Forum New York June 23, 2012

10. Other Policies
 The National Pact for Industrial Emergence: Launched by the Ministry of Industry,
Trade and new technologies, it focuses on export oriented economic sectors where
Morocco could obtain a sustainable advantage and a high potential for growth.
 off-shoring
 textiles and clothing,
 automobile
 aeronautics,
 electronics,
 agro-food,
 exploitation of marine resources and industrial crafts.
 More recently high-tech sectors such as nanotechnology, biotechnology and
microelectronics were added. Publicauthorities provided direct support of
€ 50 million (500 million DH) over five years to the MASCIR foundation to
develop applied research in those fields.
Preparatory meeting of American-Moroccan competencies Network Forum New York June 23, 2012

11. Knowledge
Demand
 To support the National Pact for Industrial Emergence (2009-2015) a profiling of
the human resources needs of each sector for the whole period of the
programme (2009-2015) has been carried out. The main results are summarised
in the following table:
Sectors Managers Engineers Technicians Operators Total
Off shoring 1 000 3000 10500 55000 70000
Automotive 1500 7000 9000 32500 70000
Aeronautics 300 1900 3000 9800 15000
Electronics 200 1400 2700 4700 9000
textiles and
300 2000 7500 24000 32000
leather
Agro-food 500 500 8500 14500 24000
Total 3800 15800 39400 141000 220000
Preparatory meeting of American-Moroccan competencies Network Forum New York June 23, 2012

12. Innovation Policy
Preparatory meeting of American-Moroccan competencies Network Forum New York June 23, 2012

13. Innovation Policy
Preparatory meeting of American-Moroccan competencies Network Forum New York June 23, 2012

14. Innovation Policy
Governance and framework:
1. Setting up a National Innovation Committee;
2. The creation of a dedicated structure (Moroccan innovation Centre);
3. Fostering a flexible and effective legal framework for innovation
Infrastructure:
1. Technological infrastructures;
2. Technology transfer infrastructures (implementation of Innovation cities );
3. Clusters.
Funding & Support:
1. Developing a portfolio of products/schemes to support innovation;
2. Stimulation of the venture capital system;
3. Development of the intellectual property market;
4. Mobilisation of international funds for innovation.
Attracting Talents:
1. Creation of the Moroccan Innovation Club;
2. Promotion of the innovation culture;
3. Positioning Morocco R&D and innovation offer.
Preparatory meeting of American-Moroccan competencies Network Forum New York June 23, 2012

15. Innovation Policy
Morocco Innovation Initiative
Achievements

Attracting Talents: Governance & Framework:
Creation of CMI + Innovation bill
Innovation Trophy + (incentives to innovative
Moroccan Club of Innovation   startups, Recruit of PhDs)
portal
Funding & Support:
Technological Infrastructure:
Intilak (up to € 100,000) for start-  
ups & Tatwir(up to € 400,000) for Creation of 4 clusters + Launching
private applied R&D project of 4 Innovation Cities
Preparatory meeting of American-Moroccan competencies Network Forum New York June 23, 2012

16. Knowledge
Production
 In a study using Scopus database and published by the Moroccan Scientific
and Technical Information Institute (IMIST) in 2010, it was found that:
 the Moroccan scientific production numbered 16120 publications between
1999 (1200 publications) and 2009 (2117 publications)
 Distribution across scientific disciplines is as follows: 52% in Physical
Sciences, Health Sciences 24%, Life Sciences 20%, and 4% only for Social
Sciences.
 ESTIME project (Laville et al., 2007) investigating Thomson database found that
:
 The two disciplines for which the world share was the highest were
mathematics (2,78‰) and chemistry (1,21‰).
 The specialisation index for Morocco were, in 2004, mathematics (3.21),
chemistry (1.39) and astro and geo-sciences (1.13).
 The best world share of citations were in mathematics (0,91 ‰) and
engineering (0,66‰).
 The average impact index for Morocco was 0.28. The highest impact rates
were registered in engineering (0.78) followed by chemistry (0.51), while
medical research had the lowest one (0,12);
Preparatory meeting of American-Moroccan competencies Network Forum New York June 23, 2012

17. Knowledge
Production (Patents)
 Patents: The Moroccan Industrial and Commercial Property Office (OMPIC)
received 1007 applications in 2010 against 929 applications in 2009. 151 were
nationals and 856 were foreigners. 11 Moroccan universities applied for 40
patents in the same year. There is no evidence with regard to the socio-
economic impacts of university patents. EPO and US PTO patenting is marginal.
Preparatory meeting of American-Moroccan competencies Network Forum New York June 23, 2012

18. Knowledge
Circulation Research to Business
Technology Dissemination Network (RDT) – Réseau de Diffusion de Technologie
–. It focuses at matching needs in the enterprise sphere with competencies
based at universities and public research centres. The objective is to
accompany client compqnies in all stages of implementation of a technology
strategy.
The Moroccan Institute for Scientific and Technological Information (IMIST) –
Institut Marocain de l’information Scientifique et Technique– leads efforts to
improve links between industry and academia by providing online access to
catalogues of research results and databases of competencies available in the
universities and research organisations and carrying out technology watch
activities mainly in the field of Agro-food.
Morocco Spin-off/Spin-out and Incubation Network (RMIE) – Réseau Maroc
Incubation et Essaimage –The RMIE supports a network of mainly “university
based incubators”. It focuses on providing technical as well as financial support
(Pre-seed capital to enable the development of the business idea into a credible
business plan) to new technology based start-ups through a pre-incubation and
incubation process.
Preparatory meeting of American-Moroccan competencies Network Forum New York June 23, 2012

19. Knowledge Circulation
“Valley of Death”
Lac
ski k of
lls The Darwinian Sea
Basic
Research
Lack of Money
Invention •Research &
•Innovation: new
Innovation
•Invention
Viable
•business
&
Business
New Business
Preparatory meeting of American-Moroccan competencies Network Forum New York June 23, 2012

20. Knowledge
Circulation Cross Border
 International cooperation played an important role in the emergence of research
activities within universities . About 75 % of references recorded by SCI (1998-2002),
were co-authored by Moroccans and authors from a variety of countries. 88.2% of
Moroccan research labs declared to have international collaboration(s) in 2003 (622
were recorded), (66.4 % or 413) were with French, Spain (10.0 %), Belgium (4.7 %),
Germany, Canada, and Italy (4 %) & USA was in 7th place (3.5 %).
 According to the advisory report of Hassan II Academy of Science and Technology
(2009) co-publications of Moroccan researchers in 2008 were: 63,9% with
researchers from France, 13% Spain, 7,2% USA, 6,4% Italy, 5,5% Germany, 5,2%
Canada.
 Out of 749 cooperation conventions by Moroccan universities, 578 are with
European universities, making 70% of the total. French universities have 63% of
cooperation conventions with Europe and 49% of all the conventions signed. Spain
and Italy respectively registered a rate of 13% and 7% at the European level. Belgium
is rated fourth, with 30 conventions registering 5%.
Preparatory meeting of American-Moroccan competencies Network Forum New York June 23, 2012

21. Knowledge
Circulation Cross Border
 ASBIMED identified about 31 bilateral programmes between Morocco and EU
member (France 14, Spain 6, Belgium 6, Germany 2, Portugal 2and Italy 1). In
addition to agreements with EU member states Morocco has signed other
agreements with non EU countries, the most active ones are with the following
countries: Tunisia; Egypt;USA.
 In 2011, the CNRST allocated € 290,000 to support collaboration with French
institutions (CNRS, INSERM, INRIA) and € 114,000 to support collaboration with
institutions from other countries CSIC & CIEMAT (Spain), CNRi (Italy), DFG
(Germany), FCT (Portugal), KOSEF (South Korea), ONRT (Hungary). CSIC stopped
cooperation with the CNRST for 2012 most probably because of budget constraints in
Spain.
Preparatory meeting of American-Moroccan competencies Network Forum New York June 23, 2012

22. Knowledge
Circulation FINCOME - CNRST
(diaspora)
Within the broader governmental FINCOME program. An open call for
proposals is launched by the CNRST and R&D Maroc with the financial
support of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research to
support the following actions carried out by highly skilled Disapora:
2. Transfer of expertise
3. Meetings (of strategic Nature)
4. Projects of Diaspora networks
5. Innovative entrepreneurship
It's a mobility scheme that provides support for plane tickets and per diems
(8 days max)
Preparatory meeting of American-Moroccan competencies Network Forum New York June 23, 2012

23. Knowledge
Circulation
Preparatory meeting of American-Moroccan competencies Network Forum New York June 23, 2012

24. Knowledge
Circulation FINCOME - CNRST
Preparatory meeting of American-Moroccan competencies Network Forum New York June 23, 2012

25. Knowledge
Circulation FINCOME - CNRST
More than 270 experts so far
Preparatory meeting of American-Moroccan competencies Network Forum New York June 23, 2012

26. FINCOME - CNRST
Nature of 66 expertises in 2010
Type of expertises Nb Thematics Nb
Training 43 IT, Electronics & telecom 15
Exact Sciences 15
Research 10
Biology & Health 14
Meetings 10
Economy 8
Cooperations 03
Human & social sciences 7
partnerships 5
Preparatory meeting of American-Moroccan competencies Network Forum New York June 23, 2012

27. Thank you
Ilyas azzioui
fincome@cnrst.ma
azziouia@cnrst.ma
Preparatory meeting of American-Moroccan competencies Network Forum New York June 23, 2012

28. Contexte Incubation
“Valley of Death”
Ca
pita
ux
The Darwinian Sea
Basic
Research
Pas de capitaux
Invention •Research &
•Innovation: new
Innovation
•Invention
Viable
•business
&
Business
New Business
Preparatory meeting of American-Moroccan competencies Network Forum New York June 23, 2012