The Government is set to implement sweeping reforms to its public science sector, merging the existing seven Crown Research Institutes (CRIs) into three new organisations by 1 July, in what bureaucrats describe as the most significant science restructuring in 30 years.
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Shane Reti announced the move on Tuesday, confirming the creation of three specialised research entities focused on national priorities: the New Zealand Institute for Bioeconomy Science, the New Zealand Institute for Earth Science, and the New Zealand Institute for Public Health and Forensic Science.
The Bioeconomy Institute will concentrate on innovation in agriculture, aquaculture, forestry, biotechnology and manufacturing, while addressing biosecurity and climate risks.
The Earth Science Institute will support energy security and the development of land, marine, and mineral resources, as well as resilience to natural hazards.
The Public Health and Forensic Science Institute will focus on disease detection, public health response, and forensic science services.
The reforms aim to sharpen the focus of scientific research and increase its commercial impact. According to the government, the new structure is designed to better translate research into economic and social outcomes, with an emphasis on supporting industries, start-ups, and job creation.
To lead the transition, Barry Harris has been appointed Chair of the Bioeconomy Institute and David Smol will chair the Earth Science Institute. The Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) will retain its current governance as it becomes the Public Health and Forensic Science Institute.
The changes follow a broader government strategy to align science investment with economic resilience, environmental sustainability, and public safety goals.
Image credit: Hans Reniers
Does anyone else feel that all this great “consolidation” is merely shuffle of decks on the Titanic? None of this nonsense results in any positive outcomes for the tax payers, seems to be validating the beaurecrats and their minions and multinational contractors
Where’s the “institute of climate change alarm-ism and fake pandemics”? I thought this would be a priority, for the pseudo science muppets…….
So we gonna have less clowns telling us to ‘follow the science’?
Can imagine coke snorting Scratchy & Scratchy type corporate image creators climbing over one another to offer sketchy storyline pallets for the new corporate logos… identical to the last logo, but at the cost of hundreds of thousands Kiwi Pesos…
Ahh. The old organizational re-shuffle. No performance reviews nor merit based traffic light systems.
Just a continuation of faceless spending with the kind of unaccountability that only comes with a true lifetime appointments in central government.
Salaries NZ DOGE would identify as a real cost saving to the taxpayer.