The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the Global Goals, are 17 in number. The ninth is about building strong infrastructure, promoting sustainable industrialization for all and fostering innovation. The aim is, among other things, to improve the technical capacity of industries in order to encourage innovation and increase the number of jobs in research and development. In this context, Iceland aims to increase public and private investment in 3% of GDP.
There are countless opportunities for innovation. In accordance with the strategic decision, to focus on increasing the value of seafood rather than increasing the amount of seafood, Icelanders have worked on innovation in the utilization of water-related resources, but fourteenth the world goal is to live in water. With developments based, among other things, on the implementation of research results, progress has been made in the Icelandic fisheries sector. Processing reforms aimed at increasing the utilization of raw materials increase the supply of nutritious foods, which reduces the temptation to overdo sensitive strains.
Teaching, educating and refining procedures throughout the food value chain supports responsible consumption that can help reduce waste in accordance with twelfth the world goal.
Recruitment in industries can be assessed with more than the number of new companies. New and powerful, often well-educated, employees can be taken into account. Industries are also renewed to some extent when talented people strive to develop industries with new roots. Instead of competing with each other in traditional production, opportunities lie in creating new things, launching new currents into society. We're good at what we do, but we need to do more. We know the fishing and processing of catfish, our main pelagic species and several shellfish species. Although there are still many things that we have not ascertained regarding the raw material side of the seafood value chain, there is further inland on the market side of the chain, not least when it comes to non-traditional products, such as food supplements. Analysis of incentives and responses to changes in attitudes and expectations of consumers in desirable markets often meet surpluses when the emphasis is on production rather than demand.
The economy in the country benefits from the existence of infrastructure and knowledge that is used in its development and to deal with and solve challenges that may arise. In an effort to be able to meet the needs of the business community, Matís has grown year by year, rather than limiting the scope of its operations to the amount of the company's service agreement with the Ministry of Industry and Innovation (ANR).
Great emphasis has been placed on domestic and international co-operation and advances in research investment that has been used in development work and has resulted in, among other things, new equipment, products and / or contributed to increased efficiency and rationalization in the processing of seafood.
Amounts or the percentage of GDP spent on innovation are not the only measures that can be taken on innovation and development. It is important to know what the goal is and how to evaluate what is being done. Some people rely on criteria related to known topics in scientific work, such as the number of published articles or citations to the articles that have been published by the person in question, without this ensuring the utilization of the knowledge. The number of projects that are being worked on can prove to be a contradictory measure of where too much energy may go into non-management rather than scientific work.
Matís employees have been associated with increased export value, XDR for each kg obtained from the sea, at establishment and activity AVS Fisheries Research Fund and Technology Development Fund, as can be seen above. The support of these key funds for innovation projects has contributed to the development of the value chain of Icelandic seafood. Market conditions and catch composition also have a major impact on value formation in fishing and processing of seafood. Compared with the Food Price Index of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (e. FAO Fish Price Index) which is published regularly in Food Outlook, there are indications of a difference between the development of value creation in the Icelandic fisheries sector and the development of fish prices according to Art. FAO and for further clarification, a line is also drawn above which shows the development of the export value of the Faroese fisheries.
But is there any reason to ask whether we are too productive or whether we have diverted our attention too much? Looking at the statistics, it can be seen that the increase in value has not risen as fast since 2011 as in the first years of the aforementioned funds' operations. It can be said that the export value of Icelandic catch has fluctuated in recent years rather than growth. In 2011, the highest budget allocation was granted by the ACP budget. In the current year's budget, the ACP budget is less than 44% of the maximum. It is not guaranteed that we can expect a similar number of innovations in connection with the Icelandic fisheries sector in the near future.
It can be assumed that it is now possible to improve and increase value creation even further, utilizing what has been created as a lever for future development. Just as we are tearing up the Icelandic fishing industry from the year 2003, where it can be said that stability has characterized the export value of fish caught, until the increase in value was noticed, there is an opportunity to do even better than we have done in recent years. Although AVS has deteriorated, contributions to the Technology Development Fund and innovation in the form of tax deductions have increased. It is up to stakeholders in the fisheries sector to take advantage of these opportunities.
Just as the power of leverage enables one to move things beyond what one can handle unsupported, one can work together to achieve success in value creation that promotes prosperity and well-being. Matís has used funds from a service agreement with ANR to raise funds for large projects for the development of the Icelandic economy and society. In recent years, Matís has generated ISK 2.7 in revenue from competition funds and in direct sales of services for every ISK from ANR. Hopefully, the aforementioned volatility of export values is not a direct consequence of the requirement for responsible operation of Matís and increased project management following the emphasis that employees finance the company by shaping projects that benefit the economy.
The infrastructure of the economy can stimulate development, if it is good, but hinder it if it is not. Matís' operations have attracted attention. Now kanna the Faroese government the possibility of establishing operations in that country similar to Matís. If people are satisfied with the experience of Matís' operations, it would be preferable to utilize the driving force that has characterized the operations and reflects two of the company's values, creativity and initiative, in ongoing collaboration to further increase value creation. In this way, the sustainable growth of the communities in the countryside around the country can be promoted in spirit eleven of the world goal.
The article first appears in Sóknarfæri - Initiative and professionalism in the Icelandic fishing industry - 16 February