On November 10, the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (JIPA) organized a panel discussion: “Research industry in Georgia: challenges and development prospects.”

Representatives of public and private organizations, research companies and scientists took part in the discussion. One of the speakers at the panel discussion was Natalya Kvitsinashvili, executive director and managing partner of ACT Research.

The purpose of the discussion was to discuss with the participating parties the current situation, problems and opportunities for the development of the research industry in Georgia, taking into account global trends.

The discussion began with the topic of research transformation - the speakers assessed what the research industry was like many years ago, when it was necessary to explain to society and business the overall value of research, clearly convey the benefits of research to both government organizations and the non-governmental sector.

According to the panelists, today the research industry is at a different stage of development, its importance and benefits are well understood by everyone who wants to make data-driven decisions and strategically develop their company or organization. Perception of the benefits of research is high even at the government agency level, and research has become an integral part of developing future policies and standards in various fields.

During the discussion, the speakers focused on the current market situation, discussed issues of data processing and publication, the importance of obtaining and publishing open data, as well as specific tasks of the research industry - increasing the competencies of researchers and providing future researchers with practical knowledge in the learning process.

“Over the past decade, the global research market has undergone a significant transformation. Among them, the role of the researcher as a profession has changed. If previously it was enough for a qualified researcher to know research methodology, a modern researcher requires knowledge of the field/industry of the subject being studied, even requiring expert-level knowledge to a certain extent,” noted ACT Executive Director Natalia Kvitsinashvili during the discussion.

The discussion continued with a discussion of current trends in the labor market: according to the panelists, the demand for specialists working in the research industry has increased worldwide; Along with data collection, processing and analysis skills, the digital era has increased the demand for digital skills among professionals, which remains a challenge in terms of industry development in Georgia. According to the speaker of the discussion, director of the Professional Skills Agency Tamar Kitiashvili, “there is a trend towards updating creative skills, and in the long term, it is specialists with such skills that will become the most in demand on the labor market".

It was the unanimous opinion of the panelists that the topics raised during the discussion should form the basis for continued discussion and regular meetings in the future, where industry experts, parties involved in research and academic representatives will continue to discuss opportunities and ways of developing the industry.