IHERD - OECD Programme on Innovation, Higher Education and Research for Development

IHERD (Innovation, Research and Higher Education for Development) is a recently launched four-year OECD programme supported by the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida). The main objective is to increase strategic and coherent investments in innovation, higher education and research relevant to development on a global level.

Advisory Committee and Secretariat of IHERD

The programme spans two Divisions within OECD: the Country Studies and Outlook (CSO) Division in the Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry (DSTI) and the Programme on Institutional Management in Higher Education (IMHE) in the Education Directorate (EDU). The work of IHERD is supported by an International Advisory Committee, of which Professor Maria Slowey from DCU is a member.

‘The primary objective of the IHERD programme is to increase the policy relevance of research and to promote evidence-based policy making in higher education, research and innovation for development. This will be achieved through stimulating a shift in the research agenda by reviewing existing research, by commissioning new research and by fostering links with leading researchers and research institutions in the IHERD field.’ (OECD Programme on Innovation, Higher Education and Research for Development, 2011).