KARI/VRC/CRAC Proceedings July 2008

Abstract

I welcome you all (staff and visitors) to this year's Centre Research Advisory Committee (CRAC) meeting. This is an event in the research cycle of KARI that is meant to shape our research proposals. We must therefore take it seriously. We are now adopting a value-chain approach to research. According to Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia a value chain is a chain of activities. Products pass through all activities in the chain so that at each activity the product gains some value. The chain of activities gives the products more added value than the sum of added values of individual activities. In order for this to happen, we must carry out research as a multi-disciplinary team for a mix of expertise and different comparative advantages. We must also have market information to ensure that the products of our research have outlets.