FUSION, presents a funding programme that supports Research and Innovation with the ultimate goal of promoting and supporting local research and innovation as well as providing the necessary handholding in order to enable researchers and technologists to turn their innovative ideas into a market ready reality.
FUSION is supported through Malta Government funds and managed by the Malta Council for Science and Technology. The programme will run from 2014 to 2020. The main objectives of FUSION are: to raise the level and profile of locally funded research; to ingrain research and innovation at the heart of the Maltese economy; to spur knowledge-driven and value-added growth; and to sustain improvements in the quality of life. This by research translating research results into commercial activities that generate a multiplier effect on the economy at large.
This vision also enables projects to increase Malta’s competitiveness in priority industries by enabling additional high-value, knowledge intensive employment in Malta’s priority industries. In addition, research and innovation will create further opportunities for highly qualified graduates within industry which will in turn generate other graduate opportunities in the long term. FUSION also provides the fora in which public and private enterprises invest in more innovative, eco-efficient products and services. This in turn enables the Maltese economy to become more resource-efficient, competitive and attractive to foreign investors.
FUSION is composed of two main programmes: the Commercialisation Voucher Programme and the Technology Development Programme. These two programmes are designed in a way to offer the necessary mentoring and financial support to researchers and industry players to take their ideas to the market.