Research and development "competence centres" based in third-level institutes but driven by an industry agenda could significantly enhance industry and academic collaboration, according to a new research paper.

Many international experts have said such links are essential to creating a knowledge economy.

The paper, Industry-Academia Collaboration: A Competence Centre Approach for Ireland? was written by Nicki O'Connor, Enterprise Ireland's manager for its campus incubation programme while on a fellowship at Trinity College Dublin's Policy Institute.

Ms O'Connor suggests that for such initiatives to be successful then supports for companies must be appropriate to their stage of development, future R&D investment priorities for the country should be identified, and a comprehensive assessment of existing research competence should be conducted.

The study suggests that companies should group together to identify common areas of research and then issue a call to academics to become involved. If the academic response is not sufficient, Ms O'Connor says consideration should be given to attracting researchers from overseas.

Speaking at the launch, Frances Ruane, a director of the Economic and Social Research Institute, welcomed the fact that Enterprise Ireland had backed an in-depth study of competence centres before establishing them.

"When you are looking at a new policy idea such as this it is essential that you ask the tough questions before you implement it."