Industry

Recent technological developments have resulted in the continuous growth of knowledge-based industries and services. The five fastest-growing industrial sectors in Iceland over the past few years have been in the information and communication technology (ICT) industry: health technologies (including pharmaceuticals), biotechnology, genetics, biomedical engineering and IT-based equipment production for food processing. After years of effort, developments in these fields have progressed from research to profitable operations. These industries have shown that the boundaries between traditional economic sectors and research institutions are gradually disappearing. The Ministry promotes closer links between industry on one hand, and universities and research institutions on the other, through increased innovation efforts, with the objective that public research funding should yield more economic returns.