The establishment of the fund and Science Foundation Ireland emanated from a number of studies carried out in the 1990s. These studies highlighted the fact that firms in the modern high-tech sectors of business, including IT, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, were more production-oriented than research and development-oriented and, therefore, more vulnerable to global market changes. It was recognised that as the global economy became more knowledge-based and more driven by research and development, the key to Ireland's continued success would be to reposition Irish industry higher up the economic value chain. With this in mind, Science Foundation Ireland, with the IDA and Enterprise Ireland, placed this goal at the core of all policies.