Moving forward, driven by new ambitions

IRD’s reorganisation

Since the new governance established in March 2015, IRD has changed its organisation and held a wide-ranging review that is reflected in a strategic plan to be adopted in 2016.
The new organisation, approved during the board meeting held on 10 July 2015, is based on three divisions: 

• a Science division headed by CEO, Jean-Paul Moatti; 
• a Development, Global Issues and Partnerships division headed by Deputy Executive Director, Jean-Marc Châtaigner;
• a Support for Research and the International Scientific Community division headed by General Secretary, Bruno Acar. 

The decision to create these three divisions comes in response to several goals: 

• placing the Scientific division at the centre of the organisation, as is to be expected in a public scientific and technical research establishment (EPST) first and foremost focused on research; 
• giving the main global issues greater consideration within the organisation while improving the structure of IRD’s partnership strategy to the benefit of the human development agenda; 
• bringing all the resource functions together in a single Support division. 

These three divisions continue to work closely together to anticipate the research structures’ requirements and the specific aspects of their operations in Southern countries.

Support for research and the international scientific community: new challenges and new tools

Consolidating the resource functions and optimising the quality of service provided to researchers and partners is a major challenge for IRD. It means creating the conditions required to coordinate and manage the resources that support research and enable the Science and Development divisions to refocus on their core activity, while recognising and endorsing management functions within the establishment overall, and supporting the changes required as the IRD presses ahead with its new ambitions.

To better meet the requirements of research for development, IRD redefined its main operating procedures in 2015 in order to:

• better contextualise its action and adapt the application of rules to multiple, changing realities;
• place cross-functionality and a culture of teamwork at the heart of IRD’s operating procedures;
• forge close relationships between head office and laboratories, line management and agents, and expatriates and local partners;
• make the operating procedures more flexible and responsive.

As such, a principle of subsidiarity has been applied, with three goals: repositioning the head office to steer scientific activities, rethinking the devolvement process and bolstering the first level formed by the units.