Not all proximity is conflicting, especially if it improves informed decision-making. By overstating the investee “connections” of the Research Development and Innovation Fund (RDIF) investment committee members, the editorial (‘Trust is key, tech fund needs more guardrails’, IE August 10) understates the informational asymmetry bridged by the presence of technology leaders in the committee. In our opinion, deep-tech investment is a domain where expert judgement requires proximity that enables a combined knowledge of technological maturity and commercial viability, something neither government officials nor academic and scientific evaluators alone can bring to the table. In fact, these “conflicted” industry veterans may be RDIF’s best assets. [Read more…]