Call for tenders relating to the preparation of the European report on science and technology indicators: preparatory studies

The European Commission, DG XII, has published a call for tenders relating to the preparation of a future edition of its "European report on science and technology indicators". This report was first published in 1994 and is intended to offer a common and useful reference base ...

The European Commission, DG XII, has published a call for tenders relating to the preparation of a future edition of its "European report on science and technology indicators". This report was first published in 1994 and is intended to offer a common and useful reference base for public and private decision-makers.

The present call for tenders concerns the provision of studies necessary for preparing future editions. The Commission is calling for the preparation of twelve separate studies. The first six studies cover the standard part of the report which comprises chapters devoted to the analysis, and presentation in graphic and table form, of science and technology indicators for the following OECD member countries: South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, South Korea, the Russian Federation, Hungary, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Poland, the People's Republic of China, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Taiwan, the Czech Republic, Thailand, the Ukraine and Venezuela.

The other six studies concern the variable part of the report, comprising new chapters or indicators and thematic dossiers which will be introduced into future editions.

The call is divided into twelve separate lots as follows:

Lot a) Research and technological development (RTD) expenditure:
The contracting party responsible for this lot will be required to collect data relating to public and private RTD expenditure from the 50 selected countries with a view to putting together the indicators, analyzing the trends reflected by these indicators and drawing up chapters and sections of the report corresponding to those in the earlier edition;

Lot b) Human resources in science and technology:
The contracting party responsible for this area will be required to collect data relating to the supply and flow of human resources in science and technology so as to put the indicators together, analyse the trends brought about by these indicators and draw up the corresponding sections;

Lot c) Economic indicators of technological competitiveness:
The aim of this study is to collect data relating to technological performance and industrial competitiveness of the 50 selected countries, to establish the indicators enabling an analysis of the recent development in this area and to draw up the corresponding sections of the report. The following data will be used: general macro-economic statistics, international trade, direct foreign investments and mergers and acquisitions in certain strategic industrial sectors;

Lot d) Indicators of bibliometrics:
The contracting party responsible for this area must have simple and direct access to the most up-to-date and most relevant data concerning scientific publications, co-publications and quotations for every country in the world so as to put together indicators and draw up the corresponding sections;

Lot e) Indicators relating to patents:
The contracting party responsible for this area will be required to analyse the development of activities involving filing patent applications in the 50 selected countries from data from the United States Patent Office (USPO) and the European Patent Office (EPO) and other information sources (such as WIPO). The origin of patents, the difference between patents applied for and those issued, the international dissemination of patents and the quotation of author's publications in the patents will also be analysed. The analysis will include a complete panorama of national and regional specializations, of the performance of the industrial sectors targeted and that of major companies individually;

Lot f) International science and technology cooperation:
The contracting party will be required to collect and analyse existing information, as much qualitative as quantitative, on international cooperation activities and draw up the corresponding sections of the report. The contracting party will be required to contact the corresponding organizations to obtain from them the latest information on cooperation programmes;

Lot g) Prospective indicators:
Basing itself on the series of available statistics, the contracting party will seek to develop economic models enabling, on the one hand, forecasts on the short- to medium-term (1-6 years) development of the main science and technology variables and, on the other hand, prospective scenarios to evaluate the effects of a possible RTD policy change and the effects of economic change on the development of public and private RTD expenditure;

Lot h) Micro-economic indicators:
The study will comprise two distinct phases. The first will involve finalizing a micro-economic database relating to European companies actively involved in RTD using databases already in existence. In the second phase of the study the contracting party will be required to carry out research based on processing sample group data and the advanced technology economy;

Lot i) Education/job appropriateness with regard to science and technology:
The aim of this study is to arrive at an in-depth analysis of the development of the tender and job requests by researchers and engineers in science and technology among European Union Member States. The contracting party must make a comparison of the development of supplies and flows of graduates in science and engineering and job offers to researchers and engineers in the corresponding areas and by sector type (public, industrial and universities) in each Member State and on the European Union scale with a view to determining possible bottlenecks;

Lot j) Science and technology in Mediterranean countries:
The contracting party will be responsible for collecting and harmonizing data with a view to putting together comparable indicators on the resources undertaken and performances obtained with regard to science and technology in the countries bordering on the Mediterranean. In addition to a quantitative analysis of RTD systems development, the study will also have to go further into the analysis of the economic and social needs of these countries for which science and technology could provide solutions and identify the forms of science and technology cooperation that these countries have established over recent years amongst themselves and with European countries, the United States and Japan;

Lot k) Inter-company cooperation with regard to science and technology:
The aim of this study is to analyse the development of the science technology cooperation established between companies. It must make an in-depth analysis of all forms of inter-company cooperation with regard to RTD. The quantitative analysis developed through relevant indicators must be supplemented by an analysis of the motivations and the results of cooperation established between companies from different sectors and countries;

Lot l) Creation of innovative SMEs and jobs in the high-technology sectors:
The study involves the identification of the number of innovative companies set up between 1980-1994 in EU Member States and an analysis of their performances so as to determine their contribution to growth rate and jobs created by these new companies. The field of study will be limited to high-technology industries and services (electronics, computing, telecommunications, chemical and pharmaceutical services, biotechnology, software and other value-added services). The indicators tables must be accompanied by an analysis of factors and brakes relating to the setting up of innovative SMEs specific to each country.
Requests for tender documentation should be sent to:

European Commission
DG XII - Science, Research and Development
Mr. U. Muldur
Directorate XII/A
200 rue de la Loi (T61 2/34)
B-1049 Brussels
Tel. [phone]; Fax [phone]

Completed tenders should be sent, by registered post, to the above address or delivered by hand to:

European Commission
DG XII-Science, Research and Development
Mr. U. Muldur (T61 2/34)
61 rue de Treves
B-1040 Brussels