Final evaluation of VALUE II programme
The European Commission has published a communication relating to the final evaluation of the VALUE II programme, conducted in 1995. The VALUE II programme, for the dissemination and exploitation of knowledge resulting from the Community's specific RTD programmes, ran from May 1992 to December 1994. The evaluation panel recommended that greater attention be paid to innovation, suggesting a major initiative with significant funding. The Commission has acknowledged this, producing its Green Paper on Innovation in December 1995. The Green Paper will be followed by an action plan to promote innovation in the EC. The panel offered the following conclusions on activities carried out under VALUE II: - VALUE Relay Centre network: successful in advancing the exploitation of Community RTD results in the Member States; it has brought Community activities closer to local users' needs; - Information and dissemination service (CORDIS): has improved substantially; the panel would also like to see an integrated Community policy on RTD information, particularly to avoid duplication of efforts; - Utilization of RTD results: made a significant contribution to the programme. The panel suggests that priority be given to user-driven consortia and to projects on generic technologies with a high spin-off potential. Exploitation measures should not be restricted to Community activities; - Legal protection of results: the panel felt that more results were needed in this area; - Promotional activities: although a large number of promotional activities had been carried out, the panel felt that their impact on the target groups could be even greater; - Research-scientific community and research-society interfaces: the panel felt that activities carried out in this area should be promoted further to particular target groups; - Relations with other Community initiatives: closer links should be maintained between innovation and other Community programmes and initiatives such as regional, industrial and enterprise policies.