Final Report Summary - EVALIPP (Evaluation of the Institute for Parallel Processing, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) The FP7 program REGPOT-2007-2 provides evaluation facilities for research organizations in the EU convergence and outermost regions. In this framework of the project EVALIPP (evaluation of the Institute for Parallel Processing of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, IPP-BAS) started in March 2009. Based on its expertise over a broad spectrum of the computer sciences and information and communication technologies, IPP-BAS is aimed to operate as an interdisciplinary Centre, able to strengthen its already strong international position, so that it can attract external (including EU) funding and thus also to contribute to the economic development of Bulgaria.Following the rules of FP7 program REGPOT-2007-2, an External Advisory Team (EAT) was set up by the Commission. The EAT evaluates the present performance of IPP and assesses its perspectives. The presented SWOT analysis summarizes the evaluation and provides the proponents with a framework for the further development of their institute to an internationally recognized centre of excellence.The implementation of the project EVALIPP was organized in the following three work packages: WP1 - Management and Dissemination, WP2 - Preparation for the assessment exercise, and WP3 - Assessment with independent reviewers.Following the planned activities, there were three two-day meetings with the evaluators from the EAT at IPP-BAS. The meetings provided the opportunity for open discussions. During the meetings, the IPP-BAS team answered a lot of additionally appeared questions related to the objectives, limitations and expectations of the Institute.The list of findings and comments of the evaluators from the EAT start with the conclusion that it has been strengthened in its view that BAS has, in IPP, a really excellent scientific institute in-house, one that operates at an international level in the activities that constitute its programme. Ample evidence of this is given by the publications of its staff, its approved international projects and the scientific events it organizes.The last item from the EAT "Findings and comments on the environment in which IPP is operating" is given bellow. It could be viewed as a brief conclusion.Our societies are becoming (digital) information societies with ICT as their backbone. In recent years the digitisation of practically all information has led to a gradual shift in emphasis from technology to content. In science, the proliferation of data has led to the concept of e-science, where the handling, processing and enriching of scientific data, and the use of sophisticated simulation techniques, are the ways by which new knowledge is generated. For most scientific disciplines, like life sciences, material sciences, earth sciences, climate research, but also the social sciences, this is becoming an increasingly important factor for scientific progress. In society at large, the age of digitisation has made ICT an increasingly important enabler of a wide range of social and economic processes e.g. in the media, health, education, sustainability. Bulgaria and BAS need to create a knowledge and expertise base, and a proper infrastructure for ICT with which IPP could become a core player in development, and in a creative and innovative way take the lead in exploiting its knowledge and expertise for the advance of Bulgarian science and its economy.
