Periodic Report Summary 1 - CIA4OPM (Optimising the policy mix by the development of a common methodology for the assessment of (socio-) economic impacts of RTDI public funding)
Common Impact Assessment for Optimising the Policy Mix (CIA4OPM)
In response to the growing interest for the use and increased usefulness of impact assessment (IA) in the context of RTDI policy formulation, the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO) has taken - together with 14 partner organizations - the initiative for an FP7 OMC-net project 'Common Impact Assessment for Optimising the Policy Mix' (CIA4OPM) focused at an assessment of the socio-economic impacts of public funding for RTDI. The topic of IA (focused at FP6) has been put on the presidency agenda of France, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Spain. This OMC-net project takes a step further in looking for more harmonized IA guidelines for all kind of RTDI policies at regional, national, and EU-level. An engagement is taken to promote the project during the Swedish, Spanish, and Belgian presidency of the European Union.
Launched in March 2009, CIA4OPM, brings together a network of 15 partners from 11 countries around Europe (a mix of EU Member States, MS, and Associated MS) with the goal of exchanging information and mutual learning with respect to the assessment of (socio-) economic impacts of public funding (policies and instruments) of RTDI. The project focuses at public funding for RTDI in three policy areas in particular: (i) enhancement of private R&D investment; (ii) improved industry-science linkages; and (iii) improved (management of) research in public research institutions and universities.
Goal and planned contributions of 'CIA4OPM'
The main purpose of the project is to increase the usefulness of IA in the context of RTDI policy formulation, or in other words, making sense of impact assessment for policy making. This with the goal of improved RTDI policy making. The CIA4OPM project intends to contribute to two needs in IA that have not been covered before in a systematic manner by other projects:
1. Increasing awareness amongst stakeholders for the need of a common methodology for IA aimed at evidence-based policy improvement;
2. Establishing a framework facilitating communication between policy makers and different stakeholders in the policy making process.
Achievements so far
1. Literature review:
- Make a thorough review of previous experiences using quantitative and qualitative methods;
- Set a draft list of criteria and indicators that can be used to get different IA studies comparable;
- Provide an analysis of previous experiences to identify uses and trends in the IA methodology.
2. Impact assessment of public funding targeted at improving private RTDI investment
The objective of increasing the usefulness of IAs in the field of public funding for improving private RTDI investment will be achieved by studying different IA cases to gain insights about the process design methodology and the governance and usefulness of the studied cases, and by exploring the possibility to design a framework for harmonized IA, with the aim to facilitate policy learning in Europe.
3. IA of public funding targeted at 'Improved industry-science linkages' and at 'Improved research in research institutions and universities'
The main objectives of studying impact assessment of public funding for industry-science linkages and improved (management of) research in public research institutions and universities are threefold:
- Exchange experiences and best practices and identify different methods for the evaluation of policies in the areas under consideration;
- Identify possibilities for harmonization among ERA countries concerning the respective methods and definition of indicators, in order to detect areas for comparability and potential scaling-up of methodologies and pilot cases to other countries, yet being aware of the idiosyncrasy of different national contexts;
- Formulate recommendations and guidelines on how to use impact assessment for a more optimized policy mix.
In response to the growing interest for the use and increased usefulness of impact assessment (IA) in the context of RTDI policy formulation, the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO) has taken - together with 14 partner organizations - the initiative for an FP7 OMC-net project 'Common Impact Assessment for Optimising the Policy Mix' (CIA4OPM) focused at an assessment of the socio-economic impacts of public funding for RTDI. The topic of IA (focused at FP6) has been put on the presidency agenda of France, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Spain. This OMC-net project takes a step further in looking for more harmonized IA guidelines for all kind of RTDI policies at regional, national, and EU-level. An engagement is taken to promote the project during the Swedish, Spanish, and Belgian presidency of the European Union.
Launched in March 2009, CIA4OPM, brings together a network of 15 partners from 11 countries around Europe (a mix of EU Member States, MS, and Associated MS) with the goal of exchanging information and mutual learning with respect to the assessment of (socio-) economic impacts of public funding (policies and instruments) of RTDI. The project focuses at public funding for RTDI in three policy areas in particular: (i) enhancement of private R&D investment; (ii) improved industry-science linkages; and (iii) improved (management of) research in public research institutions and universities.
Goal and planned contributions of 'CIA4OPM'
The main purpose of the project is to increase the usefulness of IA in the context of RTDI policy formulation, or in other words, making sense of impact assessment for policy making. This with the goal of improved RTDI policy making. The CIA4OPM project intends to contribute to two needs in IA that have not been covered before in a systematic manner by other projects:
1. Increasing awareness amongst stakeholders for the need of a common methodology for IA aimed at evidence-based policy improvement;
2. Establishing a framework facilitating communication between policy makers and different stakeholders in the policy making process.
Achievements so far
1. Literature review:
- Make a thorough review of previous experiences using quantitative and qualitative methods;
- Set a draft list of criteria and indicators that can be used to get different IA studies comparable;
- Provide an analysis of previous experiences to identify uses and trends in the IA methodology.
2. Impact assessment of public funding targeted at improving private RTDI investment
The objective of increasing the usefulness of IAs in the field of public funding for improving private RTDI investment will be achieved by studying different IA cases to gain insights about the process design methodology and the governance and usefulness of the studied cases, and by exploring the possibility to design a framework for harmonized IA, with the aim to facilitate policy learning in Europe.
3. IA of public funding targeted at 'Improved industry-science linkages' and at 'Improved research in research institutions and universities'
The main objectives of studying impact assessment of public funding for industry-science linkages and improved (management of) research in public research institutions and universities are threefold:
- Exchange experiences and best practices and identify different methods for the evaluation of policies in the areas under consideration;
- Identify possibilities for harmonization among ERA countries concerning the respective methods and definition of indicators, in order to detect areas for comparability and potential scaling-up of methodologies and pilot cases to other countries, yet being aware of the idiosyncrasy of different national contexts;
- Formulate recommendations and guidelines on how to use impact assessment for a more optimized policy mix.