The main purpose of the project is to identify and formulate recommendations for the development of an improved policy mix based on the harmonisation of the assessment of economic and societal impacts of public funding (including policies and instruments) for RTDI. The project will focus at three policy areas in particular:

(i) stimulating private R&D investment,
(ii) improving the cooperation between public research institutes /universities and private enterprises, and
(iii) improving the management of research institutions and universities.

Two concepts are important: impact assessment and policy mix. Impact assessment can be defined as a set of logical steps which structure the preparation of policy proposals. It involves building on and developing the practices that already accompany the process of policy development by deepening the analysis and formalising the results in an autonomous report. A policy mix can be defined as “the  combination of policy instruments, which interact to influence the quantity and quality of a selected policy goal.” Impact assessment of public funding for RTDI (Research, Technological Development and Innovation) has become a key concern of policy makers because:

- understanding and measuring the impacts of public funding is crucial to evaluate the efficiency of public investments and to assess their contribution to achieving the socioeconomic objectives of a country;

- impact assessment enhances public accountability, creates a better informed society and raises awareness of the contribution of public funding of research to the economic and social development of a country, and

- impact assessment helps legitimising the value (or costs) of public policy intervention.

Different methodologies have been proposed in the literature to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of public spending.  These methods can be broken down according to the level of aggregation of the analysis (macro-, meso-, or micro-level), the timing of the assessment (ex-ante or ex-post), and the approach used (quantitative versus qualitative). The methods and techniques used are still evolving, and for the time being, a comprehensive understanding and harmonised approach to impact assessment studies, as well as to their integration into policy making, is not available among EU Member and associated States.

Moreover, most impact assessment exercises aim at improving the efficiency of the instruments in achieving their targets (i.e. carrying out more R&D or generating more R&D investment) and therefore hardly deal with their impact on society or the economy at large. Hence, they do not allow for a more systematic assessment of the policy mix that supports research, education and innovation policies in the knowledge triangle. Insights regarding the impact of research investment on society and the economy, from which conclusions for pertinent and related policy fields could be drawn, are still quite poor in quality and quantity.

Also, more efforts are needed to connect impact assessment with technology road mapping so that impact assessment of public RTDI policies can develop from traditional ex-post type evaluation towards the creation of and commitment to a common future-oriented strategic orientation in which continuous common interactive learning and subsequent accumulated knowledge plays an important role.

Therefore, this project will establish a network of policy actors, supported by an advisory board of experts on impact assessment methodologies, in order to exchange information and learning from each other on national activities with respect to the assessment of (socio-) economic impacts of public funding (policies and instruments) of RTDI. It will focus on public funding aimed at three crucial areas for
RTDI in the European Research Area:

(i) support to business R&D investment;
(ii) improved cooperation between public research institutes and private enterprises; and
(iii) improved management of research institutions and universities.

The project will identify best practices and develop improved and harmonised (amongst Member States/ regions) approaches (toolbox/manual) to perform impact assessment of public RTDI funding. It will aim at developing a common methodology for the assessment of socio-economic impacts of public RTDI funding while taking into account country’s/region’s specific characteristics. The project will thus contribute to creating tools for the development of an appropriate evidence based policy mix.

The overall objectives of the impact assessment study for each of these three targeted areas are:

- To gain insights in the broad range of existing approaches, instruments, and indicators used to perform impact assessment and in the outcomes of the performed exercises for member states and their regions (both in terms of socio-economic impact and in terms of their use in policy making);

- To explore the possibility to design more harmonised approaches to impact assessment and to allow for benchmarking and collective learning;

- To identify good/best practices and to formulate recommendations, guidelines and a methodology for the use of ‘future oriented’ impact assessment when dealing with the definition of an appropriate policy mix.

The project will contribute to the Lisbon strategy by improving and harmonising impact assessment of public support to investment in RTDI. The assessment of the impacts of public R&D is therefore closely intertwined with the evaluation of public funding of RTDI, and should provide valuable feedback to the different phases of public policy formulation, including policy design. Mutual learning on how feedback from impact assessment can influence policy making aims at improving impact assessment as a tool for policy making. In this way, impact assessment will be more useful to enhance public accountability, to create a better informed society and to diffuse and raise awareness of the contribution of public research to the economic and social development of a country. Impact assessment of public funding for RTDI can thus become a cornerstone to legitimise public support to RTDI.