Research project S2/011/12 (Research action S2)
The objective behind this research project is the implementation of an overall framework for the evaluation of national innovation systems using an institutional approach, and its application to Belgium. This approach is based on the following criteria: international comparability of results; representativeness of institutional profiles; feasibility of measuring the institutional organisation; and overall consistency of the institutional approach. Although all the indicators developed within this project framework are geared therefore to the Belgian situation, a number of relative indicators should be defined for the purposes of being able to assess national suitability in comparison with Belgium’s leading trading partners.
During phase one, the appropriate method will involve producing a synoptic vision of the various complementary contexts within the framework of which institutional links need to be identified, and which are important in the case of Belgium. (What links should be highlighted for the purposes of defining meaningful indicators? On what institutional level should this occur?).
During phase two, we shall concentrate on government intervention in the S&T field, again for the purposes of being able to identify leading indicators for assessing the effectiveness of S&T policy. (What are the most useful families of indicators? Are these indicators available, and by what means?).
The intention is to take the developed methodological background as the basis and use the ‘trilogy’ of objectives/instruments/institutions as the guiding principle for implementing the overall indicators framework to be used in order to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the Belgian innovation system and, therefore, the nation’s ability to operate within the globalised knowledge economy.
All of this will take place using integrated functional matrices that will then serve as the basis for benchmarking in respect of the leading European countries.
The specific tasks of the integrated PROJECT are as follows:
A. Analytical basis
A.1 State-of-the-art in theory and practice: literature survey with reference to S&T indicators. The intention is to produce a solid foundation for choosing methodologies.
A.2 Development of families of indicators: on the basis of the indicator survey and in accordance with the availability of the required data. This moment of analysis chiefly relates to the practical aspects of the potential indicators of objectives, instruments and institutions from the national innovation system.
B. Data compilation and implementation of indicators
B.1 Collection of basic data, cleaning and transformation.
B.2 Supplementary institutional survey: compilation of missing data by means of a survey of S&T institutions. At the same time, an opportunity is provided here in order to verify interrelations within the objectives/instruments/institutions ‘trilogy’.
B.3 Implementation of indicators: application to the data of the principles devised in A2. The derived set of data will be used as the basis for moving on to quantify the various families of indicators along with final insertion in the interaction matrix.
B.4 Data analysis and consolidation of indicators: the major concern here is the internal consistency of the interaction matrices that have been compiled.
C. Analysis of indicators: leading results from the study of the national innovation system and their implications for policy. In view of the fact that the fundamental research aim involves applying an integrated methodology for evaluation of the innovation system, it will be important, in addition to analysing the research findings, to identify policy ‘bottlenecks’ and suggest ways of improving policy-making.
