Integration of Information Systems for the Benefit of Researchers and Policymakers
A Need for a European Approach and Coordination?
Erik ArnoldEuropean Parliament, Brussels26 March 2013
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Why are we interested in information and measurement? • Drive from the New Public Management for performance
measurement• Increased effort to link research with innovation• A need for output data to feeding the growing use of
performance-based research funding systems• More use of evaluation in managing and measuring
funding programmes• Increased autonomy of research-performing institutions
leads to a desire for more management information at institutional level
• Open access to the results of publicly-funded research• ICT systems increasingly enable access to, and research
use of, others’ research materials
Stakeholders’ use of research information Governments and
government agenciesResearch institutions
management & governance
EU and National Governments
Ministries responsible for research/innovation
Government Agencies
Governing Bodies/ Councils
Executives/ Management
Research Groups / departments & institutes
Inform policies & strategies
Determine competitiveness / strategic positioning x x x x x x
Improve performance and quality x x x
Improve system functionality x x
Aid resource allocation x
Assess per-formance
Quality, sustainability, relevance and impact of research activity x x
Other
Investor confidence/value-for-money and efficiency x x x x x
Recruitment x x
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Based upon: Expert Group on Assessment of University-Based Research, Assessing Europe’s University-Based Research, European Commission, DG Research, 2010
Types of system are proliferating
• Research information systems• Institutional level• Funder or national level
• Indicator systems and databases at national and European level
• National research evaluation databases• International bibliometric databases
• Web of Science, Scopus
• Web-based publication databases• Scholar Google – a game-changer?
• Open access repositories• Others, eg
• CV and patent databases4
Use of bibliometrics in performance-based funding
Method Unit of analysis Type of bibliometrics Country
Indicator-based Institution Papers Denmark
Finland
NorwayPapers & citations Belgium (Flanders)
Poland
Slovak republic
SwedenPeer review Department/ field of
researchUK RAE
ItalyInformed by metrics Poland
Czech RepublicIndividual Spain
New Zealand
5Based on Diana Hicks, 'Overview of models of performance-based research funding systems', Performance-based Funding for Public Research in Tertiary Education Institutions: Workshop Proceedings, OECD Working Party on Research Institutions and Human Resources (RIHR), 2010
Why would we need better systems?
• Better measurement of the broad impacts of research• Support better evaluation methods• More data availability• Better, more sophisticated indicators• Improved understanding of research and innovation
systems• Availability of fine-grained, internationally comparable
data• Obtain input data (especially funding), not just outputs• Enable policy coordination and measurement at a trans-
national level
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Data sources for research and innovation assessments
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Growing interlinkage of systems, enabled by emerging standards
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Use and sources of tools for evaluation
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Questions for today’s workshop
1. Is our view on the current landscape of systems for research-related information collection correct? Did we miss out something?
2. Is it desirable to interconnect the various types of information? Is it practical? What would be/are the benefits?
3. Is interconnection of national systems at European level desirable? Is it practical? What would be the benefits?
4. Is there a coordination deficit at European level?5. Where should coordination come from?
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Thank you
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