Supporting evidence based policy making in the research field in Europe
The Commission services have developed a comprehensive information and analysis system on national/regional research policies in the European Research Area as well as on a selected number of countries outside the ERA (e.g. USA, Russia, India, China). The system is called ERAWATCH and it supports policy monitoring, policy learning and evidence-based policy-making in the context of the development of the ERA. An online service has been developed in collaboration with CORDIS - The Community Research and Development Information service to facilitate access by all those involved in research & innovation policy making in Europe.
The objective of ERAWATCH is to provide knowledge and a better understanding of national and regional research systems and of the environment in which they operate. ERAWATCH contributes to the realization of the European Research Area. The system collects data on national and regional research profiles, organizations, support measures and documents. ERAWATCH includes both a comprehensive inventory and provides a range of related services.
It organizes and structures the information within a European Inventory of Research and Innovation Policy Measures and it analyses policies, trends and the factors influencing them. The inventory contains a comprehensive and coherent set of information on the policy context, the structure and evolution of the research and innovation systems in all the EU member States and the States associated to the Research Framework Programme. Similar information is provided notably on USA, Japan, China, India and Korea. The inventory is built with the support of the ERAWATCH network, composed of national correspondents in each of the EU member states and beyond. This network gathers and analyses information relevant to research policy-making and supports the development and maintenance of the ERAWATCH service. The Inventory is updated on a periodical basis.
The ERAWATCH services are constituted of:
- National profiles offering periodic reviews of the status and evolution of research systems and policies and governance structures in EU Member States and beyond;
- European perspective providing analysis on emerging themes and trends in the structure, content and evolution of research systems;
- Detailed reports offering a synthesis and overview, at the European level, of Member State progress towards the various objectives of ERA and Europe 2020 and an analysis of national policy mixes implemented in each Member State.
All together they aim to provide regular and ongoing analyses of issues relevant to research policy-making. These analyses are in large part based on the inventory.