DG InfSo: “Impact Assessment for Legislation on Mutual Recognition and Acceptance of the eIDentification and Authentification across Borders”
TNO, together with IISA participates in the study called “The Impact Assessment for Legislation on Mutual Recognition and Acceptance of e-Identification and Authentication Across Borders (eID)“. The study will start January 2012. The objective and scope of the eID study are to support the Commission in its assessment of the impact of a legislation envisaged by the Commission in its Digital Agenda for Europe, the European eGovernment Action Plan 2011-2015 and the recently adopted Single Market Act. The study will take account of several ongoing IA initiatives to collect fact-based evidence which will support the European Commission in the formulation of the problem statement, further developing appropriate policy options and, finally, supporting the evaluation of the socio-economic impacts of the policy options identified.
The final report of the study will propose one of the four options and provide substantial discussions and indications on the suggested option, its advantages and disadvantages, and the related impacts on the overall scenario of the development of cross border public services.
The expected output will be a coherent a coherent analysis of regulatory, institutional, organisational and technological issues related to the development of interoperable cross-border eIDs, which will present and discuss the four options in terms of their potential impacts on the development of the digital Europe in general and of their support to the cross-border access to public services. The different options will be compared with the specific development goals of the European information society, of the European e-Government and of the targets set by the digital agenda.
DG InfSo: “EU online Trustmarks – Building Digital Confidence in Europe”
TNO, together with IISA participates in the Study on “EU online Trustmarks – Building Digital Confidence in Europe”, that has started in December 2011. The study has the aim to provide fact-based information on trustmarks, in order to improve their role in supporting the growth of eCommerce, in favour of consumers, businesses and in particular SME’s. More specifically, the study aims to:
- Provide and overall assessment of the issue of confidence towards e-commerce, analysing the different tools available and their potential to overcome trust barriers;
- Producing a map of existing trustmark providers in Europe, US and other relevant markets. These maps shall classify the trustmarks providers and their schemes according to different operational, technical and regulatory aspects. The map will cover off-line and online trustmarks supported by the Commission
- Describe the different certification policies used by the mapped trustmark providers, analysing their certification model, criteria and other policies related to the scheme and assess their impact on consumer
- Compare and analyse alternative certification and accreditation models in respect to the European cross-border e-commerce, especially their regulatory, institutional and financial implications to all parties involved
- Assess the different models of trustmarks in the light of their potential to increase confidence in cross-border e-commerce.
The study will, together with the Commission and stakeholders, also assess the need to establish a European platform.
The study will develop a consistent framework for the analysis and to collect fact-based evidence on the operation, set-up and impacts of trustmarks on eCommerce. Furthermore it will specifically address the issues of policy-making for trustmarks and eCommerce and the opportunities to develop a European trustmark platform.
DG InfSo: “Development of Performance Monitoring Concepts and Tools for ICT in the EU funded RTD”
Joanneum Research, together with TNO and DTI participates in the study “Development of Performance Monitoring Concepts and Tools for ICT in the EU funded RTD”, which was launched in spring 2011.
The study assesses the current evaluation and monitoring system in order to point out gaps in the current evidence base available and identify areas where direct performance measures or proxies are necessary, but these are missing or the information is underutilised. It will review the existing literature and data sources related to the intervention logic of FP7-ICT and CIP ICT-PSP, the underlying evaluation requirements, and the existing monitoring and evaluation practices of DG INFSO policies. Subsequently it will analyse and assess existing methodologies and academic literature relevant for the evaluation of public interventions with a special emphasis on the ICT sector.
The final result is a proposal for the remedial of identified shortcomings by highlighting possible proxies and indicators for the assessment and performance of programmes.
DG ENTR: “R&D Investments and Structural Changes in Sectors – Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis; Policy Recommendations”
The study “R&D investments and structural changes in sectors - quantitative and qualitative analysis; policy recommendations” is the largest single project currently being carried out by the JIIP partners and can be regarded as the institute’s current flagship project. The fact that DG RTD has contracted this study to JIIP demonstrates, amongst other things, the strong profile that the JIIP partners have developed in the field of sectoral expertise.
The project is part of the European Commission’s efforts to develop an evidence-based ERA monitoring system which is based on indicators and which will support the formulation of research and innovation policy in Europe. As the title suggests, the study has two general aims: (i) carrying out a quantitative and qualitative analysis of R&D investments and structural changes in sectors and (ii) delivering policy recommendations. The more specific objectives are:
- Identifying strengths and weaknesses of knowledge production and use in different industrial sectors of the European economy
- Identifying key factors (including effectiveness of policies) of sectoral structural change, leading to the definition of a set of indicators to benchmark performance across European countries and major global competitors
- Analysing the effect of intra-EU investment in R&D on the sectoral structure of the EU economy.
In terms of empirical data, the study will use the maximum of available statistical material and complement it with own surveys and interviews. While the analysis will focus on the sector level, part of its originality lies in the fact that it will also take into consideration the macro- and micro-levels, in order to provide a more elaborate picture of the dynamics, structures and performance. Work has started in August 2010 and envisaged project duration is 2.5 years.
Study to assist the ERA Board: “Research and Innovation Strategies and Investments in Grand Challenges”
Following the very positive feedback received on the final report of its previous study for the ERA Board (see below), JIIP has been asked to carry out another study for this high-level advisory committee. The aim of this new research project is to analyse and recommend on R&I funding mechanisms that specifically address the so-called Grand Challenges, with a specific focus on “energy/ climate change” and “healthy ageing”. In includes an in-depth analysis of funding programmes in 13 countries in Europe and beyond as well as of some non-governmental foundations. One of the key findings is that even though there seems to be a broad political consensus on the conceptualisation of the grand challenges and a clear recognition of the importance of the issue, this has so far only had little effect on the design of R&D policies in Europe. A particular problem of Europe is also the neglect of the innovation and diffusion dimension and the missing link between the research and the innovation dimensions. The development of an integrated systemic approach, which is essential in this context, is much more advanced in Asian countries, who have a tradition of national priority setting.
Based on these findings, the study comes up with the following five recommendations:
- The EU should see its role and its added value in coordinating and “topping up” the very scattered and relatively small-scale initiatives that exist at national and in particular at regional level. Specifically in the current situation that is characterised by budgetary constraints, member states seem more and more willing to accept such a coordination role of the EU.
- The innovation and diffusion dimension should be much more emphasised in the debate and in joint actions.
- The different roles and coordination needs for S&T and innovation/diffusion should be recognised.
- Relatively independent (“arm’s length”) agencies should act as (temporary) change agents.
- Stakeholders should be encouraged to organise themselves better at EU level and to engage in a constructive way.
The results of the study will now be used by the ERA Board to formulate their advice regarding the future of R&I funding in Europe.
“6 Countries Programme”
The Six Countries Programme (6CP) is an international network of public policy-makers, business leaders, academics, and other experts working in the field of innovation. They meet periodically to critically discuss the latest developments in innovation research, policy and practice. Read more…