The European Commission has published the results of an expert study proposing a new way to track how research is turned into economic and social value across the European Research Area.
The framework is designed for EU member states and other countries associated with the European Research Area (ERA), a cooperation area for research and innovation policy, the Commission said on Monday.
It sets out 16 indicators and 41 metrics intended to measure “knowledge valorisation” — the process of turning research results into practical benefits such as new products, improved public services or changes in policy.
Measures in the framework include tracking commercial activity linked to research, such as co-patents between industry and academia, use of intellectual property, venture capital investment in university spinouts, and the number of startups led by PhD holders.
Where the data would come from
Some of the proposed measures would also try to capture how research feeds into technical standards, as well as how it contributes to policymaking and community engagement, the Commission said.
The study notes that countries do not always use the same definitions for terms such as “startup”, “scaleup” and “spinout”, and that data quality and collection practices vary, according to the findings.
It recommends pilot testing some metrics, further refining the methodology and improving alignment of data, and says qualitative surveys or case studies could be used alongside the metrics.
Selected metrics are expected to feed into the ERA monitoring mechanism and the Science, Research and Innovation Performance (SRIP) report.
The framework is intended to be implemented largely using existing data, with 18 metrics already fully available from established sources and 23 requiring emerging data or new methodological approaches.
