European Commission’s Tools for Evidence-based Policymaking
Regional policymakers must use evidence-based approaches to design tailored-based regional research and innovation policies to their institutional contexts. Evidence-based policymaking refers to the idea that policy decisions must be based on, or informed by, objective evidence and/or scientific frameworks. The European Commission’s portal, Knowledge for policy, supports policymakers using evidence-based policymaking tools. Regional policymakers can use Knowledge for policy portal to make informed policy decisions regarding the design of research and innovation policies or strategies such as their Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3).
Figure 1. Evidence-based policymaking framework. Source: European Commission.
Knowledge for policy offers multiple tools to support the design of evidence-based research and innovation policies such as:
- AI Watch that monitors industrial, technological and research capacity, policy initiatives in the Member States, uptake and technical developments of Artificial Intelligence and its impact in the economy, society, and public services. AI Watch provides several analyses necessary to monitor and facilitate the implementation of the European Strategy for AI.
- Knowledge Centre for Bioeconomy that provides knowledge for a sustainable and circular bioeconomy.
- Competence Centre on Composite Indicators and Scoreboards provides capacity-building for policymakers in using statistical methodologies and developing sound composite indicators to understand the ‘bigger picture’ and making informed policy decisions while monitoring progress.
- Competence Centre on Foresight fosters a strategic, future-oriented and anticipatory culture in the EU policymaking process. For instance, FuturGov Game cards, a policy tool to stimulate policy debates, is a game that was developed as a part of the future of government 2030+ (see figure below).
Figure 2. Images from the FuturGov Game cards.
- Competence Centre on Microeconomic Evaluation advises and supports EU policy making through ex-post causal evaluation and data-driven microeconomic analysis.
- Competence Centre on Modelling promotes a responsible, coherent and transparent use of modelling to support the evidence base for EU policies.
- Competence Centre on Technology Transfer provides technology transfer policy related expertise and services to the European Commission and other institutions of the Union and operational support services to a broader range of stakeholders.
- Knowledge Centre for Territorial Policies supports EU policymaking through better knowledge management on territorial (urban and regional) related issues.
Figure 3. Dashboard from the Knowledge Centre for Territorial Policies.
- Competence Centre on Text Mining and Analysis provides supports for text mining and analysis tools to extract information from online data, including traditional or social media, or from large public or proprietary document sets.
Have a look at the Knowledge for policy portal.