ERAC Peer Review of

Spanish Research and Innovation System

Claire NauwelaersRapporteur ERAC Peer Review

Four independent experts:

Luke Georghiou, Chair (United Kingdom)

Claire Nauwelaers, Rapporteur (Belgium)

Åsa Lindholm Dahlstrand (Sweden)

Arie Rip (The Netherlands)

Nine governmental peers from five countries:

Ward Ziarko and Peter Spyns (Belgium)

Ain Heinaru (Estonia)

Mark Asch and Philippe Freyssinet (France)

Andre Schlochtermeier and Wilfried Kraus (Germany)

Katarina Bjelke and Michael Jacob (Sweden)

The Peer PanelThe Peer Panel

Timing: first semester 2014

Sources:

Documentary analysis on Spanish R&I system

Hearings: over 100 Spanish stakeholders-April and June

2014

Peers’ intimate knowledge and experts analyses of R&I

systems

Focus: policy recommendations, not a new system

analysis1. Improving effectiveness of public R&I system2. Boosting R&I in private sector3. Improving national-regional synergies in R&I 4. Generation of critical masses of actors around

strategic innovation agendas5. Reinforcing policy intelligence for more effective

policies

Method adopted by Peer PanelMethod adopted by Peer Panel

Economic and R&I system context Boosting R&I system: a core response to sluggish

growth and unemployment crisis Spain is « moderate innovator », especially from

business side Urgent need for structural transformation towards

more knowledge-intensive activities in economy Public research with uneven performance Importance of regional dimension – diversity and

fragmentation

R&I Policy context Structural Reforms programme New STI Law, STI Strategy and Plan, New

Entrepreneurship Strategy : set out directions but need for effective policies

Smart Specialisation Strategies in all Spanish regions Drop in national public funding for R&D

Diagnosis: key starting pointsDiagnosis: key starting points

1. Increased resources1. Increased resources linked to structural reform linked to structural reform

Increased resources in the context of a 10-year strategic framework to provide stability of finance

Raise public share of GERD to peak at 0.7% of GDP in 3-years as deliberate counter-cyclical measure to initiate growth in business R&D

Sustainable Growth Package linking funding to roadmap for structural reform

2. Reform research careers2. Reform research careers

Address unfavourable demography of research system by opening recruitment for early career researchers

Move career path away from standard civil service model including use of Access Contract as basis for tenure track

Radical change in management of research careers to reward talent and stimulate mobility

3. Institutional reform3. Institutional reform

Greater autonomy needed for PROs, Universities and the laboratories and departments within them Strategic approach Greater managerial accountability including

regular evaluation and assessment

Continue to experiment with institutional innovation under private contractual law

Explore potential of mergers and relocation of institutes

4. Institutional assessment 4. Institutional assessment and competitive fundingand competitive funding

Allocate a proportion of national funding on the basis of institutional assessment Performance indicators plus peer review with

international component Criteria to include excellence, impact and

strategy to achieve these A ‘viral reform’ to achieve multiplier effects

Funding focussed on competitive grants

5. Strategic Innovation Arenas5. Strategic Innovation Arenas as coordination initiative as coordination initiative

Break down silos by creating Strategic Innovation ArenasBusiness-led initiatives in key areas of focus and

targeting global competitive environmentsNation-wide public-private partnerships with

public & private innovation actors plus regulators/procurers

Spanning national agencies and autonomous communities

Building on CENIT and CIEN (co-operative programmes)

6. Bring more business actors6. Bring more business actors into the innovation system into the innovation system

Insufficient numbers of small and medium-sized firms active in innovationCapability problem blocks participation in

programmes and absorptive capacity

Extend substantially schemes to put supervised researchers into companies Additional benefit of generating employment

Can be paid for by transfer of resources from fiscal incentivesDirect measures allow for greater targeting and

return

7. Market and culture for innovation7. Market and culture for innovation

Exposure to international markets will drive innovation in virtuous circleStrengthening of support needed for international

cooperation and exports

Need to foster domestic markets for innovative products and servicesFramework conditions include competition law, availability

of finance, education & training, infrastructure & services, and conditions for entrepreneurship

More use needed of procurement to drive innovation Innovation should be part of mission statement for all with

procurement budgets at national and regional level

8. Autonomous Agency8. Autonomous Agency to implement the reform programme to implement the reform programme

Need to implement the national research agencyStable funding and procedures with small number of

broad and flexible policy instruments

Two key functionsExcellence through grants & fellowshipsKnowledge exchange to drive economic and social impact

Ministry retaining core functionsResource allocation across agencies, setting national

priorities, operating accountability for performanceEnsuring R&I is mainstream to economic agenda of

governmentLegislation to support reform

9. Incentivise regional synergies9. Incentivise regional synergies to support business & business creation to support business & business creation

Use smart specialisation as organising principle to engage innovation support actors in building world class innovation clusters

Fine-tune policy mix for R&I in firmsReduce hurdles and time to obtain supportDevelop nation scheme for innovation vouchers

10. Effective monitoring & evaluation10. Effective monitoring & evaluation to support evidence-based policy to support evidence-based policy

Strong evaluation culture to shape R&I policy and decisionsSome gaps and fragmentation in present information base

especially at regional levelAll new initiatives should require explicit rationale and

verifiable objectives Independent and public monitoring and evaluation should be

the norm

Capacity building in Spanish R&I policy analysis and evaluation communities

Completes the policy cycle and allows a learning system