- Action 19: Establish an efficient and effective ERA monitoring system
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The Council conclusions on the future governance of the ERA of November 2021 invited the Commission “to present to the Council by mid-2022 a monitoring and evaluation framework for the implementation of the ERA”. The Commission presented the framework for a future ERA Monitoring Mechanism to the Council on 10 June 2022.
The development and implementation of this Action followed a thorough co-creation process within the ERA Forum. To prepare the various elements of the monitoring mechanism, including the selection of relevant indicators for the Scoreboard and the Dashboard, the ERA Forum held two dedicated workshops in November 2021 and April 2022. The ERA Forum meetings in October 2021, May 2022, September 2022, February 2023, and July 2023 put a specific focus on the monitoring mechanism. The discussions were supported by two independent expert reports.
Additionally, key monitoring tools and mechanisms have been developed as part of the implementation of other actions. In the context of ERA Action 1 on Open Science the monitoring framework of the EOSC observatory has been initiated. Similarly, as part of Action 4, the Research and Innovation Careers Observatory (RICO) will be developed and will enable to provide a more comprehensive analysis and monitoring of progress towards this action. In relation to this action the ERA Talent Platform will be developed which will be a key portal providing links to EURAXESS, HRS4R, RESAVER and the Research Careers Observatory.
The EU put great attention to the development of monitoring frameworks and/or reports in the field of R&I, therefore a great variety of policies and initiatives can be found. Since 2004, the EU develops the EU Industrial R&D Scoreboard with the objective of measuring performance of EU innovation-driven industries against major global counterparts. This monitoring framework provides key insights into the economic and financial information of the world's top 2500 R&D investors and EU 1000 R&D investors, identifying challenges and opportunities for the EU.
Over a decade ago, the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) was established. This annual monitoring framework provides a comparative analysis of innovation performance in EU countries, other European countries, and regional neighbours. Based on the assigned scores, EU countries are categorised in four performance groups: innovation leaders, strong innovators, moderate innovators and emerging innovators. This monitoring tool helps to identify the relative strengths and weaknesses of the countries’ national innovation systems and to identify challenges they need to address.
Additionally, due to the growing importance and efforts devoted to gender equality globally but particularly in the EU, several initiatives have been developed in view of monitoring gender equality in R&I across the EU and its MS, enhancing ERA Action 5. The most relevant initiative is the She Figures report which is released every three years since 2003. It collects data through different available indicators (88 in the 2021 edition) and is presented throughout six chapters, following the 'chronological journey' of women from graduating from doctoral studies to participating in the labour market and acquiring decision-making roles, while exploring differences in women’s and men's working conditions and research outputs. EU funded projects enhancing monitoring frameworks on gender equality in R&I institutions such as UNISAFE have conducted key surveys and or developed monitoring tools.