Monitoring strategic priorities in Research and Innovation: the Sea as a case study

The National Research and Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialization (ENEI) is one of the pillars of Portugal 2020 - the Partnership Agreement between Portugal and the European Commission for the use of the Structural Funds in the 2014-2020 Programme Framework. In fact, it is the 15 priority areas defined in the ENEI that will underpin R&I policy and funding decisions over the next five years.

FCT is coordinating the working group set up to identify scientific production indicators that will make it possible to monitor the evolution of strategic priorities during the lifetime of ENEI. The aim of this project is to create a solid policy and management tool that can be used to inform R&I policy decisions, both in the short and medium term.

The working group aims to coordinate and maximize efforts and knowledge, bringing together technicians, managers and researchers from the FCT's Studies and Strategy Office, the Directorate-General for Education and Science Statistics (DGEEC), the Directorate-General for Maritime Policy (DGPM), the Higher Institute of Sciences (ISCSP) of the University of Lisbon and the Institut Francilien Recherche Innovation Societé (IFRIS) in France.

Due to the complexity of the object of study - made up of several dimensions (knowledge, innovation, economy) - the team chose to start by analyzing a single dimension from which to draw indicators. The dimension of knowledge production was chosen. Next, in order to develop and mature the methodological approach, they selected the area of the sea economy for a pilot case study, from which they will be able to extrapolate the methodology to other ENEI priority areas. Some of the questions the group is looking for answers to are: What are the main national knowledge clusters in the Marine Sciences? Who are the main players? How do they collaborate with each other and internationally?

The team compiled preliminary maps of Marine Science clusters in Portugal, based on co-occurrences of key words, collected from experts in the field of the sea/oceans (e.g. coastal areas, deep sea, offshore, seabed), as well as co-occurrences of topics, cities and institutions. These first results were presented to researchers from the main national marine science research centers for comment and validation at a workshop in July. The researchers welcomed the work being done, recognizing its value in creating a solid scientific basis for future science policy decisions. The various proposals for new keywords to be included in the database search were welcomed by the project team for the potential they offer to refine the search and thus better describe the panorama of the country's Marine Science clusters.