Advisory report 45: Breakthrough science and technology in Flanders

A healthy innovation economy relies on the interaction between breakthroughs and gradual improvements. Breakthrough research introduces radical new ideas and technologies, but incremental research is essential to refine these ideas, make them applicable and scale them up. VARIO investigated the trend for breakthrough research in our region compared to other countries and regions, and which policy options best respond to this. To that end, a specific study was carried out.

The most striking finding is that Flanders has made strong progress internationally in scientific production. Not only has the total number of publications increased significantly, but the proportion of breakthrough publications (i.e. highly innovative and impactful) has grown even faster. Flanders is therefore not only succeeding in producing more scientific knowledge, but also in generating output that is innovative and resonates internationally.

There is also growth in the technological domain, with a clear increase in the number of granted USPTO patents. Flanders performs reasonably well within the EU-27. However, its performance lags behind frontrunners such as the US, Switzerland, Singapore and China. The combination of growing output but with limited share in breakthrough patents underlines the importance of policy measures aimed at strengthening Flemish technological innovation.

VARIO therefore makes the following recommendations:

Recommendation 1: Foster Flanders' strong scientific position

Flanders' scientific and technological position is crucial in times of geopolitical fragmentation. VARIO calls for safeguarding the growth path towards the 1% norm.

Recommendation 2: Investigate the efficiency differences with the VARIO benchmark countries and regions
VARIO calls for a more in-depth analysis of Flemish research efficiency using appropriate indicators in order to gain insight into Flanders' ranking and the underlying explanations.

Recommendation 3: Create a research culture that tolerates risk in research

Develop a culture in which both elaborative and innovative ideas are given a fair chance.

• Recommendation 3.1: Handle KPIs for publications and patents at knowledge institutions with caution
• Recommendation 3.2: Encourage long-term projects with scope for in-depth analysis and synthesis
• Recommendation 3.3: Monitor how a broader assessment of research and researchers is being implemented in the research institutions and funding channels
• Recommendation 3.4: Encourage experimentation with new assessment methods and adapted evaluation criteria
• Recommendation 3.5: Introduce a portfolio approach to managing and evaluating high-risk/high-reward research
• Recommendation 3.6: Ensure diverse expertise in the assessment panels and watch over their workload
• Recommendation 3.7: Systematically collect and share data on high-risk/high-reward research and identify any risk aversion among funding channels

Recommendation 4: Include additional quality-oriented patent indicators in the structural monitoring of science, technology and innovation
VARIO proposes a number of quality-oriented patent indicators for future monitoring. VARIO continues to believe that unlocking the wealth of patent data should be added to the mandate of ECOOM – the expertise center for R&D monitoring.