Institut de Recherche pour le Développement – IRD

Unité de recherche «Savoirs et Développement»

Presentation of ESTIME project

September 2004-February 2007

The ESTIME project (Evaluation of Scientific and Technological capabilities in MEditerranean countries) aims at the description of the scientific and technological capabilities in 8 research partners countries of the Mediterranean (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and PalestinianTerritories). The project will contribute at the closer links between the European research space and the Mediterranean research space by providing precise indications on research, technological development, and innovation in the Mediterranean countries, supported by empirical investigations and a thorough revision of sources of information.

The investigation concerns all of scientific activities, including the social and human sciences. It is funded by the European Union for a whole period of two years and a half (September 2004 to February 2007). It has been designed after the proposal of the Mediterranean countries and the European Commission that was drawn in the Cairo meeting of the “Barcelona Committee on science and technology” also known as “Mediterranean Countries Committee on scientific cooperation” (MoCo).

The project would like to draw a synthetic vision on science and technology in these countries by proposing:

-A statistical overview based on bibliometric analysis of the scientific production (publications in all fields of science on a ten years period);

-A description of the research institutions, higher education institutions and science and technology policies ;

-An analysis of the dynamics of research activities in a choice of disciplines, based on interviews with laboratory and research personnel previously identified by the bibliometric analysis;

-An analysis of the uses of science and scientific results (relations of research centres with enterprises, development of innovation projects, activities of R&D in enterprises, NGOs activities that work with public sector researchers):

  • A panorama of intermediate organisations that promote technological development and innovation (including the “innovation surveys” that might have been already done);
  • A survey on a specific sample of researchers that permit to describe their linkages to economic activities;
  • A survey on a specific sample of enterprises and other users on the needs and practices of R&D and their linkages to the academic world;

-An analysis of the social sciences. They need a specific treatment because of methodological problems. World bibliographic databases cover poorly the production in these countries, specifically the non-occidental social sciences. We need to find in each site a strategy that permits to seize the production in these disciplines. It will be completed by interviews with researchers in 3 or 4 disciplines (two common disciplines to every country: Sociology/Anthropology and Law).

The project will be coordinated by the “Knowledge and Development” team of IRD that has a previous experience in the evaluationof scientific capabilities. The bibliometric part of the study will be managed by OST (Observatoire des Sciences et Techniques, France). But most of the empirical research will be done in collaboration with research teams in the Mediterranean countries that will participate in the design, analysis and interpretation of results. Teams have already partly been identified in Algeria, Morocco and Egypt; the identification of teams is on-going in the other countries.

The work will be brought to the attention of the members of MoCo, and decision makers in Europe and in each country, and will maintain a permanent link with them. The results should also be of interest to researchers, and authorities that are related to science and technology.

Three workshops and international meetings are to be held. An internet site will be set-up. Information leaflets by country and comparative analysis on specific aspects of the S&T activities will also be produced.

The project wishes to help in the cooperation between European countries and Mediterranean countries by identifying active sites of research, where cooperation can be strongly promoted, and indicate the conditions where such cooperation can be implemented. It will also help to create an analytical capability and robust evaluation of S&T activities.

The ESTIME core team

The IRD team in this project is composed of researchers with a strong track in this area:

-Rigas Arvanitis, projectcoordinator, specialist on innovation studies

-Roland Waast, coordinator of studies on the science systems in Africa and Morocco;[1]

-Ali El Kenz, professor, knowledge sociologist, expert on developing countries, specifically Arab countries;

-Mina Kleiche, historian of science, specialized on Morocco;

-Pénélope Larzillière, sociologist, specialized on the Middle East;

-Pascal Renaud, computer scientist, specialist on IT in developing countries;

-Anne Sophie Boisard, permanentassistant to the project.

The “Observatoire des Sciences et Techniques (OST)” which is a French unit specialized on science indicators, will participate in the creation of bibliometric indicators and will also collaborate with the ESTIME network and IRD in the production of country reports. At the closing dates of the project, OST will draft a proposal on the creation of a network of science indicators units for the Mediterranean countries.

Estime: Evaluation of Scientific, Technologicaland Innovation capabilities in the MEditerranean countries

Bibliometrics / Institutions
Bibliometrics
S&T indicators
Description of institutions
Research policy
Technological policy / CountryReports
Cross-country reports:
Documentation
Interviews / The dynamic of experimental and engineering sciences
Conditions of research
Research Networks and collaborations
Uses of ITC in research / Research system and its functioning; the social embeddness of science
Interviews / / Uses of science
Policies for the promotion and valorization of research
Intermediate institutions
Innovation and ICTs
Examplesof innovation / Uses of research and innovation
Specific
bibliometric
analysis
Interviews / / Social sciences
Bibliomectrics for the social sciences
Conditions of research
Research networks
Publications and editorial activity / The social sciences: Description and dynamics

[1] - L’état des sciences en Afrique (Project for the European Commission on 12 African countries. See:

- Evaluation du système de recherche Marocain (at the request of the European Commission and the government of Morocco. The project consisted a systematic visit of European experts to a large array of laboratories in all fields of science. Results will be published by the Ministry of research in Morocco.