The European Commission (EC) published the interim evaluation report of the Future & Emerging Technologies (FET) Flagships.

The objective was to evaluate the strategic relevance of the instrument and to provide recommendations based on the lessons learned so far from their implementation (Human Brain Project and Graphene). Overall, the evaluation stresses that FET-Flagships are relevant as part of the European Research Area: “they are raising the profile of Europe’s leading edge research, while also moving towards innovation outcomes in the longer term.
The first recommendation of the report is to continue with the FET-Flagships instrument, as it represents good value for money in terms of the quality of the research and its potential for innovation.
The other seven recommendations are the following:

• increase clarity of purpose and differentiation between the Flagships and other research instruments;
• establish a standard means of assessing the Flagships based on Key Performance Indicators that fully reflect purpose;
• improve operational management to enhance the budget flexibility and reduce administrative overhead;
• improve strategic management to enhance openness of the Flagships towards adopting new directions;
• improve coherence with other Horizon 2020 activities;
• improve the process of selecting Flagships;
• improve engagement with national initiatives.

This report will feed into the interim evaluation of Horizon 2020 and will serve as a basis to improve future FET-Flagships, like the Quantum Technology one that is currently being set-up. One to two other FET-Flagships should also see the light in the areas of 'ICT for connected society', 'health and life science' and/or 'environment, climate and energy'.

Source: Swisscore