The Ministry of Education and Research recently launched a new online research barometer. The barometer consists of 24 indicators for Norwegian research and innovation.
The indicators cover six key areas: level of investment, human resources, level of R&D cooperation, research fields, results and trends. The research barometer will be updated on an annual basis.
Another section of the barometer allows the ministry to compile information on special topics such as research initiatives, future knowledge needs and the quality of Norwegian universities.
Minister of Research and Higher Education Tora Aasland launched the research barometer at the conference Kunnskap for framtida ("Knowledge for the future"), which was organised as part of Norwegian Science Year 2011.
Innovation shows plus and minus
The first version of the barometer includes important information such as statistics showing that public investment in innovation has increased dramatically in recent years. Allocations from the Research Council to trade and industry more than doubled between 2005 and 2009. At the same time the statistics indicate a decline in real terms of 3.7 per cent in the industrial sector's own R&D expenditure between 2008 and 2009.
The Norwegian research barometer exists so far in a Norwegian version only.
