Of Styles and Methods. A quest for JRC’s identity at times of change

Some reflections are offered on challenges and opportunities for the JRC as a ‘boundary organisation’ between science and policy, at a time of increased complexity and polarisation and decreased trust in scientific enterprise. Some specific threats are identified in relation to the key role played by the JRC in the practice of front-line policy support. JRC is identified as a potentially relevant player to improve the quality of evidence feeding into the policy process. To achieve this potential, the JRC must develop in-house cultures and styles of reflexivity and humility, adopt more participatory styles of science co-production, and become confident enough of its role that it can dare to say ‘the emperor is naked’ whenever EU institutions appear to be in need of such a call.JRC.DDG.01-Econometrics and applied statistic

On e-testing: an Overview of Main Issues - Background Note

The European Council (2006/C172/01) conclusions1 on the European Indicator of Language Competence ask for measures for objective testing of skills in first and second foreign languages based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The Council invites the Commission to assist Member States (MS) to define the organisational and resource implications for them of the construction and administration of tests, including looking into the possibility of adopting e-testing as the means to administer the tests. Electronic testing could improve the effectiveness, i.e. improve identification of skills, and efficiency, by reducing costs (financial efforts, human resources etc.). A variety of piloting activities have been undertaken to support recent discussions about integrating information technologies (IT) into the tasks of assessing skills. These activities aim at verifying the strengths and weaknesses, potentials and barriers posed in terms of their application in real situations. Such experiences are not sufficiently documented yet but results so far suggest that IT based tools could support the assessment process and the analysis of results. In terms of language skills assessment there are certain specific barriers to be taken into account, and that will be discussed in the reminder of the document.JRC.G.9-Econometrics and statistical support to antifrau

New Narratives for Innovation

The European Commission entrusts an important role to innovation in order to assist in the exit from the present recession and alleviate the labour market predicaments of several Member States. This salvific role of innovation is under increasing pressure from different strands of academic thought, with questions such as, (1) Can we improve the way we foresee our technological future? (2) Can we re-think the definition and role of innovation and what innovation is desirable to alleviate present social strains? (3) Can we produce more democratic and sustainable imaginations of the technological trajectories we want to pursue? The present report summarises the main ideas presented and discussed at a workshop that attempted to establish a dialogue between selected scholars and interested EC actors of research and innovation policy with the aim of testing new narratives in the policy discourse.JRC.DDG.01-Econometrics and applied statistic

Significant Digits: Responsible Use of Quantitative Information

We live in an age when good policies are assumed to be evidence-based. And that evidential base is assumed to be at its best when expressed in numbers. The digital information may be derived from quantitative data organised in statistics, or from qualitative data organised in indicators. Either way, evidence in digital form provides the accepted foundation of policy arguments over a very broad range of issues. In the policy realm there are frequent debates over particular policy issues and their associated evidence. But only rarely is the nature of the evidence called into question. Such a faith in numbers can be dangerous. Policies in economic and financial policy, based on numbers whose significance was less than assumed, recently turned out to be quite disastrously wrong. Other examples can easily be cited. The decades-long period of blaming dietary fats for heart disease, rather than sugar, is a notable recent case. We are concerned here with the systemic problem: whether we are regularly placing too much of an evidentiary burden on quantitative sciences whose strength and maturity are inherently inadequate. The harm that has been done to those sciences, as well as to the policy process, should be recognised. Only in that way can future errors be avoided. The present report gives an account of the conversations held at a workshop organised by the JRC: Significant Digits, Responsible Use of Information held in June 2015 in Brussels, offering recommendations for the operation at the JRC.JRC.DDG.01-Econometrics and applied statistic

Training on citizen engagement in Policy-relevant Science, Technology and Innovation: Sarajevo 12 -13 October 2017. @ Rektorat, Univerzitet u Sarajevu, Obala Kulina Bana 7/II, 71000 Sarajevo, BiH

In the framework of its Enlargement and Integration Action, JRC is organizing in collaboration with the Ministry of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina this "Training on citizen engagement in Policy relevant Science, Technology and Innovation", in Sarajevo on 12th-13th October 2017. Creating the conditions for genuine engagement of citizens and other societal actors in matters of their concern where science and technology are relevant is an issue of increasing political attention; not least because the diffusion of “low cost” and “low tech” media through which citizens can, like never before, express opinions and concerns calls for institutional reflexivity. Public engagement is one of the pillars of the RRI lemma, together with Ethics. This training course responds to a concrete lack of genuine and legitimate places whereby institutions can explore insights, expectations and imaginaries of citizens in matters of concern to all. This training is concerned with the science for policy realm where engagement of citizens is needed and relevant to ensure quality of policy formulation processes in situations described in the framework of “post-normal science” where “facts uncertain, values in dispute, stakes high and decisions urgent". This training will look into participatory approaches to discuss science and technology developments as well as discuss what makes trustful relationships between the scientific community and the public trustworthyJRC.I.2-Foresight, Behavioural Insights and Design for Polic

Social Networks and Cyber-bullying among Teenagers

In the digital society, even if ICT offers new opportunities and benefits to teenagers, it also poses significant challenges to them. More and more teenagers are becoming victims of aggression via ICT. In Europe, among the 9-16 year-old participants in the EU Kids Online survey (2011): 33 % were bothered or upset by inappropriate material online, 12 % were bothered or upset meeting online contacts offline, and 80 % were fairly or very upset by cyber-bullying. Cyber-bullying does not respect borders but perception of the problem strongly depends on aspects including the culture, the history, the social context and political history of the country or area in question. In Europe, in order to prevent cyber-bullying, policy decisions have been taken and numerous programmes have been defined and implemented. Nevertheless, the impact that this phenomenon has means that European institutions need to continue to research, to legislate and to encourage collective and individual actions in order to address it. The Institute for the Protection and the Security of the Citizen (IPSC) of the Joint Research Centre has organised a workshop on ‘Social Networks and cyber-bullying in the teenager population’. The aim of the workshop was to explore the ethical challenges arising from social networks for specific sectors of the population, namely individuals with limited legal capacity in order to support European Commission policies in this field. With the experts that were invited to this workshop, several recommendations were proposed. The workshop as showed that there are very urgent matters to deal with, beyond the current focus on privacy as far as ethical issues about ICT are concerned. What values are different generations willing to preserve? How are digital rights being reframed with the current appropriation of technology? Is duty of care the ethical value that will pervade and will be worth cultivating?JRC.G.7-Digital Citizen Securit

Quality Aspects of Open Source Testing Tools

This paper presents work in progress concerning the definition of quality criteria for open source computer based assessment, namely platforms for the assessment of skills. The research approach undertaken so far is based on literature reviews and expert interviews which contributed to identify a number of software applications, platforms and tools being currently reviewed according to a pre-defined matrix of descriptive and normative criteria. The results of the evaluation activities will feed the setting-up of a protocol for quality assurance of e-assessment platforms in skills assessment contexts.JRC.G.9-Econometrics and statistical support to antifrau

Energy sustainability in the transition to renewables: Framings from complex systems and social practice theories

Several countries in the world are currently engaged in an energy transition entailing a massive shift to renewable energies and a progressive increase in the efficiency of processes whereby energy inputs are used by economies. Researchers and policy makers working in this area rightly describe this energy transition as highly necessary and capable of contributing to the environmental, economic and social sustainability of human activities in important ways. Their attention is however mostly focused on how it can be realised by stimulating technological substitution and on changing individuals’ behaviours around single technologies. Scarce attention is paid to the fact that the large scale shift to renewables that is envisaged in this way could entail a generation of complex systems dynamics leading to a constant increase in the consumption of energy and material resources. Moreover, the above mentioned focus on technologies and individual behaviours inevitably prevents them from a) understanding existing links between social practices (e.g. practices related to how societies organize mobility, shopping, food preparation and consumption, etc.) and observed energy consumption dynamics and from b) devising the possibility of exploiting the huge benefits potentially associated with the re-organisation of these practices. The report attempts, therefore, to give a fresh look at the current energy transition’s ambitions by exploring how the combination of complex systems and social practice theories perspectives can enhance our understanding and practical implementation of the transition programme. Through an exploratory and extensive debate about this integrated approach, a series of recommendations have been made to both those who carry out research and those who make policies in this area. This has been an inherently interdisciplinary endeavour which, as such, was also quite unexplored. Hence, the first recommendation that emerges clearly from the present work is that effort needs to be put on exploring how complex systems and social practices theories can be put to work together to address existing challenges. The nature of energy transitions cannot indeed be dealt with single disciplinary work alone. The main challenges that can be identified in this way are the following ones: (1) paradoxes of current energy transition proposals, (2) long-standing normative vocabularies hindering the purposes of the transition, (3) reductionism and counter-productivity of some presupposed separations, such as the separation between demand and supply, (4) the need to explore other policy narratives, (5) the need for a participatory turn of analysis, policy and action.JRC.C.2-Energy Efficiency and Renewable

e-Participation: Promoting Dialogue and Deliberation between Institutions and Civil Society

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are increasingly becoming more pervasive of peoples lives, both for individual and collective usage. Hence, it becomes tempting to develop electronic tools that can constitute alternatives to enhance citizenship, in particular tools that can be used in the context of societal debates of public policies. This report explores the conditions to deploying electronic based public participation methodologies and online ICT based participatory processes within public policy processes. It reflects on the challenges, promises and motivations of using ICT to promote dialogue and deliberation among institutions and the civil society. It consists in part of a revision of the techniques and tools commonly used in electronic public participation processes, referring to case studies where these techniques and tools were employed. Special attention was given to cases where the outcome from the public participation process supported a decision process. The conditions of deployment of e-participation processes in public policy formulation were framed within the concept of quality, specifically in the concept of ¿fitness for purpose¿. An electronic tool was designed and implemented, not only featuring dialogue components, but also collaborative ones, as response to some of the identified challenges. Based on the review of e-participation tools and the preliminary usage of the tool developed, a protocol for quality assurance of e-participation tools is offered.JRC.G.9-Econometrics and statistical support to antifrau

EPINET: Knowledge Assessment Methodology

This report presents our role and work in the joint FP7 project called EPINET. At the beginning, we explain the Knowledge Assessment Methodology, a fundamental approach and methodology we use in the project. Then we explore its application for the analysis of two cases on new technologies in Europe: first while analysing an EC policy document about Smart Grids, and then analysing the official blog of Fitbit, a company that produces a wearable sensor used for fitness purposes. These two parts of the Results section are also used in two joint papers written jointly with the other EPINET partners, as well as the Deliverable 8.4 of the EPINET project.JRC.G.7-Digital Citizen Securit