Western Balkan Countries INCO.NET WP 4 - Building Capacities Nikos Sidiropoulos, General Secretariat of Research And Technology (GSRT), Ministry of Development, Greece Training Workshop: ERA Indicators and WBC 2,3 October, 2008

Conclusions WBC are not at the same level concerning STI statistics. Need for different treatment or different actions to be taken for each of them Lack of data from the business sector in many WBC WBC experts are aware of the importance of the production of STI indicators. High political level decision makers in the Ministries need to be aware too. WBC experts are aware of the necessity to follow the methodologies, the practices and the terminology (Frascati manual) of European or international organizations (EUROSTAT, OECD, UNESCO) in order to provide comparable results WBC have pressing needs in trained personnel in the STI statistics divisions as well as the proper infrastructure and institutional organizations WBC have a strong will to be technically supported by experts coming from European or international organizations as well as from EU member states. Representatives from OECD, EUROSTAT and UNESCO expressed their interest to facilitate the access of the WBC to their organizations in order to receive technical support and guidance

Follow-up As a short term action, apart from the dissemination of the presentations of the experts ( ing, WBC-INCO-NET website), MPI could prepare a guide which will include: 1. A collection of web-sites where the WBC could find manuals, documents, data etc 2. A list of potential opportunities for technical assistance including contact persons, contact details etc MPI would classify WBC needs and obstacles in clusters ( by country, type and institution that would be addressed) Awareness initiatives at national level addressed to high political level regarding the RDI statistics and the proper use of them for policy making Mutual learning in the SEE is the key issue. Neighbours could train and support the WBC. This is one of the next potential initiatives in collaboration with EUROSTAT? Comparable statistics and STI indicators is just the half of the picture. The other half is the proper use of these statistics not only to see where the WBC stands but to use them for the design of the national STI policies. Maybe another training workshop dedicated to policy makers on how to use the statistics is an ides for discussion in the framework of the WBC-INCO project.