Methods to define indicators on research and innovation in the bioeconomy

The innovation in the bioeconomy sectors is a key enabler for transitioning towards a carbon-neutral economy and complying with the objectives of the EU’s Bioeconomy Strategy. Consequently, the EU-Bioeconomy Monitoring System places significant emphasis on indicators of research and innovation activities in the bioeconomy sectors, and some placeholders within this field were foreseen in its current structure. In order to retrieve relevant data on bioeconomy innovation and make methodological choices, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) contracted recognized experts in the field. The experts assessed the feasibility of implementing the planned indicators and proposed complementary ones. This report presents the results of the experts' analysis of the evaluation of the indicators foreseen in the EU-Bioeconomy Monitoring System, and offers an operational description of the methodologies to retrieve, transform, and display data for research and innovation in the bioeconomy sectors. The final list of proposed indicators is as follows: — Private Sector investment in research and development — EU Public Sector investment in research and development — Public Sector investment in research and development (member states) — Number of students/graduates in fields relevant to the bioeconomy — Number of research outputs in the field of bioeconomy — Total number of patents for the bioeconomy — EC-Sponsored Pilot Plants opened in a given year (number/investment). The report concludes that some indicators, such as private sector investment in research and development, number of students/graduates in bioeconomy-related fields, and research outputs in the bioeconomy field, are almost readily implementable. However, other indicators, such as public sector investment in research and development, market volume in bioeconomy relevant areas, and total number of patents for the bioeconomy, may require a moderate or resource-intensive investment for implementation.