Assessment system for feasibility analysis of national R&D programs

Most assessments for R&D programs are conducted for on-going or finished programs. In order to streamline national R&D programs, Korean government is making a challenging attempt. It enacted a law for ex ante evaluation for national R&D programs and KISTEP, which specializes in evaluation and planning for R&D programs, took charge of the important role. KISTEP created and developed guidelines for feasibility study on each R&D program category. Many kinds of R&D programs, such as constructing facilities for nuclear fusion and developing IT components by organizing consortiums, were analyzed from the viewpoint of technology experts and policy makers. Various impacts expected to be made by R&D programs were crucial elements for the analysis too. This paper presents processes for the feasibility analysis of R&D programs, cruces of the processes, and how we have improved the assessment system. It also provides how the assessment system contributed to the innovation of national R&D programs.