Support study to the ex post evaluation of the ICT research in FP7 : annex 3 : report on data extraction from, and analysis of, projects final reports (Task 4)

This report illustrates the process of data extraction and analysis, as well as the main encountered challenges, concerning the 1159 projects' final reports that have been processed: these cover 90% of the completed projects at the time the study started (June 2014). This document aims at complementing the synthesis included in the Final Report under the paragraph dedicated to the effectiveness criterion: in fact the analysis of the content of these reports could provide some indicators of generated output from the funded projects, thus offering some evidence regarding the effectiveness of the FP7 ICT programme in meeting its stated objectives. These can be summarised in some main categories1, namely the increase of technological excellence of EU ICT industry, the increase of quality of its ICT research, the promotion of coordination, pooling of resources, training, dissemination and knowledge management and the focus on themes of major societal needs. Therefore, when analysing the data extracted from the final reports, we will try to point at these objectives to comment on effectiveness, as well as on other effects such as societal and economic impact.