ToscanaOpenResearch was created by the Regional Conference for Research and Innovation, an advisory body of the Regional Council, as a tool to support the policies of the Tuscany Region, foster an increasingly transparent and inclusive governance and communicate and enhance the strengths of the Tuscan research, innovation and higher education system.
The portal presents a dashboard showing information on the main aspects of the research system.
The goal is to make data on the regional research system open and accessible through Linked Open Data (LOD) and to encourage the use of the entire economic and social system, so that all the data can be downloaded and used by any user according to their needs.
In line with the strategic orientation adopted by Europe 2020, the Tuscany Region has drawn up a range of policies to support the research and training system, with the aim of promoting the Tuscan territory.
In order to have a qualified knowledge base on research and innovation, as early as 2009 the Tuscany Region founded the Regional Observatory for Research and Innovation with Regional Law 20/2009, creating an information tool to support the implementation of regional policies for research and innovation, along with the Regional Development Program (PRS).
The Observatory, set up at IRPET, is a policy intelligence tool to integrate, render explorable and use data on the research system in order to monitor the interventions already carried out, develop new policies, and enhance the R&I ecosystem.
The dashboard is the result of the collaboration and joint commitment of several departments and directorates of Regione Toscana involved in supporting research in Tuscany (Culture and Research, Productive Activities and Citizenship Rights and Social Cohesion), the Regional Institute for Economic Planning of Tuscany (IRPET), Fondazione Sistema Toscana (FST), the active collaboration between Universities and Research Centres based in Tuscany and business representatives (over 90 people involved), who have participated in a process of co-design and joint reflection for over two years.
For the co-design of the dashboard, a series of workshops and working groups were carried out, which allowed the different stakeholders to have access to the system and contribute to its improvement.
Subsequently, the Open Data and Information Systems Office was also involved, together with the Statistical Office of the Region. Working groups and comparisons with national and international reference agencies and bodies, such as AlmaLaurea, OpenAire, UIBM, Cineca took place as well.
This process allowed the development of a participatory methodology and a personalized approach to strategic issues on research and higher education support policies.
The co-design methodology used in ToscanaOpenResearch has been recognized within the PON Governance initiative (Open Community PA 2020) as a national good practice.
