E.U. – U.S. Joint Research Symposium Series
- Symposium #2: Research Implementation
Dr. Kevin Womack
Associate Administrator
for Research and Technology
Office of the Assistant Secretary
for Research & Technology
U.S. Department of Transportation
July 2014
Background
• Implementing Arrangement with
European Commission (DG-RTD) signed in
Feb 2013
• Four annual E.U. – U.S. research symposia
planned (2013 – 2016) in partnership with
European Commission and TRB
• Symposia series designed to facilitate
transatlantic research collaboration,
identify knowledge gaps, and potential
future joint research opportunities
• First symposium hosted by the U.S. in
May 2013: “City Logistics Research – a
Transatlantic Perspective”
2014 Symposium
• Topic: Research Implementation
• Hosted by the European Commission
in La Defense (Paris), France, on April
10-11, 2014
• 50 experts from academia, industry,
and government invited to attend the
two-day symposium (25 U.S., 25 E.U.)
• Two white papers developed to
inform symposium discussions:
– ‘Transportation research
implementation in the European
Union and the United States Observations and Working
Hypotheses’
– ‘Lessons learned from case studies of
successful research implementation in
Europe and the United States’
3
Agenda
•
DAY 1
Session 1: Setting the Scene
DAY 2
•
– White paper summaries
– Keynote speech – Terry HILL, Arup
•
•
Breakout session 1: Stakeholder
perspectives on implementation
Session 2: Institutional incentives and
disincentives to successful
implementation
– Ann BRACH, SHRP2
– Steve PHILLIPS, Sec. General CEDR
– Michael TRENTACOSTE (FHWA, Director
TFHRC)
– Liam BRESLIN, European Commission
•
Session 3: Framing and conducting
research to insure implementation
– Jose VIEGAS (Sec.General ITF)
– Stephen ANDRLE (Dep. Director SHRP 2);
– Horst SCHULZE (German Federal Highway
Research Institute - BASt);
Session 4: Using research results in
effective ways
–
–
–
–
•
•
Luis López RUIZ (Director of Engineering and
Innovation ADIF)
Allen BIEHLER (Carnegie Mellon University)
Chris MARTIN (Robert Bosch Corporate
Research)
Natalia de ESTEVAN (Transport for London)
Breakout session 2: Identifying the
success factors
Session 5: From principles to practice
– Co-Chairs: Marit BRANDTSEGG & William
MILLAR
– Reports from Breakout Session 2
– Conclusive keynote address: Kirk STEUDLE
(TRB Executive Committee Chair);
– Concluding observations
4
Issues
• Two major obstacles in the research implementation process:
– “Valley of death” between research completion and research implementation
– Tracking research implementation and understanding its impacts – capturing
and articulating Return on Investment
• Institutional barriers to effective research implementation (e.g. legislative,
procurement, and Intellectual Property processes)
• Lack of ability to manage “risk”
• Three primary stakeholder groups tend to be isolated or “siloed”
(researchers, funders, end users)
• Fragmented nature of the U.S. transportation research universe
(compared to a more structured framework approach in the E.U.)
• Lack of incentives within academia to prioritize research implementation
• Lack of investment in basic and advanced research – how does this fit in
the research implementation process?
5
Recommendations
• Establish and maintain strong partnerships between stakeholder groups
(academia, funders, end users)
– Establish “culture of innovation”, beginning with leadership
– Identify and engage end users throughout the research process, not just at the end
– Provide incentives to the academic community to support research implementation
• Implement a systematic, long term approach to research funding and
implementation that supports basic, advanced, and applied research
• Pursue legislative, policy, IP, and procurement perform to remove the
institutional barriers to effective research implementation
• Delegate responsibility for research implementation to specific
organizations, or establish such organizations if they don’t already exist
• Provide resources to track research implementation and impacts
• Identify best practice models and facilitate their adoption elsewhere
– Every Day Counts, SHRP2, DARPA, EC Framework Programs, IDEA, etc
6
Next Steps
• Conference proceedings document to be
produced later this year – disseminate to
transportation community and obtain
feedback
• Further formal discussion at TRB Annual
Meeting 2015, building consensus for
future action items
• Assess the need for a “primer” on
research implementation – objectives,
content, audience
• Begin implementing action items in 2015
7
Questions / Comments?
Dr. Kevin Womack
Associate Administrator
for Research and Technology
Office of the Assistant Secretary
for Research & Technology
U.S. Department of Transportation
July 2014