European Regions UNDER way towards STANDard indicators for benchmarking information society
The operation “UNDERSTAND - European Regions UNDER way towards STANDard indicators for benchmarking information society“ is based on the need for regional benchmarking as outlined in the e-Europe Action Plan 2005. Whilst benchmarking can provide useful concrete evidence on the level and nature of ICT investments at regional level, the partnership wants to go one step further towards a qualitative “benchlearning” exercise aimed at understanding which ICT investments clearly add value to regional development. The main objective of this project is to compare and evaluate the regional development of the Information Society by defining and applying a set of common regional e-indicators. This will enable policy-makers to better understand the impact of Information Society investments and decide how to make more efficient and effective use of Structural Funds. Specific objectives are, inter alia, to define common indicators and methodologies (a benchmarking tool-kit) for at least 4 e-domains, evaluate these indicators through the proactive involvement of regional policy makers, design and establish a trans-regional database for regional Information Society indicators and to disseminate guidelines, methodologies and tools among EU regions. The operation will enable decision-makers in partner regions to evaluate regional performances with regard to the Information Society, providing partner regions with a complete methodology for benchmarking and providing a tool for evaluating and improving the effectiveness of Structural Funds as regards ICT investments. To non-partner regions, UNDERSTAND provides a ready-to-use methodology enabling them to compare themselves with other regions and, thus, lower benchmarking costs and increase their effectiveness (in terms of data comparability).