24 / 12 / 2021


EARTO Paper on Capturing Official Data on the RTO Sector for a Better Understanding of the RD&I Ecosystem

Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I) has been recognised as an essential element to tackle today’s global challenges, such as generating shared prosperity, resilience and peace on a sustainable and healthy planet, and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. For RD&I policies to be realistically adapted to the context and the needs of the sector it affects, data-driven decision-making is crucially needed.

In its new paper, EARTO points out that although today the OECD and EUROSTAT capture quite well the role of a few RD&I actors, data on Research and Technology Organisations (RTOs), is direly lacking, despite the key role they play in the RD&I Ecosystem and in RD&I competitive programmes like EU Framework Programmes (read more in the new EARTO paper on the role of RTOs in EU FPs), and the impact they deliver on the economy and for society.

EARTO has three recommendations for the OECD, EUROSTAT and the European Commission to improve the classification of RD&I actors so that it more realistically reflects the RD&I Ecosystem:

  • Recommendation 1: The Frascati Manual decision tree should be updated by adding a separate category for RTOs (or at least PROs), clearly distinguishing them from universities, industry, governments and other not-for-profit organisations. 

  • Recommendation 2: Prior to the next update of the Frascati Manual, RTOs (or at least PROs) should be marked as specific units in official statistics at national levels so that data on the whole RTO sector can then be grouped at OECD/EUROSTAT levels.

  • Recommendation 3: A dedicated Code for RTOs should be created in the European Nomenclature of Economic Activities (NACE) and in the United Nations’ International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC).

    • EARTO remains at the disposal of the OECD, EUROSTAT and the European Commission to further discuss these recommendations and support their implementation.

    Read the full EARTO Paper on Capturing Official Data on the RTO Sector for a Better Understanding of the RD&I Ecosystem

    Read the full EARTO Paper on the Position of RTOs in the EU Framework Programmes