Overview
Large public organisations tend to create a huge amount of knowledge through commissioned research studies. However, making use of this knowledge often is difficult as technical or scientific reports may be voluminous and/or difficult to digest for non-expert readers.
To support the usability of public research the Federal Ministry for Transport, Building and Housing (BMVBW) back in 2000 launched the Research Information System FIS first for in-house use. Later, FIS was opened to a wider audience.
Ten respected research institutes are constantly screening and editing ongoing research activities for the FIS and as such are creating a science-based information system around the topic of mobility and transport. The information is firstly targeted at decision-makers in policy and practice, but also the science and education community and the general public.
FIS arranges knowledge in the form of mind maps, which guide users to synthesis reports of specific issues around the major theme of a mind map. The synthesis reports then link further to information in publications. Topics in FIS are grouped into four major fields.
Funding
FIS is arranged in the form of a multi-annual framework contract. Roughly in four year periods the contracts with the research institutes, which represent a specific assessment theme, are renewed by public tendering.