Overview
Object of this evaluation is the Austrian aviation programme Take Off, by which funds totalling 61.2 M Euro (incl. Four ERA-Net AirTN projects) were provided primarily for cooperative research and development projects in the period from 2002 to 2013. According to the Take Off programme document, not only the programme effects were to address, but also the positioning of the programme in the Austrian funding landscape - in terms of optimization of the funding portfolio. Thus, the goals of the evaluation are to capture the impacts as widely as comprehensively as possible the topic of research funding in the field of aviation. Following the priorities in social and technology policy of Take Off, an assessment is made to check, whether the applied operational objectives could be reached using these instruments (design analysis). Moreover, the question is asked, to what extent the set program objectives were actually achieved and which direct and indirect effects can be attributed to the promotion of research (impact analysis). On the one hand the focus is set on generating information on the program genesis and impacts for the informed public, and on the other hand BMVIT and FFG should be given relevant information for a possible continuation as well as a future design of the Take Off programme.
This evaluation of the aviation programme TAKE OFF comprised a design as well as an impact analysis component. Specific challenges for assessing the programme impact were to be met due to the international context of the aviation industry and the partly very long innovation cycles in the industry. This was tackled by relying not only on more usual methods of social enquiry, but also on the concept of technology readiness levels (TRL) and an input-output analysis.