Evaluating research and innovation policy: a systems world needs systems evaluations

In the field of R&D policy at least, reality, theory and therefore the needs of evaluation users seem to have moved well ahead of evaluators' conceptual apparatus. The way we think about both innovation and how knowledge is produced has moved towards a systems perspective, while much of the research and innovation evaluation tool-kit has been developed to tackle interventions at the lower levels of projects and programmes. This paper reflects on these changes and what they may mean for the scope and practice of R&D evaluation. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.