Revamping the R&D Funding and Monitoring Framework

The Centre is poised to overhaul the funding and monitoring framework for R&D projects across all government departments. This initiative aims to establish a national R&D database and more effectively target national research goals.

Unified Architecture for Project Lifecycle Management

• The framework involves the development of a ‘Unified Architecture for Project Lifecycle Management’, functioning like a national dashboard for reporting, monitoring, and outcome analysis of government-funded R&D projects.
• This platform will enhance the researcher's interface, aligned with the national goal of achieving ‘Ease of Doing Research’.

Key Components of the Unified Platform

• A Europass CV-like template is proposed for researchers to apply for R&D funding in a simplified online format.
• The unified dashboard aims to resolve the Centre's difficulty in identifying suitable researchers and institutions for critical R&D projects due to the absence of a comprehensive database.

Development and Implementation

• A unified dashboard is under development and testing, with a technical committee established to expedite system onboarding.
• All ministries/agencies will contribute R&D project-related data to a unified platform with four pillars: 
  1. Project proposal submission
  2. Approval and funding tracking
  3. Project execution monitoring
  4. Outcome and impact assessment

Expected Benefits

• Improved coordination and data management across government R&D arms.
• Resource optimization and informed decision-making.
• The architecture will also reflect government-funded R&D projects in private/NGO sectors for comprehensive data capture.

Identification of Key Issues

• Meetings coordinated by Niti Aayog identified fragmentation, rigidity, and lack of reporting/monitoring mechanisms as significant issues in the R&D ecosystem.
• Existing portals are outdated and isolated, hindering data integration and comprehensive reporting on R&D funding status.