Communication policies for innovation financed with public funds in Spain: the experts’ view

Abstract

Companies that receive public funds for research and development and technological innovation (R&D&I) projects must comply with certain communication obligations in accordance with relevant Spanish and European laws. The aim of this work is to assess these requirements (including their advantages and limitations) based on the opinion of experts in the field. Interviews were conducted with R&D&I managers in national and regional agencies; innovation, transparency, and scientific dissemination specialists; and company directors. The results confirm the value of communicating innovation, in accordance with the current trends of innovation dissemination and the principles of transparency. Experts consider that the required communication requirements are insufficient and that their means and formats must be adapted to enhance the dissemination of innovation and improve transparency by promoting accessible content in a unified repository. They propose the measurement and assessment of the social impact of subsidized projects, as well as the possibility of subsidizing communication actions, as in European projects. Moreover, there is an urgent need to standardize the communication obligations of all proposals.