Developing Instruments for Evidence-Based Policy Making: A Case Study in Knowledge Management for the Public Sector

This paper addresses the topic of knowledge management (KM) in the public sector. More precisely, we explore some conceptual, methodological and technical possibilities for the implementation of a national online data aggregator covering multiple areas, such as economic development, health, education, sustainable development, R&D, science and technology in Romania. The data aggregator is a means of ensuring knowledge transfer, science popularization and, most importantly, facilitating evidence-based policy making. The aggregator will support policy and decision makers in identifying and exploiting the country’s competitive advantages in a European and global setting. The urgency of the topic results from the well-recognized gap between the production of scientific evidence and the use of that evidence by policy-making bodies, public administration, and designated agencies (Jacobs et al., BMC Health Services Research, 12(1), 1–9, 2012). Closing the gap is possible via knowledge transfer and the dissemination and implementation of research. However, one must take into consideration that “policymakers operate on a different hierarchy of evidence than scientists, leaving the two groups to live in so-called parallel universes” (Brownson et al., American Journal of Public Health, 99(9), 1576–1583, 2009). Having large amounts of data available is insufficient. The limited technical and individual capabilities of policymakers to operate with “big” data need to be expanded through a tool for drafting well-grounded strategies and policies. Starting from the aforementioned shortcomings in knowledge management for the public sector, the case study we put forward in this paper refers to the creation of an innovative online data aggregator to enhance the evidence-based policy making capabilities of the Romanian government. Upon completion, the aggregator will be the first of its kind in the CEE. The data aggregator is the main output of a EU-funded project—“State of the Nation: developing an innovative instrument for supporting evidence-based policy making in Romania”—jointly implemented by the Romanian Government and the National University for Political Studies and Public Administration (Bucharest).