Dr. Boyko Takov: Analytical and empirical results from ongoing projects constitute a solid information base

A significant number of projects are implemented in Bulgaria every year, financed through European programs, the national budget, and various other international sources. They are developed and carried out by state institutions, employer and industry organizations, scientific bodies, and participants from the non-governmental sector, after which the results and activities of these projects reach the final beneficiaries.

Within the framework of these projects, a substantial volume of analytical materials, research, methodologies, as well as empirical data and results from their practical application is generated. This represents considerable potential for improving public policies, more specifically for the programming of subsequent programs, building on achieved results, and overall more efficient use of resources. At the same time, it can be said that this resource is not always fully utilized, the main reason being its limited accessibility and its concentration within a specific institution, which hinders the broader dissemination and use of the generated knowledge. In this context, it should be emphasized that the challenge lies not so much in creating new knowledge as in the systematic use of already acquired knowledge.

In many cases, the analytical materials prepared and the accumulated empirical results remain tied to the life cycle of a specific project, and the knowledge contained in them stays within the institution that implemented it. This limits the possibility for their reuse, further development, and support of new initiatives. Moreover, it creates a precondition for commissioning similar analyses and implementing overlapping activities and actions, which can lead to inefficient use of resources. This is not unique to Bulgaria; similar challenges are observed in other countries. However, in the context of limited administrative capacity and multiple parallel priorities, the effect of such fragmentation can be tangible.

One possible direction for achieving more effective outcomes in the formulation of public policies, as well as in the programming of new programs, is the creation of a national platform for shared knowledge and results, not as a substitute for existing systems, but as a complement to them. In this way, the connection and synergy between analyses, actual results, and subsequent policies can be further strengthened. The focus here is not on storing and registering information, but on its usability. This is essential from the perspective of outcomes. Data by itself rarely leads to changes in decisions, but structured and contextualized knowledge can. The idea is not to add a new administrative burden, but to extract value from what has already been created, so that it does not remain solely within the boundaries of the institution implementing a given project. What could change specifically with such an approach? Analytical materials and empirical results would become accessible and easy to use and compare, would be directly applied in the development of new programs and interventions, the reuse of already developed methodologies would increase, and opportunities for building on existing solutions would become more visible. This would not completely eliminate overlaps or inefficiencies, but it could reduce their frequency and scale.

This topic is not limited to the idea of a platform, but concerns a broader shift in approach and greater synergy among the actors in the ecosystem. Public investments are traditionally evaluated through the lens of immediate results from implemented activities, funds absorbed, and indicators achieved. In this context, it is appropriate to shift attention toward long-term value, as well as the extent to which projects contribute to institutional learning and the improvement of future solutions and interventions. Incremental improvements in the way knowledge is shared and used can lead to more coherent, better-informed, and ultimately more effective policies.

In support of the above, an example can be given – a World Bank project in which the SME Promotion Agency participates alongside partners from Poland and Slovakia. The project focused on the digitalization of small and medium-sized enterprises, aiming to test different models of intervention, as a result of which valuable empirical evidence was obtained. In Bulgaria, five models were tested on 25 companies, after which the most effective one was scaled up to 195 Bulgarian enterprises. The same model was adopted and tested in the other two countries participating in the project. The results clearly demonstrated the need for technical assistance to enterprises, not only grant funding, as well as a number of other conclusions that lead to the understanding that digitalization is not merely a matter of financial resources, but also of knowledge, skills, and vision.

This example does not exclude the possibility of testing new and additional models on enterprises. On the contrary, its results can serve to expand effective solutions and enhance them with new tools, to act as a starting point for new projects, and to provide higher added value for the final beneficiaries – small and medium-sized enterprises. This is precisely where the potential lies for gradually building a learning institutional environment.

Source: business.dir.bg