The Cotton Research & Development Corporation’s 5 year Strategic R&D Plan commenced in 2013, setting out the key priority areas for R&D investment.

sought

• a framework by which to measure their success against this plan

• a set of metrics of what to measure, when to measure it and how to measure it in order to track achievements and impact of the CRDC Strategic Plan.

• mapping of existing data sources

• recommendations for future data collection and collation

• a benchmark of Cotton Industry practices and situation in 2013.

There is a need to clearly identify what metrics are core to monitoring impact of the 2013-­‐18 CRDC Strategic Plan and to identify the necessary sources and frequency of data to report against these requirements. This process will identify how existing and historical information sets can contribute to measuring success of the CRDC 2013-­‐18 plan, which of these need to continue to be gathered and what gaps need to be filled.

A 6 step methodology is proposed.

1. Develop a framework for monitoring achievements of the CRDC 5 year strategic plan This framework is to provide a clear process to map investments, activities, outputs and achievements. Linkages will be drawn from Clarity where possible. A relatively simple program logic framework is proposed to identify Inputs (investments), Activities, Outcomes of projects and Outcomes for industry.

2. Review strategic requirements for monitoring

a. Review strategic plans of CRDC to distill core objectives and potential measures (immediate priority)

b. Review other relevant plans and processes underway in the global cotton industry and in Australia (eg CottonInfo AOP, SEEP, BCI, CottonLeads, Sustainable Australia, etc) [this will be done through Guy’s new project]

We will participate in a meeting with ABARE and CRDC in December.

3. Distill a set of core metrics

to measure success of the CRDC plan whilst being cognizant of other initiatives. This will be done iteratively with Step 4 to enable alignment of core metrics with historical data sets where relevant.

4. Map existing data sources and identify ongoing needs and gaps

Recent and historical data sets (surveys, research projects, national data) will be reviewed to map out which data can be used in relation to the core metrics.

Past survey questions / research processes will be mapped against core metrics. Future questions / research will be proposed with the desired frequency of monitoring identified. This is proposed to be presented as a timeline of historical information and a 5 year timeline for gathering new information.

Economist review – during this stage it is proposed to contract an economist experienced in Cost Benefit Analysis of agricultural research programs to review the proposed metrics for their suitability for economic assessment.

5. Prepare a benchmark snapshot of the cotton industry in 2013

Report on the state of the cotton industry in 2013 in relation to practices and condition based on existing data and information. Drawing on current and historical information this report will present current situation and trends.

6. Recommend a framework and process for benchmarking and gathering future data.

To include: specification of the data needs, sources, frequency and mode of collection.