4. Final Evaluation of the Venezuela Millennium Science Initiative
• Contracting Organization: World Bank
• Start Date: April 2001
• End Date: December 2004
To evaluate the results obtained after the implementation of the project, whose main objective was to strengthen the capacity of the Venezuelan government to access global knowledge and improve the knowledge base in key areas for its economic and social development.
The results achieved in the implementation of each component of the project were evaluated: strengthening the capacities of the Ministry of Science and Technology, CONICIT and the management team of the Millennium Science Initiative and the Competitive Fund for Scientific Excellence. Lessons learned were then identified and, for the qualitative-quantitative analysis, secondary sources were used and field visits were made to the project’s beneficiary centers in Caracas and Puerto Ayacucho in Venezuela. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with project managers and direct beneficiaries. The evaluation was carried out with information obtained from secondary sources and field visits.
The evaluation report of the project was written, based on field visits to the Program Centers (two institutes and five nuclei), considering as one of the fundamental factors to evaluate the infrastructure, the laboratories and the major research equipment. In this way it was possible to propose changes aimed at aligning research with national priorities.