EPJ Data Sci. (2015) 4: 8
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjds/s13688-015-0047-z

Regular article

Complex networks and public funding: the case of the 2007-2013 Italian program

¹ Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare - Sezione di Bari, via Orabona 4, Bari, I-70125, Italy
² Dipartimento Interateneo di Fisica ‘M. Merlin’, Università degli Studi di Bari ‘A. Moro’, via Orabona 4, Bari, I-70125, Italy
³ Comune di Bari - Ripartizione Innovazione Tecnologica, Sistemi Informativi e TLC, Corso Vittorio EmanueIe II, 143, Bari, I-70122, Italy
⁴ Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche dell’Ambiente e della Terra, Università degli Studi di Siena 1240, via Roma 56, Siena, I-53100, Italy

^* e-mail: stefano.nicotri@ba.infn.it

Received: 27 October 2014
Accepted: 23 June 2015
Published online: 9 July 2015

Abstract

In this paper we apply techniques of complex network analysis to data sources representing public funding programs and discuss the importance of the considered indicators for program evaluation. Starting from the Open Data repository of the 2007-2013 Italian Program Programma Operativo Nazionale ‘Ricerca e Competitività’ (PON R&C), we build a set of data models and perform network analysis over them. We discuss the obtained experimental results outlining interesting new perspectives that emerge from the application of the proposed methods to the socio-economical evaluation of funded programs.