The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report Fostering Innovation through Research, Science and Technology (FIRST) (P117394) Fostering Innovation through Research, Science and Technology (FIRST) (P117394) EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC | Vietnam | Education Global Practice | IBRD/IDA | Investment Project Financing | FY 2013 | Seq No: 11 | ARCHIVED on 27-Dec-2018 | ISR35454 | Implementing Agencies: Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Ministry of Science and Technology Key Dates Key Project Dates Bank Approval Date: 31-May-2013 Effectiveness Date: 22-Oct-2013 Planned Mid Term Review Date: 15-Feb-2016 Actual Mid-Term Review Date: 23-May-2016 Original Closing Date: 30-Jun-2019 Revised Closing Date: 30-Jun-2019 pdoTable Project Development Objectives Project Development Objective (from Project Appraisal Document) The project development objective is to support science, technology and innovation (STI) in Vietnam by designing and piloting of STI policies, enhancing the effectiveness of project-aided research and development (R&D) institutions, and encouraging the development of innovative technology enterprises. Has the Project Development Objective been changed since Board Approval of the Project Objective? No Components Table Name Component One: Knowledge and Policy Development:(Cost $13.00 M) Component Two: Supporting Government Research Institute (GRI) Reform and Enterprises Innovation:(Cost $82.00 M) Component Three: Project Management:(Cost $5.00 M) Overall Ratings Name Previous Rating Current Rating Progress towards achievement of PDO Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory Overall Implementation Progress (IP) Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory Overall Risk Rating Substantial Substantial Implementation Status and Key Decisions 1. Progress towards achievement of the PDO continues to improve in view of: (i) the project key performance indicators (KPIs) – increase in the number of international scientific publications by beneficiary organizations, and increase in innovative activity by beneficiary organizations - are likely to be achieved by the end of the project. Available data indicates that the intermediate results indicators (IOs) are also on track to be met by project-end. The mission notes that the Project Results Framework (RF) has been revised to better reflect the attribution of project interventions, 12/27/2018 Page 1 of 7 The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report Fostering Innovation through Research, Science and Technology (FIRST) (P117394) particularly in light of the project restructuring that took place at the Mid-Term Review (2016) and partial funds cancellation (2017), and revision is expected to provide a more coherent story-line of the project’s achievements during evaluation of the project after closing. 2. Overall project implementation continued to progress during the past six months. Achievements under Component 1 include (a) all four rounds of Call for Proposals are completed with the total of 217 proposals submitted and 38 proposals funded ; (b) all 5 sub-project activities under the first-round grants are completed, resulting in thirteen (13) technology processes/ solutions transferred through different innovation and R&D activities, two (2) patents registered, eight (8) foreign talents attracted and thirteen (13) publications made; (c) sub-projects under subsequent round grants are under implementation and expected to be completed on time;. Achievements under Component 2 include (a) completion of the two (2) Government Research Institutes (GRI) sub-projects (Cuu Long Rice Research Institute and Vietnam Research Institute of Electronics, Informatics and Automation) under the first-round grants; and (b) good implementation progress made by sub-project beneficiaries under the second-round grants. Component 2A on GRIs is the largest project component by volume - $36.5m (62% of total signed sub-project grant). The provision of advance disbursement to GRIs allows beneficiaries to speed up their implementation activities. Two issues that need to be addressed going forward: (i) upper ceiling of $400,000 for a single disbursement to GRIs has become a serious constraint since it does not account for the need to make payments to suppliers in excess of this amount; (ii) inconsistent messages provided by accounting unit and procurement unit of CPMU to project beneficiaries thus delaying the documentation submission and review process. 3. Key decision: The Project will continue to speed up project implementation through proactively engagement with beneficiaries and close liaison with the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Finance and the World Bank team to solve pending issues including the slow disbursement due to the limited budget allocation and delayed payment process. The project will document and disseminate project results and activities to a wider group of stakeholders and general audience. The mission was informed that the Project has made good progress in completing the Government’s internal processes for project no-cost extension of six months. It is agreed that the Government will send a formal request to the Bank by December 31, 2018 for review and the Bank’s internal processing of appropriate project restructuring Risks Systematic Operations Risk-rating Tool Risk Category Rating at Approval Previous Rating Current Rating Political and Governance -- Moderate Moderate Macroeconomic -- Moderate Moderate Sector Strategies and Policies -- Moderate Moderate Technical Design of Project or Program -- Substantial Substantial Institutional Capacity for Implementation and Sustainability -- Substantial Substantial Fiduciary -- Substantial Substantial Environment and Social -- Moderate Moderate Stakeholders -- Substantial Substantial Other -- -- -- Overall -- Substantial Substantial 12/27/2018 Page 2 of 7 The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report Fostering Innovation through Research, Science and Technology (FIRST) (P117394) Results PDO Indicators by Objectives / Outcomes Support science, technology and innovation in Vietnam by designing and piloting of STI policies IN00603409 ►Consortia and start-up projects (grants) completed successfully with new products and processes developed (Number, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 0.00 2.00 2.00 15.00 Date 01-Oct-2013 27-Apr-2018 30-Oct-2018 30-Jun-2019 1. This indicator is newly added to capture the "effectiveness" aspect of the PDO. 2. Definition: Consortia sub-project is considered completed when the innovative product(s) or solution(s) under the sub-project is deemed to be commercialization-ready, new technology processes and new Comments: production processes are successfully completed and transferred. The progress on the indicators appears to be slow, however this is because of the indicator definition on completion of sub-projects, and the indicator should achieve its end-of-project target when project closes. Enhancing the effectiveness of project-aided research and development (R&D) institutions IN00602936 ►Number of international scientific publications made by beneficiary organizations (disaggregated by gender) (Number, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 0.00 4.00 17.00 10.00 Date 01-Oct-2013 27-Apr-2018 30-Oct-2018 30-Jun-2019 1. Unit of measure changed from percentage to number since the baseline figure was zero for the indicator 2. Author/co-authors of 3 out of 4 international publications are females Comments: - 15/17 journals are recorded in Thomson Reuters. -&nb sp; Author/co-authors of 11 out of 17 articles are female. 2 of them are main authors Encouraging the development of innovative technology enterprises IN00602939 ►Number of innovative activity by beneficiary organizations (disaggregated by gender) (Number, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 0.00 36.00 43.00 10.00 Date 01-Oct-2013 27-Apr-2018 30-Oct-2018 30-Jun-2019 1. Definition: Innovative activities refer to patents, utility solutions, intellectual property rights created by beneficiary organizations and recognized by authorities. This indicator is consolidated from beneficiaries of three sub-components. Comments: 2. Unit of measure changed from percentage to number (since baseline is zero) 3. - 43 innovative activities include: 1. Products recognized by National Office of Intellectual Property - MOST: + 22 patents; + 03 Utility solutions + 01 trademark. 2. Products recognized by Copyright Office of Vietnam, Ministry of Culture, 12/27/2018 Page 3 of 7 The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report Fostering Innovation through Research, Science and Technology (FIRST) (P117394) Sports and Tourism: + 04 Pla nt variety protection 3. Products recognized by Department of Crop Production, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development:< br /> + 13 Copyright - 2 out of 7 sub- projects with female member(s) in SPMU management Intermediate Results Indicators by Components Component One: Knowledge and Policy Development IN00602937 ►Number of international researchers participated in project (disaggregated by gender) (Number, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 0.00 30.00 32.00 50.00 Date 01-Oct-2013 27-Apr-2018 30-Oct-2018 28-Jun-2019 1. - A total of 32 foreign talents participated in research at 15 sub-projects (round 1 and 2). 5 of them are Comments: female. - 4 o ut of 16 local collaborators as research leader are female. IN00603375 ►Number of know-how, new knowledge and new methodologies transferred (Number, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 0.00 9.00 19.00 15.00 Date 01-Oct-2013 27-Apr-2018 30-Oct-2018 28-Jun-2019 1. The indicator is added for Component 1-A to better capture the achievement under the component. 2. The reported number is collected from proposals with knowledge shared/transferred from foreign Comments: talents and successfully implemented IN00602935 ►Conduct STI Survey (Yes/No, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value No Yes Yes Yes Date 01-Oct-2013 27-Apr-2018 30-Oct-2018 28-Jun-2019 - S&T survey will be performed by MOST as it is a large survey which cannot be implemented during FIRST project lifetime. - Innovation survey in enterprises for 2014-2016 period has been conducted and completed in 2017. Comments: Survey results are incorporated into 2017 Science and Technology Book. The methodology has been approved by MOST for the implementation of future innovation surveys in enterprises every 3 years. IN00603456 ►S&T Management Information system (Yes/No, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value No No No Yes Date 01-Oct-2013 27-Apr-2018 30-Oct-2018 28-Jun-2019 12/27/2018 Page 4 of 7 The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report Fostering Innovation through Research, Science and Technology (FIRST) (P117394) 1. The indicator is added to capture the "effectiveness" aspect of the PDO the achievement under Component 1-B 2. A feasibility study and preliminary design of the software have been developed for the project of Building a national database on science, technology and innovation. The model for S&T national database was developed; A small scale prototype of S&T national database software has also been set Comments: up to prove the feasibility of the STI national database model; Preliminary design of ICT infrastructure for S&T national database was developed; - The Framework for Monitoring and Evaluation of R&D institutions was developed. The Manuals/Guidelines for Monitoring and for Evaluation based on the developed framework were prepared Component Two: Supporting Government Research Institute (GRI) Reform and Enterprises Innovation IN00602932 ►Number of GRIs with satisfactory implementation of GRI grant (Number, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 0.00 2.00 2.00 6.00 Date 01-Oct-2013 27-Apr-2018 30-Oct-2018 28-Jun-2019 1. '- Total 16 GRIs are granted. + Round 1: 2 GRIs completed (2018) + Round 2: 8 GRIs (implementation in pr ogress) + Round 3: 6 GRIs (8 selected, 2 proposed for termination). 2. The current actual 2 (as of October 2018) is lower than the previous actual 5 (as of October 2017) Comments: because the definition of satisfactory implementation now denotes completion of the GRI grant-activity successfully and not just satisfactory rating of implementation status for ongoing activities. IN00602933 ►Number of competitive grants awarded to innovative technology enterprises (disaggregated by gender) (Number, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 0.00 2.00 2.00 3.00 Date 01-Oct-2013 27-Apr-2018 30-Oct-2018 31-Dec-2018 1. This indicator on start-ups has been revised downwards to account for project restructuring at MTR. Total of 3 beneficiaries in this sub-component: 2 of them have been completed and 1 will be completed in Comments: December 2018. 2. Previous actual 5 (as of Oct 2017) was recorded incorrectly. IN00602934 ►Number of matching grants successfully implemented by research-innovation consortia (Number, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 0.00 8.00 13.00 15.00 Date 01-Oct-2013 27-Apr-2018 30-Oct-2018 28-Jun-2019 1. The target was revised to reflect the scale-up of this activity including in third-round. 2. - Total granted consortia as of reporting date is 13. + Round 1: 2 consortia + Round 2: 4 consortia Comments: (instead of 7 as committed as 3 consort ia submitted for sub-project termination) +Round 3: 7 consortia (9 consortia selected for grant, 2 proposed for termination) Component Three: Project Management IN00602940 12/27/2018 Page 5 of 7 The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report Fostering Innovation through Research, Science and Technology (FIRST) (P117394) ►Research report produced (Yes/No, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value No No No Yes Date 01-Oct-2013 27-Apr-2018 30-Oct-2018 28-Jun-2019 1. Completed study: Research, analysis and review of Science and Technology management after 30 years of Innovation (1986-2016) (completed). 2. Overall assessment of FIRST project with focus on policy piloting Comments: - Research report on attracting foreign talents through FIR ST. - A case study of FIRST project (achievements and lessons learnt with foreign talents, consortia and GRIs) Data on Financial Performance Disbursements (by loan) Project Loan/Credit/TF Status Currency Original Revised Cancelled Disbursed Undisbursed % Disbursed P117394 IDA-52570 Effective USD 100.00 78.00 22.00 23.55 46.99 33% Key Dates (by loan) Project Loan/Credit/TF Status Approval Date Signing Date Effectiveness Date Orig. Closing Date Rev. Closing Date P117394 IDA-52570 Effective 31-May-2013 25-Jul-2013 22-Oct-2013 30-Jun-2019 30-Jun-2019 Cumulative Disbursements 12/27/2018 Page 6 of 7 The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report Fostering Innovation through Research, Science and Technology (FIRST) (P117394) Restructuring History Level 2 Approved on 18-Apr-2017 Related Project(s) There are no related projects. 12/27/2018 Page 7 of 7