Many complex issues surround the use of antiretroviral (ARV) therapy as HIV prevention, and seen in the recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration decision to consider an ARV drug not just for HIV treatment but also to prevent HIV/AIDS. RAND Europe is partnering with several organisations on Mapping Pathways, a project exploring potential treatment regimes and conducting research, community engagement, and policy work in the U.S., India, and South Africa.
The performance of health systems is a key determinant of the inclusiveness of economic growth. Exclusionary, poor quality health care worsens impoverishment, while inclusive health care redistributes the benefits of growth toward the poor and ill. With Kenya and Tanzania as case studies, RAND Europe is exploring the extent to which unexploited potential synergies between industrial development and health systems can strengthen and contribute to faster and more inclusive growth?
Conditional cash transfer programmes (CCTs) are seen as particularly effective in low- and middle-income countries, but relatively little is known about the interface between the supply of services and programme administration and specific human development outcomes. RAND Europe is assessing the effectiveness of CCTs, through a two-year grant from UK Economic Social Research Council and Department for International Development.
Europol became an entity of the EU on 1 January 2010 as a result of the Europol Council Decision (ECD). RAND Europe and Bluelight Global Solutions are looking at the implementation of the ECD and its impact on Europol's performance, to inform decisionmaking with regard to a future Europol regulation. The research team's evaluation is wide in scope, covering Europol’s operational activities, administrative and governance issues, as well as stakeholder relationships.
RAND Europe has been commissioned to provide technical support and research to the European Alliance for Families (EAF). The EAF is a platform for the exchange of experiences on family-friendly policies across EU Member States. Among other things, RAND is developing and applying a rigorous evaluation framework for the identification of effective, robust and transferable family policy practices in Europe.
Security technologies and related measures are implemented to mitigate likely risks from terrorist attacks and other threats, but these technologies and measures may compete with privacy and civil liberties. RAND Europe is participating in PACT, a 3-year EU-funded research project to assess existing knowledge about the relation between security and privacy; collect empirical evidence through a pan-European survey; and analyze the main factors that affect how the public perceives the security and privacy implications of security technology.
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags offer benefits to product lifecycle management and can help indicate how best to recycle products, but they also introduce extraneous metals and materials into the recycling stream. RAND Europe and its two research partners released an interim report on their analysis of the environmental costs and benefits of "smart trash" and are seeking public and stakeholder input.
The UK Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) commissioned RAND Europe to conduct a rapid evidence assessment on the question of “Which types of interventions work the best in changing energy using behaviours?” The review will cover energy use in the home, including for heating space, heating water, lighting, and electrical appliances; the research team's focus is on interventions — such as social marketing, customer or community engagement, education, and regulation — whose primary aim is to affect habitual behaviours.
Examining Military Capabilities for Cyber Defence
— 27 Feb 2012
The European Defence Agency (EDA) has asked RAND Europe to compile an inventory of cyber defence capabilities at the European level (in the context of EU-led missions) and of European Member States. The research will gather empirical evidence on policy, doctrine, training, and organisational issues relating to military cyber-defence capabilities. Given the role of non-military actors in cyberspace, the study will analyse and chart the interdependencies between military cyberdefence and other organisations, such as national and governmental computer emergency response teams.
Validating the Preference Profiles for the Dutch National Risk Assessment
— 21 Feb 2012
The Dutch National Security Strategy utilizes a risk assessment model to protect society and civilians within its territory from internal and external threats. RAND Europe has been asked to examine the validity of the preference profiles and associated weighting currently used in the analysis of the Dutch National Risk Assessment, and also to provide advice and recommendations on which method is most suitable and on how best to reflect the views of the Dutch public in the National Risk Assessment.
At a time of reduced public spending there is interest in funding public services on a ‘payment by results’ basis — under which the government pays for services only if and when they achieve defined outcome. The Department of Health has asked a consortium that includes RAND Europe to conduct an independent evaluation of DH's drug and alcohol recovery payment-by-results pilots. The goal is to determine whether market forces can encourage the development of better recovery programmes.
Copenhagen sees a lot of traffic, and congestion charging policies are currently high on the political agenda. The Danish Road Directorate has asked RAND Europe, TetraPlan and Significance to extend the city's existing traffic model to predict time-of-day choice for car drivers. Doing so will allow planners to assess the effectiveness of different charging policies aimed at reducing congestion levels at particular times of day.
Expert Input Sought to Help Develop UK Drug Policy
— 08 Feb 2012
To help it develop a better drug policy, the UK Drug Policy Commission asked RAND Europe to conduct a modified Delphi exercise with an international panel of drug policy experts. The Delphi method uses ranking, scoring and feedback to arrive at a consensus on a set of uses. This project will consider the actors, principles, processes and structures that may help it achieve an effective drug policy.
Exploring Legal and Non-Legal Measures to Address Identity Theft
— 06 Feb 2012
The European Commission has asked RAND Europe to conduct a comparative analysis of the legal and non-legal means to counter identity theft in the EU27 as well as five other non-EU countries. The project will cover both the actual laws dealing with this form of crime, data protection, fraud, as well as the effectiveness of these laws when applied, such as sanctions and successful prosecutions. The study also seeks to understand different non-legal measures to address the problem.
To provide accountability for public investment in research and produce evidence of the benefits of each investment, UK Higher Education Funding Councils will begin using a new Research Education Framework in 2014 to assess the quality and impact of a university's research before providing further funding. RAND Europe and Ranmore Consulting Group have developed the ImpactFinder and offer a package of services to help UK higher education institutions evaluate their research impact.
RAND Europe is evaluating the world's first Social Impact Bond (SIB), an innovative payment-by-results mechanism to fund public services. Implemented in a prison in Peterborough in eastern England, this first SIB aims to reduce reoffending by prisoners who have served short custodial sentences. The evaluation, which may last up to eight years, has resulted in an initial set of lessons-learned from the SIB's planning and implementation
Understanding Initial Vocational Education and Training
— 01 Dec 2011
Efforts to make initial vocational education and training (IVET) an attractive learning option across the EU has so far produced mixed results. RAND Europe is undertaking a study to improve the evidence base for policy decisions at national and EU levels to increase IVET attractiveness. This will be achieved by mapping, comparing, and evaluating existing initiatives. The aim is to understand what works, where, and why, by setting IVET in a wider economic, social and behavioural context.
Understanding Civil Service Reform in Central and Eastern Europe
— 10 Nov 2011
RAND Europe undertook two surveys with civil servants in 14 countries in the CEEC and Balkans as part of a research project to explore the sustainability of civil service reform. It is the largest comparative survey of civil servants undertaken in the region. Additional RAND Europe internal funding will enable the research team to look in detail at governance issues in the region’s civil service, consolidate expertise and internal/external relationships, and contribute to academic thinking on this topic.
Promoting Innovation on the Internet versus Citizens' Right to Privacy
— 13 Oct 2011
The European Parliament's Committee on Industry, Research and Energy is eager to know what priority measures and actions should be undertaken in the area of internet innovation, especially when those innovations conflict with citizens' right to privacy. It has asked RAND Europe to review EU privacy safeguards as well as current and likely tensions in the EU between technology and privacy, and to suggest ways to promote further internet-based innovation and competition in the EU while respecting citizens’ right to privacy, for example by way of privacy-by-design.
To provide "further analysis on the EU illicit drugs market and responses to it", RAND is teaming up with Trimbos Institute and the Institute for Criminal Policy Research in a follow-up to the 2009 EC-supported report on the global illicit drug markets. RAND and its partners will provide analysis on a range of issues including the flexibility of illicit drug suppliers to move in and out of other illegal markets and the costs of producing and trafficking cannabis in the EU.
The
Addictions and Lifestyles in Contemporary Europe – Reframing Addictions Project is a 5-year EU effort to help policymakers rethink approaches to the human and economic costs of addictions by weaving the work of over 100 scientists in 25 countries into an integrated evidence base. RAND Europe will analyse a variety of sources, including interviews with convicted drug offenders, to provide a better understanding of public sector corruption, market size, supply chains, and sales strategies.
Examining Health and Safety in the European Workplace
— 21 Jun 2011
RAND Europe is currently undertaking an analysis of the European Enterprise Survey (ESENER) on health and safety in the European workplace, for the European Health and Safety Agency (EU-OSHA). This work aims to understand the factors associated with the effective management of general occupational health and safety, as well as the specific management of psychosocial risks in enterprises.
Understanding the Conflict Between e-Disclosure and EU Privacy Law
— 07 Jun 2011
RAND Europe has been asked to analyse the legal situation in five countries regarding the conflict of interest problem that arises between requests made under U.S. e-discovery rules and national laws regarding data protection and privacy. The research team will use national correspondents in the five countries along with a small number of interviews with key stakeholders in order to conduct the fieldwork.
The National Institute for Health Research established nine Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRCs) and has commissioned RAND Europe and the Health Economics Research Group at Brunel University to evaluate and learn from the CLAHRCs approach. The goal of the project is to focus on the gap in translating applied research advances into innovations in health and social care, for patient benefit.
Examining High-Speed Rail Options in Norway
— 16 May 2011
RAND Europe is about to embark on the third phase of a study of high-speed rail options in Norway. Analysis done as part of the earlier phases has provided initial insight in to the likely levels of demand, and the new phase will provide a fuller analysis of the demand on different strategic routes to inform the decisions to be taken by the Norwegian government about high-speed rail options in the country.
RAND® is a registered trademark. Copyright © 1994-2012 RAND Corporation. Last Modified: 07 March 2011 Site Feedback »