4.2. Incentives for participation

4.2.2 Incentivise EdTech–research collaboration

Summary of suggested actions

Strengthen and incentivise structured collaboration between EdTech companies and research institutions to improve the quality, transparency, and practical relevance of evidence supporting EdTech tools and services.

Description

Collaboration between EdTech developers and independent research institutions is essential for generating credible, comparable, and actionable evidence on the effectiveness and impact of digital education tools. Currently, such partnerships often occur on an ad hoc or project basis, without sustained funding or shared methodologies. This limits opportunities for longitudinal analysis, cross-country comparability, and evidence uptake in policymaking and procurement.
Structured EdTech–research collaboration would facilitate the co-design of robust evaluation studies, strengthen product validation, and promote responsible innovation. Universities and applied research centres can contribute methodological expertise and ensure compliance with ethical standards, while EdTech developers can provide practical insight into classroom implementation and user experience. Publicly funded mechanisms, for example, long-term research–industry partnerships, innovation vouchers, or joint fellowships, can lower barriers for SMEs and ensure that collaboration serves both scientific and pedagogical purposes.
Embedding research collaboration requirements in national and EU-level funding calls would also help align research outcomes with societal needs, educational policy priorities, and European values such as equity, inclusion, and data protection.

Major enabling factors

• Horizon Europe and the Digital Europe Programme already provide frameworks for academia–industry collaboration, including innovation partnerships and living labs.

• Organisations such as OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI), and UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report offer platforms for evidence exchange and methodological standardisation.

• Ministries and agencies increasingly require independent evaluation data to inform procurement and regulation.

• Open science principles and European research infrastructures (e.g., EOSC – European Open Science Cloud) support secure and transparent collaboration.

Major roadblocks

• Many collaborations depend on short-term project grants and cease when funding ends.

• Academic research prioritises rigour and publication, while EdTech companies focus on market speed, creating a misalignment of goals.

• Smaller EdTech firms often lack resources or staff to participate in structured research partnerships.

• Institutional and legal barriers limit researchers’ access to educational data needed for evaluation.

• There is no shared European standard for impact measurement across EdTech domains, making cross-study comparison difficult.

• Joint projects can face disputes over ownership of results, data, or algorithms.

• There are rarely recognised knowledge brokers who can facilitate between research outcomes and implementation potential.

Suggested action: Creating incentives and simplified participation

WHO (Potential actors)

• European Commission (DG EAC, DG Connect) in partnership with national research councils, innovation agencies, and education ministries.

• Universities, applied research centres, and EdTech alliances as operational partners.

WHAT (Goal of suggested activities)

Institutionalise and incentivise structured collaboration between EdTech developers and research institutions to co-generate robust, transparent, and policy-relevant evidence for digital education innovation.

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HOW (Suggested activities)

• Introduce dedicated funding lines under Horizon Europe and the Digital Europe Programme for EdTech–research partnerships, focusing on long-term, scalable impact studies.

• Create innovation vouchers for EdTech SMEs to access academic expertise for evaluation and evidence generation.

• Establish joint research fellowships or industry–academia mobility schemes focused on digital education and AI in learning.

• Support European centres of excellence for EdTech evidence, hosted by universities and connected to national testbeds.

• Develop standardised templates for data sharing and ethics approval, harmonised with GDPR and the AI Act.

• Require that publicly funded EdTech projects include independent research evaluation components.

• Incentivise cross-border research consortia to ensure that evidence reflects Europe’s linguistic and cultural diversity.

Existing steps in the right direction