ELECTRE TRI-based approach for sorting projects portfolio: Focus on the European strategy

The European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation aims to facilitate the collaboration between public and private sectors in delivering innovation. To achieve this goal, Union Research and Innovation Programme provides various financial instruments, among which the Horizon 2020 is one of the most significant. Since its implementation, the Horizon 2020 has stimulated the interest of several research organizations making the partnerships among companies their core business for improving local economy. In this context, technological districts are the main proponents of research and innovation spreading in the local territory. In Sicily, the AgroBioPesca district exploited these opportunities, undertaking the strategic “Call for ideas” proposal with the aim of building its own roadmap for research and innovation. To such an aim, AgroBioPesca collected several innovative project ideas coherent with some Technological Trajectories (TT) provided by Horizon 2020 and in line with the national and local operational programmes. These project ideas have been evaluated by a technical and scientific committee, taking into account specific criteria related to the Horizon 2020 technical guidelines. This paper aims to select the AgroBioPesca best projects portfolio by applying the multiple criteria sorting method (MCSM) ELECTRE TRI. A sensitivity analysis has lastly been conducted in order to verify the robustness of the solutions obtained.