Summary
We conducted this audit because of the important role Alberta Innovates plays in provincial research and innovation. We focused our audit on Alberta Innovates’ processes to
define and measure value, how that affects the selection and monitoring of its research and innovation projects, and its reporting of the value generated from the projects chosen.
Objective and Scope
Our audit objective was to assess the effectiveness of Alberta Innovates processes to measure, monitor and report whether its research and innovation activities generate value in accordance with government priorities.
Conclusion
Based on our audit criteria, we conclude that Alberta Innovates did have processes to measure, monitor and report whether its research and innovation activities generate value in accordance with government priorities, but not all these processes were effective and improvements can be made.
We recommend that Alberta Innovates improve its performance reporting processes by:
- establishing targets for its corporate, program and project performance measures
- analyzing its corporate, program, and project results to targets and to the costs to achieve the results
- reporting, internally and externally, the value generation results from all research and innovation activities including the contribution to government desired outcomes