ACARE's main activity has been to assemble the Strategic Research Agenda by organising pan European working teams. Their initial findings are presented below.

SRA-1 has been a success and this has contributed to SRA-2, not only in the confidence that ACARE has had in extending the scope but in the feedback that ACARE has had from SRA-1. SRA-1 has been adopted as the reference for a number of national and institutional bodies that have established their research programme using it as a guide e.g. FP6, French and German National Programmes, EUROCONTROL and an increasing number of industry stakeholders. This is helping with the transparency of programmes and with collaboration. As this process develops we expect to move on to using the Agenda to improve the efficiency of the research process and to highlight those activities that are most value-adding and also those which are
duplicative for no good reason. The Agenda will give a strong, common background for this.
Wealth generator – Air transport is in itself a significant contributor to European wealth. The resultant benefit is spread across all Member States, either as a result of its direct contribution (2.6% GDP and 3 million jobs) or, even more importantly, as a consequence of its lubrication effect on all modern economies enabling our life-style and the way we do business. Its total contribution to the economy is estimated in excess of 10% of GDP.
The Agenda is more robust – This edition of the Agenda reflects alternative socio-economic scenarios and their associated technologies in the holistic approach advocated by ACARE and it is thus more robust than SRA 1. It also provides an indication as to the importance of each separate technology and the timescale of its importance. It presents important new planning aids to research programmers.
European research needs more money – reanalysis has shown that, taking an encompassing view of the research needed and the necessarily associated facilities and demonstrators, about 65% more funding is now required over the 20 year forward view than is presently being invested. Whilst this expenditure is not evenly paced there is clearly an urgent need to see a reversal in the trend to decreasing amounts of research funding assigned to air transport research at national level.
European research needs more people – The Industry may face a shortage of skilled young people in the future, partly due to demographics and partly due to the reduced attractiveness of the aerospace business as it may be perceived by young people. Future graduates will need additional skill sets most notably in multi-disciplinary approach, excellent communication skills, open mindedness and cultural awareness.
Research needs to be more efficient – The research funds used across Europe must be better co-ordinated with less duplication of work that has no justification for being conducted. This could perhaps start with areas of common societal interest (safety, security, environment, ATM). Some examples of progress are already evident such as the joint action between EUROCONTROL and the EC.
Implementation monitoring – The Observation Platform is launched – it will provide a snapshot of current status, trend over time and together will guide and inform future research programmes and will facilitate better co-ordination.
Money alone is not enough – The creation and funding of research programmes will be to no avail unless European companies are encouraged to retain their European bases and to conduct their own research in Europe. In addition to the work outlined in the Agenda a number of policy actions are needed to ensure that the entire community involved in the aircraft and air transport sectors sustain a coherent and stable future. Part of this policy challenge is to ensure that the competition between major regions is recognised as a major factor in the development of industrial plans. Stability will be encouraged by equality of treatment both inside and outside of Europe.
Action is required by each Member State if the full contribution of their own industry is to be fully exploited.