Smart Specialisation For Regional Innovation
The aim of SmartSpec was to provide substance, guidance and practical support to the EU Smart Specialisation Platform, based on the combination of leading academic and practical expertise present in the consortium.
The goal was directed at operationalising the concept of smart specialisation in a manner which would have been useful to actors in different regional contexts.
Based on its research, the project team found that governance plays a crucial role in advancing RIS3, highlighting the roles of various organisations in building innovation strategies and furthering entrepreneurial discovery. It also noted the challenges of Member States and regions with underdeveloped research and innovation capabilities in designing smart specialisation strategies.
While SMARTSPEC noted a weak relationship between smart specialisation and social innovation, it found opportunities for notable growth in the field. Better metrics and assessments of smart specialisation strategies could help in this respect, as could well-developed peer-review assessment procedures.
Another key project recommendation to further RIS3 is the need to develop asset-based multi-sector policy mixes for different regions. In addition, identifying bottlenecks (e.g. institutional or system-based) that hamper smart specialisation and outlining possible corrective measures can also advance regional innovation in the long run.
ERRIN's Role
Within the SmartSpec Project ERRIN supported 10 of its member regions on a ‘Learning Journey’ which looked to assess the implementation of Smart specialisation Strategies across Europe.
Innovation in circumpolar regions: new challenges for smart specialization
Underpinning effective strategy design: reflection paper
Mapping inventors' networks to trace knowledge flows among E U regions
Governing system innovation: assisted living experiments in the UK and Norway
Social innovation in question: The theoretical and practical implications of a contested concept
Smart specialisation, entrepreneurship and SMEs: issues and challenges for a results-oriented EU regional policy
Underpinning effective strategy design
Regions with less developed research and innovation systems: reflection paper
Neighbor regions as the source of new industries
Smart specialization in a centralized state: strengthening the regional contribution in North East Romania
Mapping Inventors’ Networks to Trace Knowledge Flows Among EU Regions
The Early Experience of Smart Specialisation Implementation in EU Cohesion Policy
Entrepreneurial search dynamics: reflection paper
The early experience of smart specialization implementation in EU cohesion policy