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SMART
STORIES
3
Implementing
Smart Specialisation
across Europe
EUR 27891 EN
Joint
Research
Centre
SMART STORIES
The opinions expressed do not imply a policy position of the European Commission. Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the use which might be made of this publication. Edited by John Edwards and Fatime Barbara Hegyi Smart Specialisation Platform European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, Calle Inca Garcilaso, 3 - 41092 Seville, SPAIN jrc-ipts-s3platform@ec.europa.eu +34 954 48 8318 JRC Science Hub https://ec.europa.eu/jrc JRC101314 EUR 27891 EN PDF ISBN 978-92-79-57983-7 ISSN 1831-9424 doi:10.2791/29325 LF-NA-27891-EN-N Print ISBN 978-92-79-57982-0 ISSN 1018-5593 doi:10.2791/79450 LF-NA-27891-EN-C © European Union, 2016 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. Printed in Spain How to cite: European Commission; SMART STORIES; EUR 27891 EN; doi:10.2791/29325 All images © European Union 2016, except: see photo credits page
SMART STORIES Implementing Smart Specialisation across Europe
Preface
Smart Specialisation is a bold new approach to Smart Specialisation should become a per-
regional policy. Innovation, economic progress manent feature of the mechanisms governing
and social development — they all happen at public investment policies. This long-term ap-
the local and regional level. That is why it is proach should also help to mobilise more and
only natural for Europe’s regions to drive these more investment partnerships across Europe.
processes themselves. Smart Specialisation
therefore puts those located there in control: All European territories can play a distinctive
public authorities, educational and research and important role in the European Union’s ef-
institutions, businesses and civil society organ- forts to secure sustainable economic growth,
isations. competitiveness and progress. We are looking
forward to seeing where their creativity and de-
This new approach not only helps regions boost termination lead them.
economic growth, job creation and communi-
ty building. It also enables us to get a better
“return on investment” in EU cohesion policy, in
line with the European Commission’s goal of
achieving even better results with the money
we spend.
As regions across Europe start to implement
Smart Specialisation, it is clear that more work
is still ahead of us. To ensure that regional
innovation ecosystems grow more efficient,
Corina Crețu Tibor Navracsics
European Commissioner for European Commissioner for
Regional Policy Education, Culture, Youth and Sport
7
S3 Overview
Conceived by the scientific community and in- These “Smart Stories” will take you through
corporated into the reformed Cohesion Policy the features of Smart Specialisation as it has
of the European Union (EU), Smart Specialisa- been applied in a number of EU countries and
tion is a place-based policy concept promoting regions, letting you further explore the concept
regional economic transformation and invest- and its policy implications, and identify com-
ment through innovative activities in selected plementarities and potential for mutual learn-
domains. ing and collaboration. The period of strategy
development has in one sense finished; howev-
The Smart Specialisation approach is charac- er, the process of implementing and monitoring
terised by the identification of strategic priori- S3 will hopefully lead to many more “Smart
ty areas for policy support, based on both the Stories” to be shared across all territories of
analysis of the strengths and potential of the the EU.
economy, and an entrepreneurial discovery
process engaging wide stakeholder communi-
ties in decision-making processes. It embraces
a broad view of innovation that goes beyond
research-oriented and technology-based activ-
ities, and requires a sound logic of intervention
supported by effective monitoring mechanisms.
In recent years, over 100 Smart Specialisation
Strategies (S3) have been developed, most-
ly at regional level, across the Union. On the
initiative of the European Commission’s Direc-
torate-General for Regional and Urban Policy,
the Smart Specialisation Platform (S3 Plat-
form) was established at the Joint Research
Centre with the main objective of providing
science-based policy advice to regional and
Notes
national authorities.
These stories are based on information pro-
The insights from this booklet — thanks to the vided by national and regional authorities.
valuable contributions of national and regional
authorities — show that Smart Specialisation The images in the stories are for illustrative
has gone far beyond the mere fulfilment of the purposes and do not always reflect the S3
ex-ante conditionality criteria linked to Cohesion process itself.
Policy allocations. It has triggered a change in
the way innovation-driven regional development This collection is also available online.
policies are dealt with across Europe, confirmed More stories will be added over time:
by the outcome of a number of recent surveys. http://s3platform.jrc.ec.europa.eu/smart-stories
9
Austria
Lower Austria Government of Lower Austria
www.noe.gv.at
Score card method of monitoring Smart Specialisation
In designing and implementing the S3 for mance data such as publications, critical size
Lower Austria, we have built on our experience and collaborative projects. With S3 new indi-
with regional innovation strategies dating back cators have been added to reflect the cross-
to 1997. The strength of the Smart Speciali- instrument and cross-technological emphasis.
sation concept is its focus on cross-sectoral This in turn has led to initiatives that reflect the
innovation discoveries and we have therefore indicators.
designed our strategy, including the monitoring
mechanism, to fully exploit this. More specifi- As an illustration, we now measure the im-
cally, we have sought to foster interactions on pact of inter-institutional collaboration on the
two levels: instruments, meaning the coher- related instruments and programmes, includ-
ence and synergies between programmes in ing the targets and focus of the programme
the policy mix, underpinned by greater inter-in- managers. This has led to an intensification
stitutional collaboration; and technologies, re- of collaboration between clusters and techno-
ferring to prioritised support to activities that poles, fostering diversification of technological
cross sectors and disciplines. know-how and promotion of further regional
specialisation — for example, the food cluster
Implementing Smart Specialisation is difficult and Technopole Tullm have assembled a large
without an appropriate monitoring system. As consortium called FoQQSI where academia and
they say, “You get what you measure!” and it companies work together with public agencies
also helps to “fine tune” the strategy. Our pro- on food safety challenges.
grammes are monitored by a balanced score
card method, learning from its use in previous
innovation strategies. This includes perfor-
“Our programmes are monitored by a balanced score card method,
learning from its use in previous innovation strategies”
11Belgium
Wallonia Walloon Regional Government
economie.wallonie.be
Integrating policies around S3 priorities
The preparation of our S3 has resulted in the ic renewal and transformation of the regional
integration of industrial R&D and innovation economy in a globalised context.
policies with clusters acting as the central
node. Furthermore, the specialisation niches With regard to internationalisation, we have
(smart combinations of markets and technol- opened a dialogue to map regional priorities in
ogies) emerging from the clusters (which mix the context of European programmes, allowing
enterprises, universities, research centres and us to act on a coordinated basis with stake-
training centres) are now more widely consid- holders. This approach has already borne fruit:
ered as core priorities for the region overall. The Firstly, a stronger collaboration has developed
S3 has become the main reference for all relat- between cluster organisations and the region-
ed policy tools at regional level — and not only al contact point for identifying opportunities in
for the ESI funds — allowing greater coherence Horizon 2020. Secondly, we have strengthened
and synergies. our involvement in European networks such
as the Vanguard Initiative, European Chemical
The strategy identifies four mutually reinforcing Regions Network and Bio-Industry Consortium,
axes to deepen Smart Specialisation: Foster- with collaboration of regional stakeholders.
ing innovation along the whole cycle, Involving Concrete projects are already emerging from
innovative SMEs, Internationalisation, and Cir- these activities, especially around the themes
cular economy and resource efficiency. The ob- of additive manufacturing and the bio-based
jectives are to stimulate a continuous renewal economy.
of innovation dynamics, reveal and consolidate
the most relevant specialisation niches and in-
novative value chains, so as to drive econom-
“The objectives are to stimulate a continuous renewal of innovation
dynamics”
12Bulgaria
Ministry of Economy
mi.government.bg
Smart Specialisation as a vehicle for stakeholder engagement
Smart Specialisation and its requirement for great success.
an entrepreneurial discovery process has been
a trigger for widespread stakeholder partici- A new governance structure involving the quad-
pation in Bulgaria, presenting us with a real ruple helix has been established. It involves en-
opportunity to engage constructively with all trepreneurs and business at each hierarchical
actors of the innovation system. level for the very first time. With the chance to
directly influence the process of decision-mak-
Over 1000 participants in 20 events from ac- ing, participants view the achievement of ob-
ademia, NGOs, regional authorities, companies jectives as a mutual responsibility.
with high innovation potential, innovation lead-
ers, individual entrepreneurs, and citizens have The process has demonstrated that what we
come together to select four thematic areas of need is an innovation process driven by busi-
specialisation: ness, which itself is best placed to tell the
government about its needs. It is up to scien-
• Informatics and ICT,
tific discovery to respond to these demands. In
• Mechatronics and clean technologies, addition, each planning region of the country
• Industry for a healthy life and biotechnol- and each municipality should find their place in
ogies, and the process, thus developing competitive ad-
• New technologies in creative and recrea- vantages of their own. That’s the only way we
tional industries. can implement innovation that adds value to
our economy and achieve sustainable growth
With all four thematic areas being based on
in the long run.
the ambitions, proven excellence, and objective
needs of business, we now hope and expect
“With the chance to directly influence the process of decision-
making, participants view the achievement of objectives as a mutual
responsibility”
13Czech Republic
Moravian-Silesian Region Moravian-Silesian Regional Government
www.msk.cz
Innovation Platforms fostering cooperation
We consider our S3 not just as a document, but entirely with S3, and the Platforms have al-
as a constantly evolving process. It enables us ready given rise to a number of joint projects,
to activate and facilitate cooperation among including on the reuse of waste heat from large
key partners, supported by constant monitoring production facilities for households (Modern
and analysis of the innovation system. Its vision Energy Production and Waste Processing Plat-
draws from the region’s strong industrial tradi- form), and on surface processing of materials
tion and points the way forward to new direc- (Advanced Materials Platform).
tions for development. Focusing on high-poten-
tial strategic areas, the Regional Development Besides meetings within the Platforms, the RDA
Agency (RDA) has created Innovation Platforms also organizes events on the latest trends in re-
based on the strategy’s priority areas. search, development and innovation. For exam-
ple, we recently took part in an exchange visit
The RDA identified 10-15 members from the with the Fraunhofer IMWS research institute in
region for each Platform, including represent- Linz, Austria which specialises in the intelligent
atives of companies (some with R&D pro- use of materials. This external dimension is
grammes), universities and research institu- very useful, because it allows us to benchmark
tions that are open and willing to cooperate. internationally and facilitate joint projects.
The RDA acts as facilitator and mediator, but
discussion topics are proposed by members
themselves to ensure a bottom up process.
In the past, companies and other key players
operated largely in isolation from each other,
often with a strong rivalry. This has changed
President of the Moravian-Silesian Region Miroslav Novák
“S3 enables us to build on the positive legacy of our industrial tradition
[...] maximize this huge potential by focusing our efforts on developing
modern, innovative areas such as biotechnology”
14Denmark
Ministry of Business and Growth
www.evm.dk
Consensus finding between regions and national level
In Denmark we have been following the main enjoys political support and promotes the coor-
principles of Smart Specialisation for quite dination between the national growth strategy
some time. and the regional S3.
Since 2006, the key actors in this process have Publicly available regional partnership agree-
been six regional growth fora, and at national ments define common objectives and activi-
level the Danish Growth Council. The growth ties. While neither legally binding nor supported
fora meet four times a year and consist of re- by funding, they embody the overall agreement
gional political leaders, mayors, trade unions between regions and the national government.
and employer associations. Usually, they are The secretariat of the Growth Council monitors
headed by the political leader of the respective the progress of these agreements in a sim-
region who is also a member of the national ple dashboard that is shared internally. Smart
Growth Council. The other Council members in- Specialisation has further institutionalised this
clude representatives of firms, knowledge insti- process by making it more structured, highlight-
tutions, and local authorities. ing the need to concentrate, prioritise and think
bigger in terms of future R&I domains.
The national Growth Council essentially has
two tasks: to think strategically by providing
advice through joint statements (one to two
themes per year, e.g. future needs for qualified
labour) and to ensure an effective and contin-
uous coordination process with regions. It is
based at the Ministry for Business and Growth,
“Smart Specialisation [...] has highlighted the need to concentrate, prioritise
and think bigger in terms of future R&I domains”
15Finland
Lapland Regional Government of Lapland
www.lappi.fi/lapinliitto/fi
Smart use of Arctic Natural Resources and Conditions
As the northernmost region of Finland, and one The vision of Lapland’s S3 is to develop our
of the most sparsely populated regions in the leading position in exploiting and commercial-
EU, Lapland is a mixture of abundant natural ising Arctic natural resources and conditions
resources, strong Arctic expertise and unique while maintaining balanced sustainable devel-
nature. There is a constant need to balance in opment.
a sustainable way the business interests with
the preservation of its unique nature and style We are working towards our vision of promot-
of living. ing regional clusters and ecosystems of emerg-
ing industries that focus on refining natural
From the very beginning, Smart Specialisation resources throughout value chains. In addition
has been seen in Lapland as a very practical to our strong traditional sectors, Smart Special-
concept, bringing new insights into regional isation focuses on cross-cutting interventions.
development. The approach has been used in With the modern clusters of Arctic industry-Cir-
Lapland to become recognised as an attrac- cular economy, Arctic Smart Rural Commu-
tive and knowledgeable partner in EU. Smart nities, Arctic Design, Arctic Safety & Security
Specialisation has helped us find new ways of and Arctic Development Environments, we
working together, to think “outside the box”, to are looking beyond the boundaries, promoting
develop common approaches towards regional cross-fertilisation, the best use of the regional
development and to be active in seeking inter- expertise and strategic networking outside the
national collaboration. We have also developed region.
a special Arctic Smartness “step-by-step” re-
gional development approach.
“We are working towards our vision of promoting regional clusters
and ecosystems of emerging industries that focus on refining natural
resources throughout value chains”
16Finland
Ostrobothnia Regional Council of Ostrobothnia
www.obotnia.fi
A learning curve in setting the agenda
When we heard about Smart Specialisation provided us with a “tool-box” of core principles
our first reaction was “What’s new about this?” and a framework for European partnership.
Innovation had for a long time been part of the Focusing on issues driving innovation has also
development rhetoric and Finland has pursued brought us closer to the partners within the
a decentralised university system with the very business and research worlds.
purpose of stimulating regional development.
Our region had access to both regional, nation- We believe that the best route to economic
al and EU policy instruments all with funds set development is through innovation. But at the
aside for innovation. end of the day it is very difficult or even im-
possible to foresee or coordinate the process.
In fact we were surrounded with numerous All we can do therefore is to wear the “specta-
development ideas and instruments. However, cles” of different actors so we can understand
instead of providing a return on investment we how they see the world. This will provide a ref-
found that they actually caused fragmentation, erence point for talking about innovation and
duplication of effort and in some case even ri- allow people to tell us what we have not yet
valry. The S3 process has helped us to address considered.
this. It is gradually gaining more momentum
and we are also seeking to deepen our coop-
eration with European partners facing similar
challenges.
It would be incorrect to say that Smart Special-
isation has removed our challenges; but it has
“Although what we can do is to set the spectacles on different actors
through which they see the world”
17France
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regional Government of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
www.innovation.rhonealpes.fr
Innovative public procurement for implementation of S3
In the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, we have information to road users. Secondly, the Robot
integrated innovative public procurement as a for Students project allows students temporari-
horizontal approach of our S3 policy mix. The ly away from school to maintain links with their
objective is to use public procurement as a class and follow courses.
lever to boost innovation in order to maximise
public services dedicated to citizens, foster the As part of the S3 policy mix, an action plan
emergence of innovative solutions, and rein- builds awareness of innovative public procure-
force access to public procurement for SMEs. It ment, identifies territorial needs, facilitates
has been facilitated by a new legal framework, meetings between buyers and suppliers, and
which following the European Drective estab- finances studies into innovative procurement
lishing the Innovation Partnership in 2014, the projects. A dedicated governance structure
French state now dedicates 2% of state pro- brings together the key stakeholders with sup-
curement to innovation. port of a collaborative online platform. We
have already moved from strategy to action:
We were not very familiar with innovative pub- Financed through the regional OP, a call for
lic procurement until our participation in the expression of interest named Innov’HA was
“Alcotra Innovation” INTERREG project in 2011- launched in early 2016 that will fund feasibility
2013, which inspired us to learn more. We have and opportunity studies as well as legal assis-
also drawn lessons from two successful exam- tance.
ples from within our region: the European pro-
ject SYNCRO involves cross border innovation
procurement related to intelligent roads, im-
proving traffic management through increased
“A dedicated governance structure brings together the key stakeholders
with support of a collaborative online platform”
18France
Centre Val de Loire Regional Agency for Innovation and Technology in the Loire Valley
www.arittcentre.fr
Selection process of specialisation domains
The significant changes to R&I funding in our The process allowed us to more easily change
region were made possible through the rele- and focus the policy mix. For example, since
vancy and legitimacy of the selected S3 pri- the adoption of our S3 a new tool has been
orities. The five specialisation domains which designed: “Ambition R&D 2020” grants which
have arisen are much more precise than those fund projects clearly connected to a S3 priority
of previous RIS, such as “system design for and are worth up to €10M instead of €200K for
energy storage” instead of “energy efficiency”. similar projects before. Thus the legitimacy of
This was a result of the methods we adopted the specialisation domains has allowed us to
and support from the S3 Platform. In particular, dedicate the largest part of ERDF to R&I.
four factors were instrumental:
We have already approved five major projects
• The highest political authorities were in-
linked to S3 priorities, which are based on their
volved from the beginning
ability to generate socio-economic impact.
• The choice of the priorities was based on They relate to energy storage (Lavoisier), bio-
very clear and agreed criteria pharmaceuticals (Biomédicaments), cosmetics
• The Entrepreneurial Discovery Process (CosmetoSciences), environmental engineering
(EDP) only involved entrepreneurs who (Pivots), and tourist heritage (Intelligence des
had a vision for the future of their com- patrimoines). These projects illustrate the con-
pany and, more largely, of the emerging crete implementation of S3 on the ground.
value chains
• A genuine dialogue was established with
stakeholders and not just a formal con-
sultation
Daniel Pierre, Directeur, Pôle Scientifique et Technique Antea Group, France
“Beyond the historical location of Antea Group in Centre Val de Loire, the
S3 process was a determining factor in choosing to locate its European
research center in the region”
19Germany
Federal Ministry of Education and Research
www.bmbf.de
A multi-level dialogue to foster synergies between Horizon 2020 and ESI
Funds
Coordinating R&I policies and programmes is advice services including the Enterprise Europe
embedded in the concept of Smart Special- Network (EEN), key stakeholders and potential
isation, which gave impetus to the creation applicants. Results of the dialogue are fed back
of a new national-regional dialogue for syn- into the national policy arenas to kick-start new
ergies between Horizon 2020 and the Euro- activities and maximise the impact of activi-
pean Structural and Investment (ESI) Funds ties.
in Germany. The dialogue was launched in
2014, piloting a tailor-made multi-level gov- This structured and open dialogue fosters the
ernance model across policies, programmes commitment of key actors by concretely ad-
and projects spanning different research fields, dressing societal challenges, specific instru-
economic sectors and societal challenges. ments like public procurement for innovation, or
It aspires to drive “entrepreneurial discovery” by key target groups such as higher education in-
better managing information flows; supporting stitutions. Thus, the German synergies dialogue
the strategic use of EU funds; and adapting ap- has the potential of carrying forward R&I topics
plicant support services (e.g. towards integrat- of common political interest in Germany at na-
ed counselling formats). tional and Länder level to and from the Euro-
pean policy arena. Yet, its success depends on
Led by the Federal Ministry of Education and the readiness of all actors to take new paths.
Research, the dialogue aims to involve all fed-
eral and regional (Länder) authorities respon-
sible for Cohesion Policy and R&I. It provides
a communication space for Managing Authori-
ties, H2020 Programme Committees and NCPs,
“The German synergies dialogue pilots a new form of multi-level
governance across policies, programmes and projects”
20Germany
Berlin Brandenburg Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy
www.brandenburg.de
Joint efforts to tackle challenges
Since the 1990s the states of Berlin and and reduction of ESIF), fine-tuning the govern-
Brandenburg developed their own separate ance structure and low private R&D activities/
innovation strategies. However we soon re- better involvement of SMEs. Up-dating the
alised that we faced very similar challenges Master Plans that implement innoBB will focus
and problems in knowledge transfer activi- on the right mix of different instruments, which
ties. Therefore in 2007, both our governments need not be sector-specific; a key lesson we
decided on five “Future Fields of Excellence” drew from Smart Specialisation.
in joint working groups, leading to nine pilot
projects with “cross-border commitments” What distinguishes our story is the close coop-
for joint RTD financing schemes. This process, eration between two political-administrative
which reflected closely the thinking on Smart regions that have come together to develop a
Specialisation, resulted in regional clusters for joint R&I strategy. Based on the understanding
each “future field”, culminating in the joint in- that functional regions and their complex inter-
novation strategy innoBB of 2011. Institutional dependencies do not stop at regional borders,
structures were designed to support the select- innoBB covers both federal states Berlin and
ed R&I priorities. Clusters implement innoBB Brandenburg. An important lesson is that such
through Master Plans, based on sectoral SWOT a comprehensive process takes time, trust and
analyses which are up-dated regularly to en- confidence to find acceptable solutions for is-
sure flexibility. sues that arise along the way.
The S3 process naturally built on our experi-
ence with innoBB. It made us face up to new
challenges: a lack of resources (esp. funding
“A comprehensive process takes time, trust and confidence”
21Greece
E. Macedonia and Thrace Regional Government of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace
www.pamth.gov.gr
European Parliament Preparatory Action to help build regional capacity
When the S3 process began, we had limited focus groups, bringing together stakeholders
experience in the design and delivery of region- from the quadruple helix to work together using
al innovation policies However, we have sub- participatory approaches. Subsequent project
sequently benefited from dedicated support in development workshops and online consulta-
following the S3 methodology provided by the tions were designed to take the most promising
Joint Research Centre (JRC) through a prepara- ideas forward.
tory action of the European Parliament (EP).
The most important result of this project
Before the preparatory action began, we did was that we got to grips with S3 methods,
have a draft strategy with priorities based on and adopted new ways of thinking, behaving
a detailed analysis carried out with the support and working. In particular, stakeholders were
of local experts. A key contribution of the JRC brought together in new formats and chal-
was to catalyse and sustain an entrepreneur- lenged to develop feasible R&I ideas within —
ial process of discovery to refine the selected and even across — the priority areas. The EDP
priorities and move towards implementation, focus group approach has since been adopted
including the launch of pilot calls. We also by other regions in Greece, with strong interest
needed to reflect on an appropriate govern- also from Bulgaria and Turkey in holding similar
ance structure, how to integrate the regional events.
and national S3 and understand some of the
more complex issues around implementation,
such as state aid policies.
A core activity was the establishment of EDP
George Pavlides, Governor, Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace
“The innovative methodology applied to the project, already forms the basis
for consultation of the new national legislation regarding the management
of ERDF funds, and will be replicated by all regions across Greece”
22Greece
Epirus Regional Research and Innovation Council
www.peproe.gr
Ensuring an ongoing Entrepreneurial Process of Discovery
In Epirus, one of our region’s goals for 2014- op innovative projects in the field of health &
20 is to gather the entrepreneurial community wellness and “Business process discovery for
around a common vision for innovation, new the promotion of innovative projects in the are-
forms of entrepreneurship and attraction of in- as of specialisation”.
vestments. In line with the Smart Specialisation
concept, the region will promote those key ele- Last June we established the Regional Re-
ments that highlight and exploit its competitive search and Innovation Council (PSEK) and four
advantages. According to our S3, Epirus has working groups relevant to the areas of spe-
potential for development in four key areas: cialisation. The region has also set up a “Sec-
Primary sector and food industry, Experience retariat for entrepreneurial discovery and in-
industry including tourism and creative indus- vestments” to support continuous identification
tries, ICT & new entrepreneurship, and Health of new ideas. Based on the results of an en-
& wellness. However, efficient governance of trepreneurial discovery process we published a
an ongoing entrepreneurial discovery process revised and more effective version of our S3 in
is essential and structures were carefully de- March 2016. We have also developed a “Manu-
signed with this in mind. al for entrepreneurial discovery” presenting the
concept and our regional needs in non-techni-
These efforts allowed the mobilisation of public cal language.
bodies, academic institutions, representatives
of the business community and citizens. As a
result, besides many individual meetings with
key local actors and potential investors, two
workshops were held on: “Pilot action to devel-
“Efficient governance of an ongoing entrepreneurial discovery process is
essential and structures were carefully designed with this in mind”
23Hungary
National Research, Development and Innovation Office
www.s3magyarorszag.hu
Policy mix - Institutional renewal of programme planning by S3
The Hungarian R&I system has historically more sustainable, and how to achieve the high-
been fragmented and disconnected from our est levels of societal benefits through leverage
economy, with overlapping mandates of pub- effects. Moreover, we identified discrepancies
lic agencies, a bias towards basic research and between market demand for research, devel-
limited consideration of industrial innovation. opment and innovation and current capabilities
Smart Specialisation has led to a strategic ap- at universities, research institutions, knowledge
proach of reconsidering vision, objectives and transfer bodies and business R&D units. The
institutional control of our R&I system. Policy consultation programme included an online
making has become more integrated, now cov- survey on priorities and planning (with almost
ering the full spectrum of the innovation chain 700 questionnaires). Strategy documents have
from exploration to commercial application. been available for online consultation and
comments that resulted in more than 3400
A new R&I upgrading programme is more fo- registered users. In fact, the S3 website has
cused on regional objectives. It is being sup- become an information hub for R&I actors.
ported by a new institution, the National Re-
search Development and Innovation Office Finally, a series of workshops have been held
which coordinates and controls funding. It has in 19 counties involving almost 1300 partici-
also been given responsibility to run an S3 Con- pants, who have worked together in order to
sultation Platform that will monitor the imple- define regional specialisation goals and emerg-
mentation process and encourage feedback. ing R&I opportunities.
In developing our S3 we collected many opin-
ions on how to make the knowledge economy
“In developing our S3 we collected many opinions on how to make the
knowledge economy more sustainable, and how to achieve the highest
levels of societal benefits through leverage effects”
24Italy
Friuli Venezia Giulia Regional Government of Friuli Venezia Giulia
www.regione.fvg.it
Regional engagement and new clusters connected to regional
specialisation areas
S3 has resulted in a more positive engagement in the field of Maritime Technologies. Actors
between the authorities and innovation actors related to the theme “Sea” where among the
within our region. In particular, links with local most active in the entrepreneurial process of
universities and business communities have discovery. This was based on the institutional
been strengthened. For example, the University environment built by previous programmes,
of Trieste mapped the skills and enabling tech- especially the establishment of the Naval and
nologies within its various departments against Yachting Technology District — DITENAVE and
regional S3 priorities. Similarly, the University the related Sea Training Center, both focused
of Udine has produced an overview of the skills on maritime technologies and the related hu-
existing within their institution and its potential man capital development.
contribution to training, research and technolo-
gy transfer. Finally, the International School for Cooperation with the regional government has
Advanced Studies has offered support with a triggered an enlargement of the district’s role
focus on “Strategic supply chains” and “Smart to other areas such as offshore and specialised
health”. supply chains, transport, logistics, and services
for navigation and yachting. Its mission has
Our efforts to foster cooperation between re- also become more externally orientated, re-
search and business and align government naming the District as the Maritime Technology
intervention with territorial dynamics have re- Cluster FVG — MareTC FVG, and this has al-
sulted in the identification of five new regional ready attracted new companies and represent-
clusters, generating a driver for change. atives from research and industry associations.
The process has been particularly successful
“Our efforts to foster cooperation between research and business and align
government intervention with territorial dynamics have resulted in the
identification of five new regional clusters, generating a driver for change”
25Italy
Sicily Regional Government of Sicily
www.regione.sicilia.it
Regional engagement for social innovation and new models of
governance
Our S3 process began with a competition to people are already working to reinvent their
describe a vision for the region. It was won by future.”
Cristiano Longo, whose quote is on the home
page of Sicily’s S3 website: “Innovation in Sicily However, innovators have pointed out that
in 2020 promotes an encounter between those most ideas have often failed to get off the
who are able to produce knowledge and those ground because they did not pass funding eli-
who have ideas on how put it to good use.” gibility thresholds. On these and other aspects
we have recognised the need for a different
We have actively engaged with the territory governance model. A new cross-departmental
since starting our S3 journey, looking for new structure will coordinate analysis, planning,
players, trying to understand social innovation, guidance, and monitoring of S3. This is comple-
and uncovering a rich fabric of innovators re- mented by permanent thematic groupings that
ady to meet the challenges of change. Young include international partners. The Regional
people and their ideas, motivation and acti- Government has approved Sicily’s Smart Spe-
vism have emerged; or were already there, they cialisation Strategy in February 2015.
have simply been publicly recognised during a
process of listening. The different ideas have
been enlightening: from responding to vulnera-
ble groups and social needs that are normally
ignored by the market to institutional change
and transformation in relationships between
stakeholders. Testimonies showed that “Social
innovation in Sicily already exists, and young
“Social innovation in Sicily already exists, and young people are already
working to reinvent their future”
26Italy
Tuscany Regional Government of Tuscany
www.regione.toscana.it/porcreo-fesr-2014-2020
Two regional identities reinforcing each other through S3
The core of Tuscany’s S3 is based on the two ted and oriented to place-based applications,
elements of our regional identity: on the one such as Optronics for cultural heritage, Bioro-
hand a popular image of Tuscany as rich in botics for medical devices and Nanotechnology
natural and cultural heritage; on the other a for environment protection.
strong manufacturing base with world leading
brands, cutting edge research and hi-tech solu- In terms of tools S3 has led to important chan-
tions. The vision promoted by the Tuscany S3 is ges in our regional innovation policies. A new
that both identities not only live together, but strategic approach aims to foster “backward
feed and enhance one another. linkages”, between more internationally com-
petitive firms and those less successful, but
The entrepreneurial discovery process has been still crucial to regional cohesion. A smart policy
conducted in difficult economic times, mainly mix has been introduced, addressing different
caused by external factors, and has focused types of innovations and their levels of tech-
our attention on the international demand for nological intensity. Finally, we focused on in-
innovation and how to make our research and tegrated approaches to territorial needs, such
productive assets globally competitive. This as the requalification of the steel industry to
process, supported by a team of 12 external adopt alternative technological solutions, while
experts, involved the participation of 450 insti- improving the environment and reducing ener-
tutions, the elaboration of strategic roadmaps gy consumption.
by 13 technological districts, ten thematic
workshops attracting over 2000 participants
and an intensive communications campaign.
Three technological priorities have been selec-
“S3 has led to important changes in our regional innovation policies”
27Latvia
Ministry of Education and Science
www.izm.gov.lv
Combining capacity building measures with specialised knowledge
domains to transform the national economy
The Latvian S3 was developed in 2014 to tion technologies.
concentrate public R&D investment in pro-
grammes that create future domestic capabi- For implementation we have defined three core
lity and interregional comparative advantage. criteria for the allocation of public resources:
It aims to introduce change and growth in the Growth of human capital for R&I (knowledge
production and export structure of traditional and networks), expressed as increased com-
industries, in sectors which show the potential petence of individuals; Scientific excellence,
for products and services of high added value, characterised by the level of usefulness of new
and in activities with significant horizontal im- knowledge for future or present economic and
pact and which contribute to transforming the societal challenges; and Net economic value,
national economy. financial opportunities and social benefits.
The strategy has two main elements: Inves- In 2015 descriptions of the ecosystems su-
tment priorities build our innovation capabi- rrounding each specialisation were elaborated,
lities from a productive innovation system to to introduce actors in the quadruple helix to the
modern education and polycentric spatial de- context in which knowledge is created including
velopment; and five specialisation areas have the scale of each area, core challenges, public
been selected in specific knowledge domains, funds and regulations. In 2016 a three-level
including knowledge-intensive bio-economics, monitoring system was launched to monitor
biomedicine, medical technologies, bio-phar- the impact of public investment through S3,
macy and biotechnologies, smart materials, which by 2020 will amount to more than a bi-
technologies and engineering systems; smart llion euros.
energetics; and information and communica-
“The Latvian S3 aims to introduce change and growth [...] in activities with
significant horizontal impact and which contribute to transforming the
national economy”
28Lithuania
Research and Higher Education Monitoring and Analysis Center
www.mosta.lt
Governing EDP in S3 priority setting
We have regarded Smart Specialisation as future development, the energy team agreed
a game-changing opportunity for Lithuania. that solar panels should become a priority te-
Being a small country, we have developed S3 chnology. At this point representatives from the
at national level and prioritisation has not been marine sector, which had not been prioritised
easy. Collectively our mode of thinking had to by the S3, suggested putting solar panels on
change from “everything is a priority” to “priori- ships!
ty is the creation of new technologies by busi-
ness and science in the high potential sectors Throughout this process there were naturally
based on R&I capabilities”. many different opinions and interests and so-
metimes even complaints on the table of the
A well institutionalised governance structure Prime Minister, but eventually everything wor-
that includes the Prime Minister’s Office has ked out well and it was a great exercise for bet-
helped to achieve consensus and identify con- ter and closer collaboration between our stake-
crete technologies, resulting in 20 specific prio- holders. The final decisions on S3 priorities and
rities within six thematic priority areas. Expert the framework for implementation were taken
teams in each of the six areas proposed the at the highest political level to avoid the risk of
priority technologies. They were made up of re- diverging interests and questioning of priorities
presentatives of research, businesses, the non- during implementation.
governmental sector and the Ministry. Discus-
sions around prioritisation sometimes brought
unexpected but positive results: For example,
based on our strong research profile, establis-
hed businesses in the field and potential for
“We have regarded Smart Specialisation as a game-changing opportunity
for Lithuania”
29Malta
The Malta Council for Science and Technology
www.mcst.gov.mt
Learning together in a spirit of open dialogue
In Malta, putting the entrepreneurial discovery analysed and validated the initial findings, re-
process into practice has given rise to a wide commending areas for further consideration.
representation of interests and knowledge
sharing by an unprecedented array of stake- This work led to the creation of dedicated the-
holders. We took particular care to involve the matic focus groups which helped draft a first
private sector and social partners, in addition version of the S3. After a formal consultation,
to public administration and academia. This the new R&I Strategy 2020, including Malta’s
process required all parties to “charter into unk- S3 areas was adopted in 2014. However, this
nown territories” and learn together in a spirit is not the end of the journey. We know that
of open dialogue. It is safe to say that the de- entrepreneurial discovery needs to remain an
sign of S3 involved one of the largest exercises ongoing process underpinned by a strong go-
of engagement with stakeholders in our history vernance mechanism. The Core Group and the
of R&I policy. Steering Group provide invaluable political and
technical direction to the process and ensure
Starting with a blank slate, without preconcei- that all major players remain engaged and
ved ideas of Malta’s specialisations, initial desk supportive of the S3 process and its imple-
based research provided statistical trends in mentation.
various economic sectors, employment trends
and R&I funding. All major stakeholders were
then interviewed individually using a set of
open, general questions to unearth individual
knowledge and expertise “on the ground”. A
workshop organised for the private sector
“This process required all parties to “charter into unknown territories” and
learn together in a spirit of open dialogue”
30Poland
Śląskie Voivodeship Marshal Office of the Śląskie Voivodeship
www.ris.slaskie.pl
Innovation monitoring system based on Specialised Observatories and
Smart Indexes
In developing our S3 we have attached high and nanotechnology. We may also establish
importance to monitoring trends in the select- observatories for three other areas: materials,
ed priority domains of Energy, Medicine and transport and engineering.
ICTs. Thanks to the project Network of Regional
Specialisation Observatories, supported by the Another interesting feature of our new S3 mon-
Marshal Office of the Śląskie Voivodeship, we itoring framework is the use of “Smart Index-
are able to monitor, measure, support and an- es”. They are based firstly on three sub-indexes
ticipate market trends in the three priority do- for the domains of regional specialisation, and
mains as well as eight enabling technologies secondly on horizontal indicators including the
of the related Technology Development Plan. Knowledge Index, Human Capital Index and In-
novation Index. One of the greatest challenges
During the preparation of the 2014-2020 is to identify the source of reliable data. How-
programming period, following the process of ever, by monitoring the processes, while taking
identifying the most promising areas on which into account our specific regional context, we
the region can build its competitive advantag- will be able observe trends and draw solid con-
es, we became aware of our limited capacity clusions and recommendations for the region.
to monitor and analyse these areas of special-
isation. The Network of Regional Specialisation
Observatories includes partners from the S3
priority domains who are responsible for di-
agnosing and reporting regional trends. As for
now there are five observatories operating for
energy, medicine, ICT, environmental protection
“By monitoring the processes we will be able observe trends and draw
solid conclusions and recommendations for the region”
31Portugal
Algarve Algarve Regional Coordination and Development Commission
www.ccdr-alg.pt
Diversification from a dominant industry
When we first came across Smart Specialisa- which create demand outside our traditional
tion we were rather concerned. The biggest high season. Another is to build on links be-
problem in our region has been over, and not tween tourism and other sectors to create new
under specialisation. With many natural ad- economic activities. An example is to respond
vantages, Algarve is Portugal’s main tourism to a big societal challenge; ageing, by integrat-
destination and has witnessed an explosion ing the different services required to care for
of infrastructure in the sector over recent dec- the elderly and establishing Algarve as a leader
ades. However, when the global economic crisis in their delivery and export.
hit, it became clear that reliance on “Sun and
Sea” tourism was precarious, since it suffers The challenge is substantial, but embracing ex-
from large fluctuations in demand, depending perimentation and novelty is what we need. If
on the season and global trends. Moreover it the process of strategy formation can be fol-
is a brand of tourism that can be replicated by lowed with concrete implementation, Smart
lower cost competitors around the world. Specialisation could transform Algarve’s econ-
omy into one based on knowledge, competi-
Yet when we explored what Smart Specialisa- tiveness and resilience.
tion was all about, we learned that it meant
concentrating resources in domains of R&I,
rather than single sectors like tourism. Applying
these domains could result in two transforma-
tive effects in our economy: One is the devel-
opment of niche products within tourism, to
create products that are harder to imitate and
“Smart Specialisation could transform Algarve’s economy into one based
on knowledge, competitiveness and resilience”
32Portugal
Centro Centro Regional Coordination and Development Commission
www.ccdrc.pt
S3 creates regional innovation hubs
The design of our S3 has increased the level of Centro’s S3 priorities are built around four in-
participation in policy making. Instrumental to novation hubs: Sustainable industrial solutions,
this was its integration with wider reflections Valorisation and efficient use of natural endog-
on a new regional action plan that underpins enous resources, Technologies for the quality
the ESIF Operational Programme. Together the of life and Territorial innovation. The latter was
package is known as CRER2020, an acronym a natural outcome of the strong participation
that includes competitiveness and resilience, of territorial interests, including Local Action
and translates as “believe” in English. This re- Groups that follow the Leader approach. Fur-
gional vision was built through brain storming thermore, these hubs overlap with the most
sessions with more than 700 people and 300 important regional clusters.
entities. It was articulated into a “Regional
Wikipedia” made up of 42 sections on different Participation in strategy design is spilling over
social and economic themes. into the implementation phase. The S3 hubs,
which are coordinated by well-known personal-
The S3 exercise emerged naturally from this ities can bring people together and foster coop-
wider process, with innovation actors becoming eration. These are the leaders and protagonists
part of a governance structure that includes a that are driving our S3 from the bottom up.
coordination council, a management team, an
expert advisory board and a regional forum.
In Centro we recognise that stimulating fertile
platforms of related variety, governance and
monitoring are the main factors that will influ-
ence the success of our S3.
“Governance and monitoring are the main factors that will influence the
success of our S3”
33Portugal
Norte Norte Regional Coordination and Development Commission
www.ccdrn.pt
A triangular methodological framework for priority setting
During the elaboration of Norte S3, one of our and assets. Nodal points were identified which
main concerns was to establish a conceptu- demonstrated the greatest potential articula-
al framework that, through the methodology tion between these two corners, which in turn
proposed by the European Commission, would were analysed quantitatively to establish the
allow a comprehensive engagement of region- level of technological and entrepreneurial re-
al stakeholders in the identification and char- latedness.
acterisation of the priority domains for Smart
Specialisation. This allowed us to construct Finally, the third corner incorporates advanced
a framework for identifying domains based users of innovation which are companies and
around three corners of a triangle, with public other institutions that produce goods and ser-
policy in the middle to coordinate the process. vices to meet demand (both domestic and
international, including public procurement).
The first corner corresponds to resources and Evaluating their needs is fundamental to the
assets of the region, in particular those that viability of S3 domains and also serves to in-
are not easily imitated or transferred, but upon form policies that promote structural changes
which tradable goods and services could be in the regional economy. Following this an-
created on a global scale. Importantly, they alytical model we pre-identified eight priori-
may be technological (analytical and synthetic ty domains categorised as nuclear (proven),
knowledge) or non-technological (for example, emerging or “wild card”, which were then fully
symbolic capital), which we measured in dif- discussed by stakeholders of the quadruple he-
ferent ways. The second corner of our trian- lix to refine and integrate into our S3.
gular model is the entrepreneurial base that
integrates and gives focus to the resources
“The construction of an analytical model from the concept of S3 is
crucial for the engagement of the stakeholders in the identification and
characterisation of the priority domains”
34Romania, Netherlands
N.E. Romania, N. Provinces Alliance N.E. Romania RDA / N. Provinces Alliance
www.adrnordest.ro / www.snn.eu/en
Strategic Cooperation with North Netherlands
Without formally devolved competences for through newly created regional innovation in-
R&I, designing a regional S3 and bringing to- cubators and living labs, tools that can drive S3
gether all the relevant stakeholders has not implementation by giving space for companies
been easy. Nevertheless, through our own ini- to share ideas, innovate and receive support to
tiative we have developed a strategy and con- solve their problems.
sulted over 250 representatives of institutions
from the “quadruple helix”. It was approved by We have worked intensively with experts from
our Regional Development Board in December SNN, receiving support from local stakeholders
2014 and gained national recognition in the and the European Commission’s Regions Peer
Regional Development Plan 2014-2020. Fur- to Peer TAIEX programme. Results are already
thermore, the number of regional innovative visible: Potential common priorities (agro food,
projects financed by EU funds has grown by waste, water, new materials and energy) have
80% between 2013 and 2015, amounting to been mapped based on value chain principles.
€342.64M. A governance and coordination system is being
constructed with widespread stakeholder par-
We still have many challenges, but have found ticipation, and sources of finance have been
inspiration through international cooperation, identified. Perhaps most importantly, lessons
including the S3 Platform peer review. One have been learned on how to understand each
outcome is a bilateral agreement with the other’s development needs and how to ap-
Alliance of Northern Netherlands Provinces proach intercultural communication.
(SNN). Starting in 2015, it aims to jointly ad-
dress societal challenges and bolster economic
growth in both regions. This will be achieved
“We still have many challenges, but have found inspiration through
international cooperation, including the S3 Platform peer review”
35Slovenia
Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy
www.svrk.gov.si/en
Co-creation of global trends
We were still in a learning stage when we start- actors called Strategic Partnerships which have
ed to prepare our S3. Although we understood begun to prepare business plans and project
the entrepreneurial discovery approach it was proposals and visions around specific value
not easy to carry out. Participation from the chains with potential. We have aimed to sys-
“quadruple helix” was limited and business in tematically take on their ideas, knowledge and
particular lacked incentives to dedicate valu- expertise.
able time and resources. But a new hands-on
approach led to a decisive shift in policy mak- Today the S3 has clearly defined areas of in-
ing. vestment and priority domains. But the main
result is without doubt the change in policy
It started with background analysis that defined making, since the new collaborative approach
three large areas where Slovenia could have a continues. Above all we have realised the
competitive advantage due to critical mass. value of these stakeholder groups, which will
But most important was what followed: A drive now govern the implementation of the priori-
to change the mind-set and perceptions of key ty domains. They will play key roles in further
stakeholders including business and research- defining niche areas of intervention, helping
ers. After many networking events, promotional to monitor progress, serve as consultants in
activities and consultations, stakeholders no preparation of roadmaps and most important-
longer looked at the process from afar and with ly, ensure the continuation of networking and
an overly critical view of government policies. collaboration.
Instead they began to form the policies.
We have set up informal groups of innovation
“The main result is without doubt the change in policy making, since the
new collaborative approach continues”
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