Smart specialisation: The concept and its application to EU cohesion policy
The persistent gap between European regions as regards research and innovation performance provides a strong case for policies tailored to the local context that foster structural change. This is where smart specialisation comes into play, providing a path for innovation-driven differentiation and economic transformation, building on local assets and comparative strengths. To achieve maximum impact, efforts and investments are expected to focus on a limited number of priorities, identified through a discovery process in which entrepreneurs play a central role. This place-based approach and logic of prioritisation have been found to be broadly consistent with the overall reforms of EU cohesion policy, aiming to improve spending efficiency and impact. Consequently, having a research and innovation strategy for smart specialisation (RIS3) in place has become a prerequisite to receiving funding from the European Regional Development Fund. The link between RIS3 and cohesion policy is the subject of a report currently in preparation within the European Parliament Committee on Regional Development. Initial assessments of smart specialisation strategies, carried out in early 2015, have so far delivered a mixed picture, notably regarding the choice of priorities, often considered as too generic or insufficiently connected to the regional economic and innovation structures. In 2016, a high-level conference will provide an opportunity for further, and more informed, evaluation of the implementation of the smart specialisation approach in the European Union.
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- BUSINESS AND COMPETITION
- business organisation
- competitiveness
- economic and social cohesion
- ECONOMICS
- entrepreneurship
- EU finance
- EU financing
- EU growth strategy
- EU regional policy
- European construction
- EUROPEAN UNION
- innovation
- PRODUCTION, TECHNOLOGY AND RESEARCH
- regional development
- regions and regional policy
- research and development
- research and intellectual property