The European Commission’s scienceand knowledge service

Joint Research Centre

Targeted Support to Smart Specialisation

in Lagging Regions

Mark Boden

Anabela Marques Santos

Territorial Development Unit,

European Commission Joint Research Centre

14th November 2019

JRC project "Targeted Support to RIS3 Implementation"

Four closely complementary JRC activities

STRIVE - Support to Transitions in Regional Innovation Eco-systems

RIS3 Support

to Lagging

Regions

RIS3 Support

to Romania

Higher Education

+VET in Smart

Specialisation

Stairway to

Excellence

European

Parliament

DG REGIO

European

Parliament

DG REGIO

DG EAC

DG EMPL

European

Parliament

DG REGIO

2016 - 2020 2016 - 2019 HESS3 - 2018-20 S2E-4 2018-20

Észak-Alföld Nord-Vest

Nord-Est

Eastern Macedonia

and Thrace

Puglia

Warminsko

Masurskie

Targeted support to RIS3 implementation in selected regions

MAIN AIM: Support the refinement and implementation of the RIS3

of selected EU regions

Generate lessons and a model for other regions

Test-bed for theories on S3 and for understanding RIS3

Main objectives

Low-growth regions:

GDP/capita below EU average

Less developed regions:

GDP/capita 50% of EU average

Develop and provide appropriate and specific support to selected regions in RIS3 implementation

Develop and implement horizontal approaches to key

issues in the growth and governance of RIS3

Activities aligned with 2021-7 enabling condition of good

governance of smart specialisation strategy with 7

fulfilment criteria

Geographical Coverage

1. Low-growth regions

(GDP/capita below EU average)

• Greece

• Italy

• Portugal

• Spain

2. Less developed regions

(GDP/capita 50% of EU average)

• Bulgaria

• Hungary

• Poland

• Romania

• Croatia (stage 2)

Lagging Regions I (2016-18) Lagging Regions II (2018-20)

BG Severen Tsentralen national level

HR national level

EL Eastern Macedonia & Thrace

(since 2014), national roll-out

Central Macedonia, Western

Greece, national level

HU Észak-Alföld

(Hajdú Bihar county)

national level

IT Puglia Puglia & Campania

PL Warminsko Mazurskie Kujawsko-Pomorskie,

Lubuskie, Podlaskie

PT Centro Centro,

national level (HESS)

ES Extremadura Extremadura, national/regional

linkages

RO Nord-Est, Nord-Vest Rollout to all 8 regions,

national level

History…

RIS3 in the Region of

Eastern Macedonia and

Thrace

• 2014 - 5

• EP – Preparatory Action

• AA - DG REGIO

Project timeline 2014-2020

Dec

2015

July

2018

July

2019June

2020

Lagging Regions I

(July 2016 –June 2018)Lagging Regions II

(July 2018 –June 2020)

RIS3 in Romania

(July 2016 – June 2020)

July

2016Sept

2014

Dec

2019

RIS3 in REMTh

(Sept 2014 –Dec 2015)

Specific (Vertical) vs. General (Horizontal) Support

Specific (Vertical) Support:• Specifically tailored to the needs of the territory (region/member state)

• Centred on stakeholder engagement - defined in collaboration with the local

government authorities and REGIO

General (Horizontal): • Peer- and mutual-learning

• Workshops involving representatives from all the regions of the project

• Foci: RIS3 Monitoring and Evaluation, Governance, Transitions

Collaboration and engagement:• EP, JRC, REGIO, independent experts, local stakeholders (quadruple helix).

1. Up-to-date analysis of bottlenecks for innovation diffusion, including digitalisation

2. Existence of competent regional/national institution or body, responsible for the management of the smart specialisation strategy

3. Monitoring and evaluation tools to measure performance towards the objectives of the strategy

4. Effective functioning of entrepreneurial discovery process

5. Actions necessary to improve national or regional research and innovation systems

6. Actions to manage industrial transition

7. Measures for international collaboration

+ Crosscutting concern: enhancing administrative capacity building and cooperation

Enabling condition Policy Objective 1:

Good governance of S3 – 7 fulfilment criteria

specific support to

regions

horizontal support

combined support

Project Toolbox

EDP

focus groups

MOOC on RIS3

monitoring

Project

Development

Labs

WGs on RIS3

governance,

monitoring &

evaluation

Profiling and

analysis of RIS3

implementation

Specific (vertical) support

General (horizontal)

support

WG on managing

and understanding

Industrial

transitions

Board of Critical

Friends

(since 2014)

WG on

interregional

collaboration

Specific support: Catalysing the EDP in Lagging Regions

• EDP focus groups• Based on JRC methodology to engage Quadruple Helix stakeholders to

develop priorities and identify ideas for innovative projects

• First developed in Eastern Macedonia & Thrace (EL) (wine, tourism, marble, meat and dairy etc.)

• Rolled out and refined across LR partner regions and beyond

• Also applied at sub-regional level (e.g. mechatronics, Gabrovo, BG)

• Project Development Labs (PDL)• Aim to further develop the project ideas resulted form the EDP workshops -

focus on possible funding sources (link to S2E)

Example of EDP Workshop

(Cluj, NV Romania 2016)

Cosmetics and food supplements

based on natural resources

38 project ideas:

• Database of plant resources - edible plants

for anti/healthy-ageing

• Anti-acne products

• Transylvanian Cosmatopea Cluster

• Locally branded bio products

• In-house technology quality control and

testing of ingredients and final products

• Smart packaging: anti-microbe protection

and smart labels changing colour if expired

• Cosmetics and (para)pharma: From

harmful to beneficial cosmetics

Horizontal support: Monitoring and Evaluation

• LR1 Monitoring Working Group

• Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)

• Identification of next steps in furthering monitoring & evaluation of RIS3 outcomes (→LR2)

• LR2 Monitoring Working Group

• Coordination of national and regional RIS3 monitoring

• Use of national and international open data for RIS3

• Evaluation of RIS3

Monitoring & Evaluation impact

• JRC MOOC initially developed with Lagging Regions for monitoring S3 priority areas

• Combining functions: measuring & accountability + communication & learning

• No simple recipe: good monitoring system requires significant knowledge of the territory and its strategy in all its complexity

• Coordination of national and regional RIS3 monitoring

• cross-regional stakeholder working groups

• Integration of evaluation of RIS3 – efficient, appropriate, effective –

• a well-functioning M&E system, the right governance? the right priorities? identifiable RIS3 impacts

JRC Massive Online Open Coursehttps://iversity.org/en/courses/monitoring-smart-Specialisation-strategies

RIS3 Governance

• LR1 Governance Working Group• Key issues in RIS3 governance RIS3: multilevel governance and

sustaining EDP over the long term

• identification of key bottlenecks in RIS3 governance, and agenda for future activities (→LR2)

• LR2 Governance Working Group• Coordination between national and regional level (regulatory

aspects, funding synergies, institutional capacity)

• Integration of stakeholder input in the governance process

Interregional cooperation in Lagging Regions

Key issues:

• How can interregional cooperation support the implementation of RIS3?

• Key dimensions of interregional cooperation in enhancing the innovation ecosystemsof lagging regions (resources, competences, ideas, governance)?

• Can interregional cooperation, through spill-over effects and exchange of practices,increase the capacities of regional innovation actors and institutions?

• Can cooperation between lagging and advanced regions make the regionalecosystem more innovative?

• Alignment with fulfilment criterion 7 - enabling condition of good governance of S3

➢Analysis of current status of and key issues in interregional cooperation, building onliterature and case studies in lagging regions.

➢Organisation of mutual learning workshops with partner regions and other relevantstakeholders.

Managing Industrial Transitions

• Addressing the challenge of deindustrialisation

• Exploring the central role of RIS3 strategies in responding to deindustrialisation

• How best to support regions in better tailoring RIS3 to the specific challenges of industrial transitions?

• Detailed analysis of key issues with hands-on engagement and mutual learning activity with stakeholders in both lagging and transition regions.

• Expert review and workshop

• Mutual learning working group

• Criterion 6

LR1&LR2: Lessons learned

• EDP is a continuous process: needs sustained and systematic interaction among stakeholders and effective coordination between national and regional authorities

• RIS3 governance is a key challenge in all regions: crucial to identify and acknowledge clearly the responsibilities of RIS3 governance bodies vs OP Managing Authorities.

• Monitoring and evaluation require significant capacity-building in pursuing both the development of region-specific indicators and (inter)national benchmarking. The role of Open Data and Open-Gov initiatives is to be further exploited.

• There is clear demand for support to prepare for the next programming period.

• EU Regions, and especially Lagging Regions benefit from longitudinal and international peer-learning opportunities and support.

http://s3platform.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ris3-in-lagging-regions

RIS3 in Bulgaria: Ongoing activities

• Analysis of S3 governance

• Participation in thematic meetings for S3 revision (Sofia organized by the Ministry of Economy)

• Bilateral meetings with the Ministry of Economy, Operational Programmes Agencies, Ministry of Education

• Study on intermediate organizations (governance, monitoring, evaluation)

• Horizontal activities and peer learning

• EDP focus groups in Plovdiv and Varna

BG: Main challenges identified so far

• Need to reconnect the centre with the periphery (national S3 vs local strategies)

• Need to encourage the establishment of a network of S3 supporting intermediary actors (development/innovation agencies, business associations…)

• Fill the gap between higher education institutions and business

• Work on capacity building and awareness of S3 as a tool for growth and competitiveness

Focus of JRC efforts in BG

• Need to reconnect the centre with the periphery (national S3 vs local strategies)

• Need to encourage the establishment of a network of S3 supporting intermediary actors (development/innovation agencies, business associations…)

• Fill the gap between higher education institutions and business

• Work on capacity building and awareness of S3 as a tool for growth and competitiveness

Greece - Challenges

• Hybrid national + regional RIS3; lion's share of resources at national level

• Long-standing imbalance in national innovation policy in favour of public research system (at the expense of business innovation)

• Regional administrations have weak capabilities and little or no experience with innovation policy

• RIS3 de facto handed to M.A.s; EDP has not continued and monitoring is partial, not according to the logic of RIS3

• Governance structure for RIS3 not fully in place in regions:→Only 3 (out of 13) regions established a RIS3 Technical Office (ΦΔΠ) but only one is operating

→Regional Research and Innovation Councils dominated by academics (by law)

→Lack of clarity about division of tasks/responsibilities

• Activation uneven and slow (no payments to businesses by Dec. 2018)

Greece - Activities

• Engagement with national level (GSRT), roll-out to all regions (via RIS3 network of Ministry of Economy) and direct partnership with regions of Central Macedonia and Western Greece.

• Tackle both current implementation bottlenecks and preparedness for the next programming period (fulfillment criteria)

• Surveys of RIS3 in Greece in 2017 and 2018 allowed to benchmark progress

• Pilot Study on Monitoring in Western Greece and C. Macedonia + National layers

• Workshop with all 13 regions and national authorities (Thessaloniki Feb 2019) with participatory exercise on governance task allocations.

In preparation:

• Review of Industrial Transition

• 2-day workshop with all regions to identify workable division of governance tasks (Nov. 2019) and good practices in EDP

RIS3 in Romania: national & regionalDifferent paths of RIS3 implementation: approach, methodology, managing authorities, funding

→ JRC support to improving coordination between the two levels

At national level: National R&I Strategy 2014-2020, with four RIS3 priorities:1. Bioeconomy

2. ICT, space and security

3. Energy, environment, climate change;

4. Eco-nano-technologies and advanced materials

Intermediary Body: Ministry of Research and Innovation

Funding: Competitiveness OP PA1, National RDI Plan

At regional level: 7 regions out of 8 have a RIS3 Strategy• RIS3 strategy of Nord Est region

• RIS3 strategy of Centru region

• RIS3 Strategy of Sud Muntenia region

• RIS3 Strategy of Sud Vest Oltenia region

• RIS3 Strategy of Sud Est region

• RIS3 Strategy of Vest region

• RIS3 Strategy of North West region

• RIS3 strategy of Bucharest-Ilfov (capital) region in preparation with JRC support

Managing Authority: Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration

Funding: Regional OP PA1

Targeted Support to RIS3 in Romania: Project toolbox

EDP

workshops

Technology

management

course

Project

Development

Labs

WGs on RIS3

Monitoring and

Governance

(LR1)

Better coordination

national-regional RIS3

authorities

Board of

"Critical

Friends"

HESS pilot

phase (NE)

Project writing

training

courses

Country-specific

activities(in the framework of

the RO project)

Horizontal activities

for all regions(in the framework of

the Lagging Regions

project)

Thematic

Workshops

(S3P )

WGs on RIS3

Governance

(LR2)

Support to inter-regional cooperation

Workshop on inter-regional cooperation

Twinning Leading and Lagging regions

MOOC on

RIS3

Governance

EDPSupport to MA for

technical-financial

evaluation of projects

RIS3

governance

Engaging

the QH

Studies of

the "third

mission"

Workshop

innovative financial

instruments

Consultations on the new

National RIS3 Strategy

Other S3P

activities (PXL,

S2E Learning

Lab, etc.)

Workshop &

expert study on

RIS3 governance

1. Ensure good functioning of the EDP process

2. Improve RIS3 governance and the institutional capacity of

national and regional authorities

3. Use RIS3 as a tool for technology modernisation, to stimulate

involvement of (technology-oriented) companies

4. Use RIS3 as a tool for advancing human capital (new skills and

competences, training courses, support services)

5. Policy coordination among several fields involved by RIS3:

✓Research and innovation policy

✓ Industrial policy

✓Regional development policy

RIS3 implementation as a mechanism to:

• Accelerate the development of regional innovation systems and

articulation with the national innovation system

• Reform the R&I system and ensure transition to a R&I ecosystem

Main challenges for RIS3 implementation in Romania