Aligning Metropolitan Innovation Strategies

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Aligning Metropolitan
Innovation Strategies for the
Common Good of the Baltic Sea Region
Mr. Pekka Sauri Deputy
Mayor of Helsinki Seminar Boosting
Innovation through Metropolitan
Partnership at Brussels Open Days, 9 Oct
2007
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• Baltic Metropolises Innovation Strategy BaltMet
  Inno project
• Baltic Sea Region INTERREG III B project
• Duration 1 January 2005 31 December, 2007
• Budget MEUR 2.6
• 14 partners from Berlin, Copenhagen, Malmö,
  Helsinki, Riga, Stockholm, Tallinn and St.
  Petersburg, 3 observers (Oslo, Warsaw, Vilnius)
• City of Helsinki is the Lead Partner (LP),
  Culminatum is the project coordinator
• Flagship project of BaltMet network

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• The Baltic Sea Archipelago of Innovation rests on
  four pillars
• A strategy and a governance regime positioning
  the Baltic Sea with its competences in science
  and technology-based innovation as a
  polycentric and diversified innovation
  archipelago at the top of the innovation chain
• A communication framework to be used in
  branding the region and strengthening its
  identity
• A selected portfolio of well connected, globally
  competitive science and technology clusters
  supported by creative environments
• An innovation and entrepreneuship (IE)
  infrastructure based on a set of qualified
  innovation competences and skills, and supported
  by a portfolio of IE support programs and
  instruments

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Aligning Innovation Strategies in Baltic
Metropolises
The main goals Improved quality and coordination
of local and regional innovation strategies and
related strategy processes in the Baltic
Metropolises and between them Inclusion of BSR
focused, transnationally complementary elements
in the innovation strategies of Baltic
Metropolises Achievement of economics of scale
as well as economies of scope between the Baltic
Metropolises
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• Starting point
• Very few metropolitan innovation strategies
  existed
• Three different cases
• Local The Innovation Strategy Helsinki
  Metropolitan Area
• Regional The Coherent Innovation Strategy
  (Berlin Senate)
• National The Latvian Innovation System
  Strategy and Action Plan 2005- 2010

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Existing or planned innovation and related
strategies at national, regional and
local level
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• Helsinki example on creating and managing
• a metropolitan innovation strategy (2003-2007)
• POLITICAL INITIATIVE MADE
• Lord Mayor of Helsinki called together Helsinki
  Club of leading policymakers
• PROJECT ESTABLISHED
• Regional development agency Culminatum Ltd, Oy
  launched the project.
• HIGH PROFILE CHAMPIONS INVOLVED
• Six special subject teams dealt with the topics
  (1) the role of the cities (2) development
• platforms (3) seed financing (4) creative sectors
  (5) the technology centre concept (6) Helsinki
• Region as an international setting for education
  and research.
• REGIONAL STAKEHOLDERS INVOLVED
• More than one hundred influential people were
  interviewed in the Helsinki Region
• STRATEGY LAUNCHED WITH SHARED VISION AND SET
  GOALS

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• The main results of BaltMet Inno
• Analysis of existing innovation strategies and
  strategy processes
• Local innovation strategy drafts for two of the
  participating cities, Riga and Tallinn
• Handbook for designing a local innovation
  strategy for a metropolitan area
• Surveys made on innovation in public procurement
  and planning as well as design of innovation
  infrastructure and creative environments

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• How can complementary innovation structures be
  achieved
• across the borders?
• Challenges
• Different roles and resources of local/regional
  level with regard to innovation policy
• Differences in RD spending
• Varying level of innovation awareness
• Competition between regions

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• Future Prospects
• Joint governance of innovation related strategies
  is necessary for
• the pursuit of a prosperous Baltic Sea.
• Thus, the collaboration should be seen as a
  partnership for
• growth - a contractual framework between
  metropolitan
• parties pursuing the same goals, and having
  specified and joint
• rights and responsibilities.
• BaltMet partnership for growth, is an instrument
  for joint
• strategies and policies at the European level,
  allowing partner
• regions to choose their own priorities and level
  of cooperation.
• Discussion on concerete co-operation cases has
  already started.

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Thank You!