Regional Innovation Strategies: the role of the European Commission

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Regional Innovation Strategies the role of the
European Commission

• Alberto Licciardello
• DG Entreprise and Industry
• Innovation policy development
• IRE Workshop New generation of RIS
  Gothenburg 25 November 2008

2
Regional innovation policy and the challenges
for the EU

• Global context
• Regional disparities in Innovation capacities in
  the EU
• An emerging conceptual framework for regional
  innovation policies
• New policy developments since mid-90s in European
  Regional Policy
• The importance of social capital in
  innovation-driven regional development
• A new opportunity the EU regional policy menu
  for the promotion of innovation 2007-13

3
Regional innovation performance - 2006
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Strong regional disparities and concentration

• 86 regions have an innovative performance below
  the EU average
• Almost 30 of RD expenditure in EU-27 is
  concentrated in 10 regions (five in Germany and
  two in France)
• The 21 regions which spend at least 3 of their
  GDP on RD are concentrated in 6 countries
  (Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Sweden, UK)
• Half of the high technology patent applications
  are concentrated in only 13 central regions

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Focus of Cohesion Policy on the Lisbon agenda

• Making Europe and its regions a more attractive
  place to invest and work expand and improve
  transport infrastructures improve the
  environmental contribution to growth and jobs
  address the intensive use of traditional energy
  sources
• Knowledge and innovation for growth increase and
  improve investment in RD facilitate innovation
  and promote entrepreneurship promote the
  information society for all improve access to
  finance
• More and better jobs attract and retain more
  people in employment and modernise social
  protection systems improve adaptability of
  workers and enterprises and the flexibility of
  the labour market increase investment in human
  capital through better education and skills
  administrative capacity health and the labour
  force
• Planned Innovation investments 25 of the budget
  (86 billion)

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Innovation allocations under Cohesion Policy

• 86 billion in 386 Operational Programmes
• 62 billion in Convergence regions
• 22 billion in Competitiveness Employment
  regions
• 2.1 billion for territorial cooperationThis
  includes
• Research, technological development and
  innovation in the narrow sense 50 billion (in
  340 OPs)
• Entrepreneurship 8.3 billion (in 287 OPs)
• Innovative ICT 13 billion (in 261 OPs)
• Human capital potential in the field of research
  and innovation 14.4 billion (in 181 OPs)
• Massive increase compared to 2000-2006 period
• 26 billion ( 11 of the total SF budget)
  invested in research and innovation in the broad
  sense, of which 10.7 billion in RTDI in the
  narrow sense

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What is Innovation Policy?

• Public actors activities to
• facilitate the innovation process by using in a
  coordinated way a number of different soft
  public tools ( command and control impossible)
• develop or complete the national / regional
  innovation system
• promote interactions between the innovation
  players (university-enterprise links, business
  networks) and entrepreneurial spirit
• This should combine
• supply side (research infrastructures, finance,
  education, technology transfer service, etc.)
• with demand side measures (environmental /
  health and safety legislation, intelligent public
  procurement, access to global markets, etc.) and
• be based on the analysis of the innovation
  potential / gaps in it in the country / region
  and evaluation to improve and adjust
• Strategic approach partnership !

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Commission services involved

• DG ENTR innovation policy, entrepreneurship,
  e-business, CIP coordination
• DG RTD research, technological development,
  demonstration, ERA, 3 objective, FP7
  coordination
• DG INFSO information society, ICT application
  (CIP), ICT research (FP7), regulation
• DG REGIO ERDF largest EU RTDI budget, but
  implementation decisions not taken at EU level
• Also involved
• DG TREN Energy efficiency, renewable energies,
  market replication (CIP), Strategic Energy
  Technology Plan (SET Plan)
• DG ENV Environmental Technologies,
  eco-innovation (CIP)
• DG EAC Education training, European Institute
  of Innovation and Technology (EIIT)
• DG EMPL ESF for developing and up-grading
  skills, human potential in the field of research
• DG COMP state aid framework for RTDI

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Regional dimension in the EU innovation policy

• Origin Pilot actions 1994-1999 - Regional
  Innovation Strategies and action plans
  RIS/RTP/RITTS
• Developing innovation capability in regions
• Common methodology, new role of the region
  shaper and stimulator
• Involvement of key regional actors
• 2000 RIS integrated into the Innovation part of
  the FP6 managed by DG ENTR
• Second generation (RIS-NAC)
• Future new generation of RIS (no EU funding for
  RIS projects as such)
• Guidance
• Innovative Strategies Actions Results of 15
  years of experimentation
• http//ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/funds/2007/in
  novation/guide_innovation_en.pdf
• IRE Network website http//www.innovating-regions
  .org/

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Regional Innovation Systems

• a range of actors and resources necessary for
  innovation in the region, in particular
• Infrastructures and regional sources of knowledge
  and expertise (public and private)
• Support services (exchanges of experience,
  technology transfer, incubation ...)
• Access to finance (seed, VC, guarantees ...)
• Transfers of competences and co-operation between
  different regional development and innovation
  actors (esp. university-enterprise)

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Key elements in developing a Regional Innovation
Strategy

• Limited number of priorities identified
• Based on foresight evaluation
• Defined and carried out in partnership, with
  clear leadership
• Involvement and ownership of all the actors
• Communication before, during and after
• Continuous evaluation

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Effective regional innovation strategies

• mobilise the actors involved in a particular area
  of activity (whether an economic or social
  sector) to
• Review the situation in the domain or sector of
  activity in the region and compare it to that in
  competing regions
• Establish objectives and sectoral priorities,
  justifying these choices
• Identify and allocate financing available for
  each sector or area of activity
• Define public interventions under a multi-annual
  action plan to ensure continuity of action

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Some criteria for successful regional innovation
strategies

• solid political commitment and consensus
  maintained over time substantial long term
  investments
• public sector to provide leadership rather than
  control and catalyze economic development by
  promoting new ideas and partnerships
• priority to the "process" and "policy delivery"
  mechanisms, over and above short-term results,
  through solid public-private partnerships
• Regional RTDI policy based on demand through
  understanding of the real business needs and
  regional RTDI capacities, in particular SMEs
• put theory into practice through flagship
  projects and continuous evaluation, taking risks
  and learning from past errors

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• Thank you!

IRE Workshop New generation of RIS
Gothenburg 25 November 2008