Innovation and the Structural Funds, 20072013

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Innovation and the Structural Funds, 2007-2013

• Antwerp, 16 January 2007
• Veronica Gaffey
• Innovative Actions Unit
• DG Regional Policy, European Commission

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Regional Innovation Performance (2006)
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Innovation a Regional Necessity

• Factors of competitiveness no longer derive from
  costs or natural or geographical advantages but
  in the capacity of enterprises to innovate
• Regional Diversity within Member States Less
  developed regions have an even greater interest
  in developing their innovative capacity in the
  stronger sectors of their economy (long term
  benefits)
• Regions the appropriate level for stimulating
  innovation
• Potential also for less exposed sectors (e.g.
  education, health, personal services,
  administration)

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The Process of Innovation

• Performance of a region in innovation depends not
  only on the performance of enterprises and
  research institutes, but also the manner in which
  they interact
• Innovation is the result of frequent interactions
  between different actors, enterprises,
  organisations whose knowledge and know-how
  accumulates
• Proximity between different actors facilitates
  the acquisition, accumulation and use of
  knowledge
• Therefore, greater emphasis on networks which
  link the enterprise to its environment (other
  enterprises, universities, research institutes,
  etc.)

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Structural Cohesion Fund Programming

• New Regulations Financial Perspectives,
  December 20005
• Community Strategic Guidelines, October 2006
• National Strategic Reference Frameworks (informal
  negotiations underway)
• Operational Programmes under 3 Objectives
• Convergence
• Regional Competitiveness and Employment
• Territorial Cohesion
• No separate budget lines for community
  initiatives/pilot projects/ innovative actions
  (as in the past for EU15)

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Innovation in National Strategic Reference
Frameworks

• Innovation an important priority in all NSRFs
• Operations proposed are in line with the
  Community Strategic Guidelines, but not linked to
  strategic SWOT analysis, national initiatives and
  regional specificities
• Commission expecting much more detail in
  Operational Programmes

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Innovation in Operational Programmes

• Major investment (particularly in Convergence
  Objective regions) in environment supportive to
  innovation (knowledge infrastructure, education
  and business support)
• All regions possibility to support a process to
  develop or improve a regional innovation strategy
  including experimentation - whereby new ways to
  improve public policy in support of regional
  development can be planned and tested

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Regional Strategies for Innovation Experience
from last 15 years

• Regional Innovation Strategies, which evolve over
  time, are central
• New partnerships (particularly with private
  sector) can enhance legitimacy and focus, improve
  co-ordination and guarantee transparency
• Importance of links to mainstream
• Regions generally the most appropriate level
• These instruments can be catalysts for innovation
  through acceptance of risk
• Demonstration effects and visibility need for
  evaluation
• Competence and motivation of those managing
  experimentation is crucial can improve
  administrative capacity of regions

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Developing a Regional Innovation Strategy

• Build on experience gained to-date
• Identify a sector for the strategy where the
  region has potential to develop (e.g.,
  information society, environmental technologies,
  tourism, health personal services)
• Involve appropriate public and private actors in
  the development, monitoring and evaluation of
  innovation strategies and experimentation of
  actions which can support innovation and which
  can be implemented more extensively after testing
  through the priorities of the OPs
• Public sector acts as facilitator and catalyst,
  supporting an increase in the capacity of policy
  interventions and intermediary organisations to
  stimulate regional and local actors SMEs in
  particular to innovate

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What is an effective Innovation Strategy?

• An effective innovation strategy mobilises 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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The actors in a Regional Innovation System?

• Public authorities (regional authorities,
  regional development agencies, municipalities,
  other local authorities, Ministries, other
  funding bodies, etc.)
• Education and research bodies (universities,
  institutes of technology, research institutes)
• Enterprises, chambers of commerce, social
  partners
• (the triple helix model or the innovation
  eco-system)

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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 and involvement and ownership of
  the actors
• Communication before, during and after
• Continuous evaluation

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Experimentation testing new approaches and
actions

• Pilot actions can clarify the appropriateness of
  the strategy
• Can allow testing of new actions (policy risk) to
  open up activity niches outside traditional
  procedures and progammes
• In the long term can promote absorption

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Supports from European Commission

• Guidance Document Innovative Strategies
  Actions Results of 15 years of experimentation
  at
• http//ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/funds/2007/inn
  ovation/guide_innovation_en.pdf
• Re-vamped Inforegio website including database of
  project case studies good practice examples
  from March 2007
• Regional Innovation Awards first competition to
  be launched in March 2007