scholarly journals Smart specialisation in regions with less-developed research and innovation systems: A changing role for universities?

2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Vallance ◽  
Jiří Blažek ◽  
John Edwards ◽  
Viktor Květoň
Keyword(s):  
Innovation Systems ◽  
Regional Innovation ◽  
Strategy Formation ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Smart Specialisation ◽  
Innovation Strategies ◽  
Research Organisations ◽  
Changing Role

Universities and other knowledge institutions have quickly come to be seen as central to smart specialisation. However, their exact role in Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation has yet to receive much critical attention in the academic literature. This is particularly notable as defining features of smart specialisation – such as the entrepreneurial dynamic of the strategy-formation process, and differentiated nature of the goals for strategies in regions with varying research and innovation capabilities – represent challenges to the notion that public research organisations should be drivers of smart specialisation in all regions. This paper articulates these conceptual tensions and then explores how they are unfolding in practice with particular reference to regions with less-developed research and innovation systems. The empirical material is drawn from a European-wide survey of institutional factors affecting the implementation of Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation and two regional case studies from Central and Eastern Europe. Overall the paper reveals a multifaceted picture of still emerging (and potentially conflicting) dynamics around the introduction of smart specialisation that have the potential to reconfigure the role of universities in regional innovation systems in Europe.

scholarly journals Turning Straw to Gold: Mobilising Symmetry in Responsible Research and Innovation

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annapurna Mamidipudi ◽  
Nina Frahm
Keyword(s):  
Global South ◽  
Innovation Systems ◽  
Responsible Research And Innovation ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
Innovation Practices ◽  
Local Innovation Systems ◽  
Responsible Research ◽  
Rice Straw Burning

This article aims to reflect on the role of Science, Technology and Society (STS) research(ers) in co-constructing Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) in the Global South. By reporting on RRI research in the Global South, here the Indo-Dutch NWO-MVI project on rice straw burning in Punjab, we make an argument for approaching RRI as a symmetric process of knowledge production mobilised by local actors and researchers alike. For STS researchers to responsibly engage with local innovation systems, their activities need to go beyond knowledge provision and towards facilitating the ownership and circulation of local meanings and means to responsibly innovate. Rather than understanding RRI as a fixed framework to govern innovation practices, this article reflects on RRI as an approach that combines research with intervention. We propose that following the principle of symmetry can turn RRI into a productive tool for the mobilisation of embedded local principles that can organise innovation systems in a responsible way. In particular, symmetry allows the re-location of meanings and practices of innovation as well as the re-negotiation of multiple notions of responsible governance.

Guest editorial on research and innovation strategies for smart specialisation in Europe

2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 378-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikel Landabaso
Keyword(s):  
Innovation Management ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Economic Transformation ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Smart Specialisation ◽  
Innovation Strategies

Purpose – This Special Issue of the European Journal of Innovation Management sheds new light on the burning issue of Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3), both in terms of their policy formulation and their practical implementation in the field. This new policy approach refers to the process of priority setting in national and regional research and innovation strategies in order to build “place-based” competitive advantages and help regions and countries develop an innovation-driven economic transformation agenda. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – This is an important topic both in the current debate about a new industrial policy for Europe and as a policy option for a successful crisis exit strategy led by public investments in the real economy. Moreover, smart specialisation is promoted by the European Commission as an ex ante conditionality for all regions in Europe to receive European Structural and Investment Funds in the field of innovation. Thus, it has become a pre-requisite for accessing fresh funds for investing in badly needed innovation-driven productivity growth throughout the European Union (EU). Findings – The six papers in this Special Issue are the fruit of ground-breaking research and policy testing by nearly 20 leading academics and policy makers throughout the EU. They explore the early smart specialisation concept and its further developments, examine the methodological tools at its disposal and advance specific policy proposals and governance considerations based on actual experimentation in the field. Originality/value – All these make the present Special Issue of the European Journal of Innovation Management an important research milestone. This Special Issue is the fruit of a call towards the European academic and research community to help shaping and advancing the smart specialisation concept and thus contribute to better position regions and countries in the global economy through innovation-driven policies.

scholarly journals Towards regional responsible research and innovation? Integrating RRI and RIS3 in European innovation policy

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 772-783 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rune Dahl Fitjar ◽  
Paul Benneworth ◽  
Bjørn Terje Asheim
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Innovation Policy ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Responsible Research And Innovation ◽  
Policy Agenda ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Smart Specialisation ◽  
Geographical Scale ◽  
Innovation Strategies ◽  
Responsible Research

Abstract This article develops a model for a regional responsible research and innovation (RRI) policy, integrating existing European Union policies on RRI, and on research and innovation strategies for smart specialisation (RIS3). RRI and RIS3 are central concepts in the EU’s innovation policy agenda, but there are tensions between the two approaches. The place-based approach inherent in RIS3 is missing from RRI, which has a fuzzy concept of geographical scale and is vulnerable to mismatches between the scale of innovations and of the associated governance networks involved in the innovation process. Meanwhile, the multitude of visions, values and stakeholder perceptions embodied in the RRI concept is countered by the more optimistic and unitary imagining of a regional future in RIS3. We highlight that Europe’s innovation challenges can only be resolved by leveraging the strengths of both types of innovation policy.

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