Smart specialisation as a new concept of the EU regional innovation policy

Ergo ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 16-20
Author(s):  
Vladislav Čadil
Keyword(s):  
Innovation Policy ◽  
Research Development ◽  
Regional Innovation ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Smart Specialisation ◽  
Europe 2020 ◽  
Europe 2020 Strategy ◽  
Eu Policies ◽  
Programming Period ◽  
The Eu

Smart specialisation is a main pillar of the Europe 2020 strategy, which creates the basic strategic framework for individual EU policies including the cohesion policy and the research, development and innovation policy for the new programming period. The concept can be defined as a discovery of national/regional strengths in the field of research, development and innovation. Its key characteristic is an accent on innovation and concentration of human and financial resources allocated to research and development into several globally competitive fields, which can become a basis for the next economic growth and prosperity. Each region or state should prepare new innovation strategies based on smart specialisation since such strategies are conditionality for negotiation of new operational programmes. Because the concept is relatively new in the Czech Republic, the article aims at introducing it on the basis of foreign literature and official EU documents, and discussing some problems that should be taken into account in designing the strategy.

scholarly journals Policies Supporting Innovation In The European Union In The Context Of The Lisbon Strategy And The Europe 2020 Strategy

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek Gajewski
Keyword(s):  
Development Policy ◽  
Innovation Policy ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
Rapid Change ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Europe 2020 ◽  
Europe 2020 Strategy ◽  
Eu Policies ◽  
The Eu

In the context of increasing globalization, global competition and rapid change the EU sees innovation and its commercialization as an effective way to build long-term global competitive advantage. Innovation policy is a link between research and technological development policy and industrial policy and makes it possible to create conditions conducive to bringing ideas to the market. It is also closely linked to other EU policies regarding e.g. employment, competitiveness, environment, industry and energy. This paper presents the evolution, conditions and objectives of the innovation policy of the European, and describes the main assumptions of the Lisbon and Europe 2020 strategies. Additionally it indicates possible ways of assessing the measures undertaken within the above-mentioned policies and of determining the tools necessary to implement the strategies.

scholarly journals Effectiveness of the Portugal 2020 Programme: A Study from the Citizens’ Perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 5799
Author(s):  
Adriana Nishimura ◽  
Ana Moreira ◽  
Manuel Au-Yong-Oliveira ◽  
Maria José Sousa
Keyword(s):  
The European Union ◽  
Cohesion Policy ◽  
Investment Funds ◽  
Europe 2020 ◽  
Europe 2020 Strategy ◽  
Partnership Agreement ◽  
Programming Period ◽  
Main Instrument ◽  
Probabilistic Sample ◽  
The Eu

The European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) are the main instrument of the European Union (EU) Cohesion Policy to promote convergence, economic growth and reduce imbalances between EU members. The objectives of the 2014–2020 programming period follow the agenda of the Europe 2020 Strategy to promote smart, sustainable and inclusive growth of EU members. Since before joining the EU, in 1986, until the end of the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement (PT2020), Portugal will have received more than EUR 130 billion. Have the subsidies that Portugal has received been well applied? Our study fills a gap in the literature by portraying citizens’ perceptions about the effectiveness of EU funds for the development of the country and its regions. The study is quantitative in nature, and a non-probabilistic sample of 1119 participants answered our survey. A high proportion (76%) of the respondents considered that EU funds contributed to the development of the region where they live, although a significant percentage of the respondents (more than half) considered that there may be corruption in Portugal. The Portuguese also mentioned the existence of practices such as favouritism and lobbying regarding the approval of projects. Our findings are supported by the literature, which refers to “lost opportunities” in the inefficient application of ESIF, while recognising that EU funds have played a significant role in Portugal’s development over the last three decades.

scholarly journals New idea of building regional innovative capacities – smart specialisations

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (320) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Ewa Nowakowska
Keyword(s):  
Innovation Policy ◽  
First Century ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Regional Innovation ◽  
Europe 2020 ◽  
Europe 2020 Strategy ◽  
Innovation Capacity ◽  
New Vision ◽  
Smart Specialization ◽  
Development Trajectories

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, low competitiveness of the economy and the deepening gap relative to the world’s economic powers was the key problem of the European Community. Also, weak innovativeness of the economy, underdeveloped R&D sector with inefficiency of public policy are seen as leading EU challenges These problems have become the basis for criticism of current innovation policy and the search for new methods, tools, and development trajectories. The answer to these challenges is the concept of smart regional specializations proposed along with a new vision of the development of the EU’s, known as Europe 2020 Strategy. Smart specialization is a new paradigm for building competitive advantage of regions. It is also a new way of regional innovation policy, aiming to eliminate barriers and failures in building innovation capacity of regions. The purpose of this article is to show the essence of the concept of regional smart specializations. Article identifies the theoretical assumptions and describes the key elements of this new approach. It exposes the novelty of the concept and identifies the challenges of its implementation.

BIOECONOMY DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL BASED ON MORE EFFICIENT LAND USE IN THE EU

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irina PILVERE ◽  
Aleksejs NIPERS ◽  
Bartosz MICKIEWICZ
Keyword(s):  
Green Growth ◽  
Member States ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Growing Stock ◽  
Europe 2020 ◽  
Europe 2020 Strategy ◽  
Analysis And Synthesis ◽  
Key Industries ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Production Resource

Europe 2020 Strategy highlights bioeconomy as a key element for smart and green growth in Europe. Bioeconomy in this case includes agriculture, forestry, fisheries, food and pulp and paper production, parts of chemical, biotechnological and energy industries and plays an important role in the EU’s economy. The growth of key industries of bioeconomy – agriculture and forestry – highly depends on an efficient and productive use of land as a production resource. The overall aim of this paper is to evaluate opportunities for development of the main sectors of bioeconomy (agriculture and forestry) in the EU based on the available resources of land. To achieve this aim, several methods were used – monographic, analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, statistical analysis methods. The findings show that it is possible to improve the use of land in the EU Member States. If all the Member States reached the average EU level, agricultural products worth EUR 77 bln would be annually additionally produced, which is 19 % more than in 2014, and an extra 5 billion m3 volume of forest growing stock would be gained, which is 20 % more than in 2010.

scholarly journals Can the implementation of the Europe 2020 Strategy goals be efficient? The challenge for achieving social equality in the European Union

Equilibrium ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michaela Stanickova
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Social Inequality ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Social Equality ◽  
Europe 2020 ◽  
Europe 2020 Strategy ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

Research background: Economic crisis hit all the European Union Member States hard, with the impact of crisis varying considerably. The low growth performance in the EU has increased concerns regarding an increasing wage dispersion, income inequality at large, and social exclusion in line with poverty. Inequality should be seen as a cornerstone of both sustainable and inclusive growth under the Europe 2020 Strategy. Social inequality in the EU is a real problem, which hampers sustainable economic growth. Purpose of the article: The purpose of this study is to introduce evaluation of social development convergence and divergence trends between the EU Member States in the context of the Europe 2020 Strategy. The study gives an outline of the issues of the labour market and income disparities and poverty. Policymakers must be clear about what social objectives they are aiming to achieve, therefore special attention is paid to headline national goals of the Europe 2020 Strategy. Methods: The main task of this study is to assess social dimension and inequalities problems in the EU27 by applying Data Envelopment Analysis method, resp. time-series dynamic efficiency analysis in the form of output-oriented Malmquist Productivity Index. This study contains changes of key social equality indicators related to the Europe 2020 Strategy and compares objectives and general outlines of period 2010-2015, as well as the impact on national economics and living conditions. Findings & value added: Results contain elements of typology premises of the EU28 and point to a large diversity in inequality patterns, as the Author observes both increases and decreases in inequality at the EU level. Recent changes in social inequality have been associated with the business cycle, particularly with the accessibility of the labour market and, of course, with income inequality. Additionally, the development challenges are discussed for improvement of the socioeconomic well-being of the EU and to avoid social disparities.

scholarly journals Regionální nástroje na podporu výzkumu, vývoje a inovací – porovnání situace v Česku s příklady dobré praxe ze zemí EU / Regional measures supporting research, development and innovation – comparison of the situation in Czechia with best practices in the EU countries

Ergo ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 13-20
Author(s):  
Miroslav Kostić
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Knowledge Flows ◽  
Research Development ◽  
Regional Innovation ◽  
Eu Countries ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Support Measures ◽  
Excellent Research ◽  
The Eu

The article describes the types of regional measures supporting research, development and innovation in Czechia in the context of the typology of regional support measures in the EU countries, based on the Regional Innovation Monitor Plus project. It also presents best practices from European regions, selected according to positive experience with application of the measures at the regional level and the results achieved. In terms of realisation of own research and innovation strategies, Czech regions are limited by strong dependency on support measures implemented from national and European level. Nevertheless, this dependency is typical also for regions in the remaining new member states. Another problem is the low level of cooperation between academic and business sector - in terms of both financial and knowledge flows. This does not allow to fully utilise the potential of territorial proximity within the regions, where innovative companies and excellent research teams can be often found side by side. Appropriate and well-considered application of foreign best practice measures and models (or their elements) of research & innovation support can help to mitigate problems of a concrete region. Furthermore, it has relevance for the development of strategic approaches to regional policy which consider possible cuts in European funding in a long-term horizon.

scholarly journals Energy -Efficient Reconstruction of Public Lighting in Pravets Municipality from Bulgaria

2019 ◽  
Vol 112 ◽  
pp. 04008
Author(s):  
Veselka Kamburova ◽  
Violeta Rasheva ◽  
Michail Velikanov
Keyword(s):  
Energy Savings ◽  
Electric Energy ◽  
Electricity Consumption ◽  
Energy Audit ◽  
Street Lighting ◽  
Europe 2020 ◽  
Europe 2020 Strategy ◽  
Energy Conservation Measures ◽  
The Eu

Improving energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gases is a central issue of the Europe 2020 strategy. Today enormous electric energy is consumed by the street lighting. Much of it could be saved through suitable energy-conservation measures (ECMs). The energy audit of the street lighting system in the Pravets municipality was carried out in compliance with the legislation in force in the EU and Bulgaria. Data about the present state of street lighting and electricity consumption for a period of 3 years were gathered and analysed. The baseline electricity consumption was defined. Classification of streets was done and the light class of the different categories streets was determined. The potential for energy savings was identified and a package of ECMs was developed. The annual electricity savings are 680 MWh (or 57,441 €/y) and the annual CO2 emissions savings are 557,640 t. The investment for implementation of the envisaged ECMs is 414,840 €. The expected electricity savings compared to the baseline are 75%.

Questioning the implementation of smart specialisation: Regional innovation policy and semi-autonomous regions

2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 530-547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rhiannon Pugh
Keyword(s):  
Innovation Policy ◽  
Innovation System ◽  
Regional Innovation ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Border Regions ◽  
Regional Innovation Policy ◽  
Smart Specialisation ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The Uk

This paper considers the recent developments in regional innovation policy pertaining to the smart specialisation agenda from the perspective of a peripheral and semi-autonomous region – Wales in the UK. Through a case study of innovation policy developments in Wales over the past 20 years, and also a consideration of extant literature pertaining to regional innovation policy and smart specialisation, this paper finds a number of issues or shortcomings in the current predominant smart specialisation approach. These are traced back to the strong regional innovation system logic existing in European policy; a number of unresolved theoretical problems that could undermine the efficacy of innovation policy are identified. Both conceptual and rhetorical issues with the concept of the region are highlighted, and questions are asked about the applicability and tenability of smart specialisation approaches in semi-autonomous, cross-border regions, and for policymakers operating in circumstances of multi-level governance. This paper illustrates how such regions provide us with a lens or alternative perspective through which to reconsider our predominant theoretical and practical policy approaches, and highlights a number of potential problems with smart specialisation as it is applied in a diverse range of regional settings.

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