scholarly journals Quadruple Helix Models for Sustainable Regional Innovation: Engaging and Facilitating Civil Society Participation

Economies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mona Roman ◽  
Henry Varga ◽  
Vladimir Cvijanovic ◽  
Alasdair Reid

Prior research has emphasized the importance of bringing together quadruple helix (QH) actors (academia, industry, government and civil society) to strengthen regional innovation. The QH model forms an integral part of European innovation policy, which aims to create sustainable and inclusive growth in Europe. As part of this policy, European Union (EU) regions are to design and implement research and innovation strategies for smart specialization (RIS3) through the participatory entrepreneurial discovery process (EDP). Despite the strong emphasis on the QH model, the model is still far from a well-established concept in innovation research and policy, and civil society participation in RIS3 has remained low. Our paper aims to support regional governments to engage with and facilitate the participation of civil society in a territorial EDP based on two case studies from Finland and Sweden. It contributes to the literature on regional innovation systems through identifying mechanisms to foster the QH model and suggests lessons learnt for the operationalization of the QH model as part of RIS3.

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 360-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabetta Marinelli ◽  
Susana Elena-Perez

This article provides new insights into the role of public universities in regional development by looking at their involvement in Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialization (RIS3), a key element of the current European Cohesion Policy. In the latter, stakeholders from the triple or Quadruple Helix (public, private, research and nongovernmental sectors) jointly identify areas for research, development and innovation (RDI) investment. The analysis focuses on the region of Catalonia, which hosts a mix of higher education institutions (HEIs) with different characteristics and different relationships with local innovation stakeholders. The authors examine in-depth one of the main RIS3 funding instruments recently implemented in the region: the Research and Innovation Smart Specialization Strategy for Catalonia Communities. The Communities support the implementation of action plans for industrial research and development, jointly defined by research and private-sector stakeholders in RIS3 strategic areas. The instrument embeds the characteristics of a continuous EDP and enables exploration of the challenges and opportunities that emerge when researchers engage in strategic market-oriented RDI activities. The article highlights how HEIs are evolving and adapting to the new policy environment and concludes with policy implications.


Author(s):  
Markus Dettenhofer ◽  
Mathieu Doussineau ◽  
Eskarne Arregui-Pabollet

The chapter examines the multi-dimensional university governance topic, looking into five governance dimensions of universities and the differences across EU member states. It analyzes how the differences in university governance dimensions influence in their role in their regional research and innovation systems, and specifically in the smart specialization strategies (S3) implementation. The S3 is a new policy that has introduced novelties in regional development policy, requiring the mobilization of quadruple helix actors in setting the regional priorities for innovative potential. The involvement of universities in the formulation of these strategies is of high importance; however, it poses a number of challenges, particularly in regions with incipient regional innovation systems with low institutional capacity and leadership to coordinate the different actors' capacities. The chapter sheds light for policymakers and university managers on the most relevant university governance dimensions that can influence on how they engage with their regional research and innovation system.


Author(s):  
N.V. Berezniak ◽  
L.V. Rozhkova

The issue of shaping a new EU innovation policy based on smart specialization is new to the developed countries and to Ukraine in particular. Currently, regional state administrations are tasked with developing regional development strategies based on European approaches to smart specialization. One of the main principles of smart specialization is the entrepreneurial discovery process — EDP, to which this article is dedicated. The views of smart specialization theorists on the emergence of this phenomenon, peculiarities of its formation and development in interaction and interdependence on the factors of technological and knowledge influence on the economic growth of countries and regions, establish of their competitive advantages, make political decisions to support the development of priority technologies and sectors, attracting public and private investment in research and development were analyzed. The theoretical foundations of the concept of entrepreneurial discovery are considered, which have a decisive influence on the choice of the structure of regional smart strategies, as well as on the formation of priorities of innovation development, focusing on the existing strengths of the regional economy and innovations and using the results of private and public research and development carried out on this territory. The European Commission program documents have been studied, in which conceptual approaches to the entrepreneurial discovery process have been concretized and developed in the context of developing and implementing smart specialization strategies at national / regional levels. The Smart Specialization Research and Innovation Strategy Guide emphasizes the need for step-by-step development of a regional smart specialization strategy. The study found that the EDP principle more or less influence on the formation of each of the six stages of a smart strategy. Examples of such influence are given.


In modern conditions of dynamically changing environment, questions about new regional ways of innovative development are being updated. Researches confirm that the innovative development of regions is becoming a significant factor in increasing the competitiveness of the region and the formation of high innovative activity. The purpose of the article is to identify the essence of modern approaches to the management of regional innovative development, that are appropriate in the context of transformational changes and to analyze them. To achieve this goal next following tasks have to be done: to study main methods of managing the regional innovative development; to analyze legal and legislative framework; to analyze statistical indicators of innovative development of the region; to identify regions-leaders and regions-outsiders in Ukraine; to study the concept and essence of Smart Specialization Strategies and the entrepreneurial discovery process in the conditions of the Ukrainian regions’ development. The article discusses the competitiveness and efficiency of innovations in a regional context. These are two interrelated economic categories, reflected in their synergistic effect in various areas of the economic and social life of the regions. Their assessment can be carried out at different levels – regional, national and international levels. Regional competitiveness and efficiency of innovation is the result of comprehensive stakeholder actions at these levels. The article also identifies the main obstacles to the management of regional innovation development and analyzes the regulatory and legal framework for the development of innovations at the regional level. The article also carried out a multifactorial comparative analysis based on statistical data of development indicators to assess the development of regions. Regions-leaders and region-outsiders are defined. The article considers the main effective instruments of innovation policy and the most effective ways of its implementation at the regional level. One of the tool is the Smart Specialization Strategy, which aims to grow economically through a strategy based on localization and stakeholder mobilization at the regional level. The paper also studied the entrepreneurial discovery process, that is a «conceptual pillar» of smart specialization.


2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (No. 10) ◽  
pp. 463-469
Author(s):  
Živilė Gedminaitė-Raudonė ◽  
Dalia Vidickienė ◽  
Rita Vilkė

Smart Specialization in this research is addressed to the use of collaboration as a tool for increasing efficiency of investment in entrepreneurship, research and innovation in a service-driven post-industrial economic system. This study provides evidence that collaboration potential is used only partly during the implementation of Smart Specialization strategy. The research illustrates given thesis by the evaluation of collaboration in Lithuanian biogas sector, which is listed among the priorities of Lithuania’s Smart Specialization strategy till 2020, using structured interviews. The main aim of this empirical research is to assess the will to collaborate in order to enhance the development of Smart Specialization and identify unused collaboration potential among all Quadruple Helix model counterparts in the biogas sector. Empirical findings show that collaboration in the Smart Specialization development has a big potential. However, this potential is used only partly because of lack of knowledge and available business infrastructure for this task and the passive role in collaboration processes of government institutions. Research findings suggest that current situation should be changed by supporting measures for business and NGOs with the aim to encourage collaborative initiatives for Smart Specialization. Research findings might serve as guidelines for policy makers, entrepreneurs, university and NGO managers.<br />


The importance of the research, science and innovation as the key factors in prosperity is becoming increasingly relevant because humanity is on the verge of a new wave of transformational innovations, a new era in which digital technology is ever closer to the physical world. There is an urgent need to prioritize investments and to fill the gap with breakthrough innovations. It is important to formulate regulatory frameworks that will encourage, but not interfere innovation, and promote business innovation and business environments. A better understanding of the changes in the dynamics of science, research and innovation and their impact on the country will strengthen the response to a rapidly changing world, providing timely interference in the formation of innovation policy. The article presents the main features of nature of innovation changing: speed, complexity, concentration of benefits, consumers, costs. Identified and noted the most influential problems that hamper innovation development: hardware frameworks, blocked problems, inefficient multilevel governance. The advantages of introducing the concept of smart specialization in the regions are highlighted: the study of new market opportunities, the formation of easy knowledge sharing between different fields of knowledge, the use of appropriate diversity in the fields of knowledge, incentives for structural adjustment of the economy through the introduction of innovative practices in the economy and society. The innovation management model based on the interaction of Triple Helix, as synergy between all the innovation-related areas of social activity: research institutions, business, and government on regional level is presented. Social innovations as an instrument for implementing complex inter-sectorial interactions within the framework of strategies for sustainable development and economic growth of the region are noted.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 247-263
Author(s):  
Alla Ivashchenko ◽  
Anna Kornyliuk ◽  
Yevheniia Polishchuk ◽  
Tetiana Romanchenko ◽  
Iryna Reshetnikova

Regional development is related to the effective management of disruptive industries on the local level. In the European Union, the innovation regional development policy is based on a smart specialization strategy, which neighboring countries try to apply as well. In their regional strategies, they notice the goals which are designed within the Joint Research Center methodology. It allows revealing the most efficient industries in the region, leading to a new level of regional competence on the global level. The study aims to identify smart specialization priorities based on JRC methodology in certain Ukrainian regions and assess its applicability in emerging markets (Ukrainian case) and develop the set of recommendations considering the specificity of the national economy. The methodology is based on the static and dynamic analysis of economic (the indicators of the growth of average salaries and the number of employees indicators are calculated) and innovation (the indicators of productive, process, organizational, and marketing innovations are analyzed) potential of the region, which is examined in the article. It is revealed that the JRC methodology in identifying the smart specialization priorities has limited application in Ukraine. The restrictions related to the lack of data on innovations and other economic indicators. The analysis of certain regions shows what industries should be recommended as the priorities of smart specialization. However, discussions of the calculated results with the key stakeholders have differences which are not acceptable in the regional innovation policy development. As a result, the experts’ opinions are recommended to consider the priorities of different regions in Ukraine and other developing countries, which are on the path of smart specialization during stakeholders’ communication sessions.


2014 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 614-620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Patrizia Vittoria ◽  
Pasquale Persico

The emergence of the knowledge economy has resulted in a new definition of regional policy milieu. Under the current EU policy framework the concepts of region and city are the result of an inductive, exploratory cognitive process. Interpreting, assessing and designing successful territorial milieux constitute a methodological challenge for analysts. This paper discusses the methodological capacity of a hybrid theoretical approach to discovery and design of smart specialization. Analysis of strategic network formation (why the network takes a particular form) demonstrates the competitive positioning of specific homogeneous communities within the global value chain and can be considered central to the regional policy milieu. /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Tabella normale"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;}


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 120
Author(s):  
João M. Lopes ◽  
Sofia Gomes ◽  
José Oliveira ◽  
Márcio Oliveira

This research aims to detect the factors that best explain the performance of regional innovation in the European Union (EU), in the year 2019, and compare the obtained results with the factors used to elucidate the performance of regional innovation in the EU during the year 2016. This comparison allowed us to identify the variations that have occurred during these 3 years. The methodology used is quantitative and served to identify the factors that clarify the performance of regional innovation in the EU in 2019. The data collected was treated in the econometric software Eviews10. Estimations used a multiple linear regression method. The attained results show that with the implementation of the Research and Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialization (RIS3), the Leader and Strong Regions benefited from its implementation. On the other hand, Moderate and Modest Regions failed to improve their innovative performance with the implementation of RIS3. On the practical contributions, it provides suggestions to the actors of the triple helix (Academy–Government–Industry) to improve the performance of innovation. Furthermore, it contributes to the theory by updating the knowledge of the existing literature with new dimensions from the 2019 RIS database. This research is original as it allows to appraise the evolution of the open innovative performance of the regions, by using comparative data from 2019 and 2016.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 209-215
Author(s):  
Yevheniia Polishchuk ◽  
Alla Ivashchenko ◽  
Anna Kornyliuk

SMART specialization is a basic approach to the development of regional innovation policy. It involves identifying priority sectors of the local economy with the involvement of key stakeholders. Currently, statistics on the development of regions are presented in terms of large business, small and medium. In this context, the generally accepted methodology from the Joint Research Center of the European Commission has limited application. Because it does not take into account the performance of microbusiness (individual entrepreneurs). For countries with economies in transition, this is critical, as they reach 80% of the business structure. Therefore, considering their voice is also necessary. Our approach involves a combination of quantitative (assessment of innovation and economic potential of the region) and qualitative (survey of microbusiness representatives) methods to identify priority areas of SMART specialization. Approbation of the offered method was carried out on the example of the Mykolaiv region which is in the south of Ukraine. The results of the study have shown that the innovation of microenterprises is at a low level. At the same time, they demonstrate a high level of desire to be involved in the process of SMART specialization and innovation of production.


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