Smart Specialisation Strategies contribute to the Europe 2020 objectives of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth by enhancing EU regional and national potential in research and innovation.
Smart Specialisation is an innovation policy concept that aims to boost regional innovation, contributing to growth and prosperity by helping and enabling regions to focus on their strengths. Smart Specialisation is based on partnerships between businesses, public entities and knowledge institutions.
Definition of Smart Specialisation Strategy established by the Regulation (EU) N° 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council:
'Smart specialisation strategy' means the national or regional innovation strategies which set priorities in order to build competitive advantage by developing and matching research and innovation own strengths to business needs in order to address emerging opportunities and market developments in a coherent manner, while avoiding duplication and fragmentation of efforts; a smart specialisation strategy may take the form of, or be included in, a national or regional research and innovation (R&I) strategic policy framework.
The Smart Specialisation Platform (S3 Platform) provides information, methodologies, expertise and advice to national and regional policy makers, as well as promoting mutual learning and trans-national cooperation, and contributing to academic debates around the concept of smart specialisation. It proposes services such as:
- Providing guidance material and good practice examples,
- Organising information sessions for policy makers and participating in conferences,
- Providing training to policy-makers,
- Facilitating peer-reviews,
- Supporting access to relevant data,
- Participating in high quality research projects to inform strategy formation and policy making.
The S3 Platform is hosted by the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS), which is part of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC).
More information
DG Research and Innovation – Smart Specialisation
http://ec.europa.eu/research/regions/index_en.cfm?pg=smart_specialisation
Smart Specialisation Platform
