Smart Specialization Policy Research Articles

EU smart specialization policy between experimentation and accountability: dynamic policy cycle perspective

ABSTRACT The key feature of EU Smart Specialization is experimentalist governance, or the idea that policy principals only partially possess the necessary knowledge for policy design and implementation. Instead, discovering policy priorities, designing instruments, and detecting and correcting errors are the responsibilities of a wide range of innovation stakeholders. However, particularly in institutionally less developed countries and regions, there is often a clash between the requirements for experimental governance and the public policy demand for predominantly procedural accountability. Our central argument is that the experimentation dimension cannot be added to the conventional policy cycle without altering it. This results in a trade-off between experimentation and accountability, leading to four disconnected governance regimes: EDP, design, implementation, and M&E. This paper demonstrates this issue in the case of Croatia’s S3. Using the concept of a dynamic policy cycle, we critically examine different solutions to experimentation and highlight their deficiencies. Our analysis and conclusions are highly relevant for countries and regions adopting experimental policy approaches.

Comparing innovation strategies: Canada's Ocean Supercluster and Europe's Smart Specialisation initiatives

AbstractThe Global Innovation Clusters’ Initiative (GIC) is an innovation program launched in Canada. This article aims to describe the policy, in particular its key similarities and differences with the Europe's Smart Specialisation (S3) policy initiative, and critically explore the logic behind its inception. The article reveals that although policy implementation practices are bespoke and context‐specific, the need to increase coordination between different levels and sectors of policy making is acknowledged to be important for achieving both innovation and local economic development objectives.

Забезпечення поступального розвитку агропромислової сфери харківської області в контексті стратегії смарт-спеціалізації

As of the beginning of 2022, Ukraine was defined as a country with a robust agricultural economy. Along with the growth of such economic indicators as the share in the structure of GDP, investments, gross value added, and the share in paid taxes, the percentage of agricultural products in the structure of exports has increased. As one of the largest suppliers of farm products to the world market, Ukraine essentially played the role of guarantor of world food security. In the context of Ukraine's European integration aspirations and obtaining the status of a candidate state for membership in the European Union, the issue of studying the principles of smart specialization policy, which in the EU countries currently acts as an effective means of encouraging regions to adopt a more strategic approach to their development, is becoming relevant. Stra-tegic development programs in Ukraine's regions are mainly aimed at ensuring the sustainable development of industries, often neglecting agriculture's economic role and investment attractiveness. Before the full-scale military invasion, the Kharkiv region had a powerful resource potential, formed mainly through implementing innovations. A relatively high level of development was demonstrated by manufacturers of industrial goods (mainly in mechanical engineering, pharma-ceuticals, and IT technologies) and in the agri-food sector. Their joint efforts with numerous research institutions and uni-versities will contribute to the progressive development of the region by forming a synergistic effect. At the regional level, good specialization of the agri-food sector is considered a strategy for effective interaction of business entities, scientific insti-tutions, state authorities, etc., to ensure progressive development of both individual enterprises and agro-industrial struc-tures created with the help of integration links by including elements of the value chain. Creating a favorable investment climate in the region and political and organizational support will allow business structures to align their interests with regional and national interests. Keywords: smart specialization, progressive development, agro-food sector, food security, rural areas, innovations, investments.

Sustainable development of agriculture based on the smart specialisation approach: cases of the Central and Eastern European countries

Purpose. The purpose of the study is to analyse and systematise the smart priorities of the territories of Central and Eastern Europe with a focus on the sustainable development of the agricultural sector and to identify current trends in the innovative development of agriculture.
 Methodology / approach. The main research method is benchmarking which includes identification, comparative analysis, generalisation and application of best practices in various fields of activity. The authors’ methodology of regional benchmarking has been tried out in the work. The methodology provides implementation of a set of scientific and analytical measures at the following stages: (1) mapping and identification of smart priorities in focal economic activities; (2) analysis of regional priorities according to the European goals of smart specialisation policy including the structure of their selection; (3) studying the content and goals of the regional priorities establishing cross-sectoral links; (4) examination of the exploit of established and emerging clusters in the regional smart specialisation with identification of their localisation and selected priority areas; (5) analysis of interregional cooperation in smart specialisation domains; (6) processing and formalisation of the obtained research results.
 Results. We identified and analysed 44 priorities involving the agricultural sector, which belongs to 12 Central and Eastern European countries. The dominant policy objectives of smart specialisation of these territories are Sustainable Innovation, Public Health & Security and Key Enabling Technologies, which are mainly focused on achieving sustainable agriculture, establishing bioeconomy and providing food security & safety. These smart specialisation domains at the national and sub-national levels clearly contribute to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals. Priorities were grouped according to their internal goals and content, which allowed identifying key trends of innovative development of the territories with the involvement of the agricultural sector. It is concluded that the regions combine knowledge and assets through the intensification of cross-sectoral, interregional cooperation and the use of clusters. We determined that cross-sectoral links within smart priorities are mostly formed within existing value chains, but recently, new cross-sectoral and interregional partnerships emerge and actively develop. They are mainly focused on the diffusion of innovative bio- and digital technologies in agro-food systems. We highlighted the key issues that need to be addressed by regional working groups while selecting the smart priorities of the Ukraine’s regions. 
 Originality / scientific novelty. This paper presents the results of the thematic research in a new understudied direction – Smart Specialisation Strategies for Sustainability. Based on the authors’ methodology of regional benchmarking, the smart priorities in the agricultural sector of Central and Eastern European countries have been analysed.
 Practical value / implications. The results of the study can be used by regional working groups of the Entrepreneurial discovery process to draw up possible ways of agricultural development. The obtained results may also be of interest to researchers from different countries involved in the implementation of smart specialisation approach and the improvement of its methodology.

Development of the Smart Specialisation Concept: Theoretical Aspects

The article examines the development of the concept of smart specialisation with determination of the sequence and directions of evolutionary changes, reveals the essence of the concept of smart specialisation and provides the results of its terminological analysis. The article shows the growing popularity of the smart specialisation concept in the world, which is confirmed by the data on the frequency of use of the term “smart specialisation” in the global Internet space and the number of published works included in the Scopus database for the period 2011-2022. The prerequisites and sequence of conceptualisation of smart specialisation as a new management approach in the system of regional governance of the EU member states are established. The article analyses a selection of scientific and methodological publications by developers and promoters of the smart specialisation concept and concludes that its theoretical and methodological development is in three main directions: specification of the process methodology, political deployment and instrumental direction. Based on the results of the terminological analysis, the essence of smart specialisation is clarified, including consideration of its semantic foundations – “smart” and “specialisation”. Attention is focused on the change in the subject area of specialisation with the development of the concept of smart specialisation. The author’s vision of the conceptual relationship between the concepts of smart specialisation and diversification is presented. It is concluded that it is advisable to use the latter in two aspects: as a component of the smart specialisation process and as its result. Based on the results of the analysis and study of the development of the concept of smart specialisation, five semantic constructions of smart specialisation are allocated, which reveal the content of this polysemic term in various aspects, namely, the smart specialisation approach, the smart specialisation process, the smart specialisation strategy, the smart specialisation policy and the smart specialisation as a tool. The essence of these concepts and a certain logical connection between them are revealed. The author makes a conclusion about the role and importance of smart specialisation for the Ukrainian economy as a tool for uniting regional stakeholders, developing innovative ecosystems and interregional and cross-border partnerships, and attracting investments to ensure the recovery and development of the national economy on an innovative basis.

Multilevel governance and Smart Specialization in EU regions: an evidence-based critical review

This paper critically reviews the literature on multilevel governance issues in support of implementing Smart Specialization policies in EU regions. Using an evidence-based critical review approach, key literature that draws on three critical concepts is explored: multilevel governance, regional innovation policy, and Smart Specialization in various governance conditions and diverse regional resources. The evidence reviewed points to the critical role of multilevel governance in implementing Smart Specialization. Effective coordination mechanisms are essential building blocks to encounter the challenges of multilevel governance for Smart Specialization. More consequential, however, are substantial synergies that are solid, harmonious, and balanced among multi-stakeholders within institutions and across levels of government. This paper contributes to the limited literature on multilevel governance in support of the Smart Specialization policy. Further studies considering different types of regions are recommended to enrich future literature.

Do scientific capabilities in specific domains matter for technological diversification in European regions?

Do scientific capabilities in regions translate into technological leadership? This is one of the most pressing questions in academic and policy circles. This paper analyzes the matching of scientific and technological capabilities of 285 European regions. We build on patent and publication records to identify regions that lie both at the scientific and technological frontiers (strongholds), that are pure scientific leaders, pure technological leaders, or just followers in 18 domains. Our regional diversification model shows that local scientific capabilities in a domain are a strong predictor of the development of new technologies in that domain in regions. This finding is particularly relevant for the Smart Specialization policy because it implies that the analysis of domain-specific scientific knowledge can be a powerful tool to identify new diversification opportunities in regions.

Особливості відновлення старопромислових територій в контексті Глобальних цілей та реалізації стратегій смарт-спеціалізації

Challenges associated with military activities and subsequent post-war reconstruction, external and internal factors of the functioning of domestic industries require scientifically grounded conceptual provisions for the revitalization of old industrial areas based on new principles of strategic planning and in the context of the Global Goals of Sustainable Development. The purpose of the article is to summarize modern views on the rethinking of approaches to the development of old industrial areas in the European Union and to determine directions for the restoration of old industrial areas of Ukraine in the context of the Global Goals and the implementation of smart specialization strategies in the conditions of post-war recovery. In the European Union, new views are based on a critical evaluation of the smart specialization policy, which relies mainly on the traditional scientific and technical model of innovation, and focuses on an implicit social-ecological model, which provides for the involvement of the potential of science, technology and innovation to meet the needs of society through achieving the goals of the United Nations in the sphere of sustainable development. A comprehensive approach to rethinking the development of regions on the basis of socio-ecological innovations is provided by the conception of fundamental economics. It is based not on sectors of the knowledge economy, but on areas that provide the population with basic social goods and services that form the basis of everyday civilized life. The post-war recovery of communities in Ukraine will be focused, first of all, on achieving social well-being, which should become the main goal of innovative policy. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure a balance between the strategic planning of the development of regions based on the principles of smart specialization, grounded on technological innovations, and the fundamental economy, which is based on an implicit socio-ecological model of innovation. Approaches to achieving such a balance and establishing priority values for development will be different, taking into account different types of regions of Ukraine (temporarily occupied, front-line and rear). This should be taken into account when developing regional development strategies for 2024-2027.

Регіональний інноваційний розвиток на засадах смартспеціалізації: типологія смартпріоритетів

The article clarifies the essence of the concept of "smart priorities" and presents the author's typology of smart priorities, based on the systematisation of theoretical and methodological approaches and empirical study of the results of prioritisation of EU regions development in the framework of regional strategies of smart specialisation. The expediency of supplementing the categorical apparatus of the theory of smart specialisation with the definition of "smart-priority" is emphasized. The author's interpretation of this concept, combining the essence of priority as a constructive component of smart specialisation strategy with the principles of smart choice, which are embedded in the methodology of smart specialisation and reveal its specifics, is proposed. According to the results of the literature analysis, the conclusion about the absence of a generalized typology of smart priorities and the relevance of its development. To typologize the priority spheres, a population approach was used, which involves identifying priorities with similar characteristics and combining them into groups according to certain characteristics. The sample of smart priorities for the study was formed according to the results of a multistage selection of regions registered on the S3 Platform. The final population included 354 priorities of 131 regions of EU countries. Based on the generalisation and systematisation of regional priority domains, eight typogroups were identified according to the following characteristics: the level of territorial division, inclusion of smart specialisation policy objectives, coverage of economic sectors, complexity, sectoral focus, directions of structural change, meaningful similarities, potential implementation by the initiating region. The developed typology allows for a comparative analysis of projects and policies to support them, which are implemented in the framework of regional strategies for smart specialisation. Also, the allocation of priorities on the basis of the potential for implementation by the initiating region provides an additional analytical tool for the development of this strategy. This tool provides for the distribution of regions into groups based on the assessment of their economic and innovative capabilities to develop the selected strategic domains. The proposed approach to the differentiation of territorial units provides preliminary information about the ability of regional ecosystems to create innovation and an understanding of the necessary additional components of smart specialisation strategies.

Smart specialisation policy strategy for interregional cooperation: pushing less-developed regions

Smart specialisation policy strategy for interregional cooperation: pushing less-developed regions

Industrial Structure and Economic Resilience of Non-Metropolitan Regions: An Empirical Base for the Smart Specialization Policies

In this paper, we aim to describe and explain the regional disparities in economic resilience in Slovakia in the period 1997–2017. We focus on the effects of economic structure in combination with the vertical (potential accessibility) and horizontal geographical location. Since the early 1990s, Slovak (non-)metropolitan regions exhibited deep changes in the sectoral structure of the economy that were followed by sharp unemployment increases. Due to the FDI-fueled economic growth in the last two decades, however, considerable progress in regional economic growth and reduction in unemployment was recorded. Therefore, Slovak non-metropolitan regions provide valuable lessons for the analysis of regional economic resilience in a long-term period. We ask if, and to what extent were, the prospects of regional renewal after economic crises associated with the geographical location, economic diversity, firm size and sectoral structure of the economy. We employed spatial regression models to test the effects of the potential accessibility, horizontal geographical location and industrial diversity, and sectoral (agriculture, manufacturing) and firm size structure. The dependent variable, Economic Resilience, was measured by the Regional Development Index, combining the indicators of demographic ageing, net migration, income per capita and registered unemployment rate. Potential accessibility and horizontal geographical location were the key predictors of regional economic resilience. Districts with tertiarized and diversified industrial and firm size structures scored, on average, higher in RDI than specialized districts with large firms and/or a high share of agriculture/manufacturing in total employment.

Integration of Baltic Small and Medium-Sized Ports in Regional Innovation Strategies on Smart Specialisation (RIS3)

Small and medium-sized ports in the Baltic Sea Region find themselves in a dilemma to participate in the governance of innovation policies such as Smart Specialisation. The Smart Specialisation policy introduced by the European Commission supports regional economic and innovation development focusing on regional strength through selection of defined priorities, offering smaller ports an opportunity to overcome their dilemma. Currently, all European regions are monitoring and evaluating their performances alongside with the Smart Specialisation policy to make adjustments for the upcoming funding period. The Blue Growth concept entitles a large contribution to reach the emphasised goals and thus, ports can be an important actor and key driver for a sustainable and green future development. Hence, this paper analyses the current significance of smaller ports in Baltic Sea NUTS-2 regions reflected in the individual RIS3 maritime and/or logistic priorities as well as Blue Growth sub-sectors from the funding period 2014–2020 to contribute to the future design of RIS3. Yielded results will illustrate whether regional governances are aware of the potential small ports bring up to their economies with consideration to Smart Specialisation, Green Deal and Blue Growth Strategies and how RIS3 might effects small port performances.

Ukrainian Innovation Policy: The Smart Specialization Problem

The aim of the article is to reveal the place and role of smart specialization strategy as one of the relevant and central areas of modern economic policy. It is shown that in Ukraine the issue of economic essence and main goal of smart specialization policy as a form of state innovation policy remains theoretically and practically unexplored, as well as the importance of involving universities in smart specialization strategy in the context of creating basic innovations that can become the basis of the regional smart specializations.The article substantiates that the Ukrainian expert community is dominated by the perception the smart specialization strategy is the traditional sectoral economic policy, which considers innovation as a factor of increasing the competitiveness of existing industries, i.e. without much change in the technological structure of the economy or region. The article argues that the main content of the smart specialization policy should be the priority development of new high-tech sectors of the economy, industries belonging to the current and future technological paradigms.The results of studying the main development directions of the Top European innovation Universities are presented. These results testify to the close connection between the innovation Universities and the creation of basic innovations for the development of new high-tech business. The analysis showed that Ukraine not only cannot enter the European ranking of innovation Universities, but also lags far behind the total number of European patents per country. This shows that the country has in fact abandoned basic innovation competitions with Europe. The policy of smart specialization should help to correct this situation. The positive effect of such policy largely depends on the active formation of modern innovation Universities, which can create and commercialize basic innovations of the Schumpeter’s type, leading to the emergence of new high technologies. JEL classіfіcatіon: O25, O38, R11

Інституційно-організаційне забезпечення імплементації моделі смарт-спеціалізації в Україні

The problem of formation at the national level of sustainable institutional and organizational support for the implementation of the model of smart specialization on the basis of the rule of law and the implementation of modern European tools is considered. The methodological features of the smart specialization policy in the EU and the practice of its implementation as a basis for the formation of institutional and organizational support for the implementation of such a model in Ukraine are highlighted. The problems and contradictions of the modern mechanism of smart specialization, formed at the secondary level, are revealed. The threat of departure of modern legal regulation of strategic planning of regional development from the European methodology of smart specialization, real risks of monosectoral implementation of smart specialization in the framework of sustainable industrial development and further stagnation of the process of innovative transformation of economic sectors at different administrative levels. Taking into account the need to eliminate the existing significant shortcomings in the institutional and organizational support for the implementation of the smart specialization model, it is proposed to amend a number of laws of Ukraine, which lay the foundation for legally sound and structural legislation functioning at different administrative-territorial levels.

Taking into Account the Human Factor in Regional Innovation Systems and Policies

Innovation is considered a key driver for economic growth and is usually studied in the form of systems, with the regional level being arguably the most important. Despite constantly improving technological infrastructure, the human-related aspects of innovation are still the most important part of the innovation process. The human factor in innovation essentially consists of three components: (1) human capital, which refers to education, knowledge, and skills; (2) social capital, which refers to the strength of social links and social coherence; and (3) psychological capital, which refers to peoples’ values, attitudes, and behaviors. The research findings confirmed this view and showed which specific indicators of the three types of capital had a significant impact on innovation output. A new, extended regional innovation scoreboard emphasizing the human factor, is proposed. Also, based on the findings, and bearing in mind current EU innovation policies, a number of measures are proposed in order to suggest “more human” smart specialization policies in order to increase innovation in European regions and coherence between them.

Смартспеціалізація європейських регіонів – лідерів у сфері інновацій: систематизація підходів

The article is aimed at analyzing and systematizing the approaches to determining the smart priorities of the regions of the European Union, which are leaders in innovative development, to develop recommendations for improving the process of formation of regional strategies for smart specialization in Ukraine. Smart priorities of the top 10 innovatively active regions of the EU according to the Regional Innovation Board were studied using the information provided by the European platform for smart specialization. Certain methodological problems and limitations for the analysis of regional smart specializations related to certain changes in the NUTS classification and different periods of adoption of regional strategies are identified. It is noted that smart priorities in many regions are based on the innovative development of traditional types of economic activity. It is displayed that the processing industry is most involved in the formation of regional smart specializations, also widely involved are the sectors of scientific-technical activities, information and telecommunications, transportation, and education. It is defined that a large proportion of priorities are of complex nature. This is connected with the cross-sectoral cooperation, as well as the use of horizontal-type instruments (digitalization, increasing the value of knowledge, spread of advanced technologies, focusing on the Sustainable Development Goals, social innovations). It is emphasized that the leading regions most often choose digital transformation, sustainable innovations and KETs for the goals of their smart specialization policies. The strategy of smart specialization of the Western Netherlands, which is the result of the collaboration of a number of research institutions, public and private companies and local authorities, is considered. It is concluded that when determining the priorities of Ukrainian regions, it is necessary to focus on the fore-mentioned EU goals and deepen the analysis of scientific-technological specializations of territories, as well as to formalize the role of science and education in regional strategies of smart specialization.

Understanding creative, information and knowledge determinants of the economic growth of the EU regions within smart development strategies

The article substantiates the relevance and necessity of involving creativity, information and knowledge-based capital while forming and implementing the smart specialization policy of the EU regions. The scientific views on the relationship between the processes of economic growth, the use of creative, information and knowledge approaches, smart-oriented spatial and territorial planning are generalized. A new approach for assessing the creative, information and knowledge determinants of the EU regions’ economy transformations with the use of the multivariate regression analysis, a composite method, and strategic structural and functional design is developed. The scores of the sub-indices of the Global Innovation Index, the Global Talent Competitiveness Index and the World Digital Competitiveness Ranking are selected as the initial parameters of regression analysis. The relationships between these factors and the change in the GDP volume per capita, the share of GDP used for gross investment, high-tech exports, and the Global Quality of Life Index are revealed. The composite indicators of the concentration of creative and digital (ICT) industries in the EU regions are calculated (based on the level of enterprise concentration in an industry, the share of the employed in the field and the share of an industry in the regional economy in terms of wages). The priorities of smart specialization strategies of the EU’s individual regions, which are related to creative, information and knowledge factors, are identified. The calculations have confirmed sufficient closeness of the relationship between the use of creative, information and knowledge factors and the fulfillment of the tasks of smart specialization strategies in the EU regions. The sequence of the formation of tools and means for the implementation of the strategy of the regions’ smart specialization in the context of attraction and effective use of the determinants grouped by three directions (creativitization, digitalization and new knowledge) is presented.

Applying of Regional Benchmarking in the Smart Prioritization Process

The article is devoted to the scientific and methodological aspects of regional benchmarking in the entrepreneurial discovery process as part of the development of regional smart specialization strategy. We present the results of using the author’s methodology on the example of one of the sectoral priority areas of smart specialization in European regions. The relevance of the implementation of regional benchmarking and the place of its incorporation into the process of smart prioritization, taking into account the existing methodological support for the development of regional smart specialization strategies have been substantiated. The methodology for regional benchmarking proposed by the authors includes the following main stages: (1) mapping and defining smart priorities for focal econo­mic activities; (2) analysis of regional priorities according to European policy objectives of smart specialization and study of their structure taking into account the innovative activity of the regions; (3) analysis of the content and goals of regional smart projects with the identification of intersectoral links; (4) analysis of attracting clusters to regional smart specialization and study their localization and selected priority areas; (5) analysis of interregional cooperation in selected thematic area of smart specialization; (6) processing and formalization of the obtained research results. The results of approbation of the proposed methodology are presented on the example of involving the chemical sector in the formation of smart projects. Using data from European internet platforms, we examined 90 smart priorities selected in 69 European regions. It was determined that the dominant goals of the smart specialization policy based on chemical production are Key enabling technologies, Sustainable innovation and Digital transformation. We found that these goals were chosen mainly by the innovation-active regions, while regions with a low level of innovation development, in addition to Sustainable innovation and Key enabling technologies, also focus on projects in the field of health and safety. It is concluded that the combination of knowledge and assets in the smart specialization process in Europe is the result of increased intersectoral and interregional cooperation, including using cluster technologies. Сross-sectoral linkages in smart projects are formed mostly within the existing value chains. At the same time, recently, new intersectoral partnerships, which are focused mainly on digitalization, diffusion of innovative biotechnologies and technologies for sustainable development, have emerged and are actively developing.

How do stakeholders evaluate smart specialization policies defined for their regions?

PurposeThis paper aims to understand how the different stakeholders assess the adequacy of smart specialization policies defined for their regions.Design/methodology/approachThis paper has followed a quantitative methodology through the application of questionnaire surveys to stakeholders of the various territorial regions in Portugal.FindingsAs a result, from the “resource-based view” approach applied to the various regions, the attained results highlight that the suitability of smart specialization policies defined for the Portuguese regions is not unanimous among its stakeholders.Originality/valueThe research can be used as a tool to assist regional policymakers in strategic reflection when defining and adjusting smart specialization strategies in their territories.

Rola nauki w procesie ewolucji polityki inteligentnych specjalizacji w Unii Europejskiej

Paper aims at the description of the main direction of adjustments of the smart specialisation policy in the EU. These adjustments consist of 1) giving the higher priority within cohesion policy, 2) qualitative approach in the designing and implementation of smart specialisation strategies, 3) addressing the needs of various types of regions and, 4) enhancement of transregional collaboration within smart specialisations. The author proposes to strengthen the role of Science of Science Committee, Polish Academy of Science in the process of smart specialisation policy planning accordingly to the Quadruple Helix and Civic University approaches.