The EIT and the JRC jointly investigate the collaboration between EIT KICs and national and regional funding authorities within Smart Specialisation Strategies.
In their latest ‘Science for Policy’ report, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and the Joint Research Centre (JRC) take up the topic of synergies between research and innovation (R&I) policies on one side and regional policies on the other side. Building synergies between European funding opportunities and initiatives has become more and more enshrined in the policy agenda of the European Union (EU). Smart specialisation is an important instrument for ensuring synergies between EU Framework Programmes (FP) for R&I and European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) by promoting place-based innovation policies. The EU has established Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3) as integrated, place-based national and regional economic transformation agendas that build on the strengths and potential for excellence of each country and region. The objective of RIS3 is to support technological and practice-based innovation, stimulate private sector investments and get stakeholders fully involved with a view to encourage innovation and experimentation. Policy support and investments focus hereby on key national and regional priorities.
In their joint ‘Science for Policy’ report, the EIT and the JRC show how collaboration between the EIT community and RIS3 stakeholders can serve as example of synergies between RIS3 and an FP-supported initiative. The report aims to support optimising R&I funding efficiency and better combining increased competitiveness and cohesion in the light of the upcoming FP Horizon Europe (2021-2027) and the new Multiannual Financial Framework (2021-2027).
The report finds that Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3) can indeed be used to combine different activities within regional, national and European initiatives. The EIT Community and RIS3 implementation bodies have similar or complementary objectives and work with similar stakeholder groups. The Knowledge Triangle Integration (KTI) of the EIT and the Entrepreneurial Discovery Process (EDP) of RIS3 both connect innovation actors that aim to create and implement strategies through a bottom-up approach. Complementarity exists in the sense that the EIT can provide significant support to RIS3 implementation by strengthening its business involvement, promoting access to global value chains and reinforcing the thematic and entrepreneurial dimension of skills development, especially by relying on the EIT’s entrepreneurial education approach. On the other hand, RIS3 implementing bodies and in particular the ESIF’s Managing Authorities (MA) support the EIT’s Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) in terms of strengthening interaction with the public sector and accessing pockets of excellence and untapped innovation potential in European regions.
The joint report concludes that while the discussion often only focuses on funding synergies, non-funding related cooperation aspects must not be forgotten. Strategic alignment and coordination offer significant opportunities for both sides. To better engage with EIT KICs, MAs could for instance develop a regional outreach strategy, analyse the possible links between regional R&I priorities and EIT KICs’ themes via joint mapping exercises or improve the willingness and interest of R&I actors to engage in joint activities. Options for the EIT Community interested in cooperation with MAs are about better considering them as priority stakeholders in their strategies and proactively engage with them or relying on JRC online tools to receive information about the S3 and public innovative investment priorities by regions across Europe.