02 February 2016
What agents should be included when designing smart specialisation strategies (RIS)? What aspects should be overseen so that the objectives can be met without the process being stalled? On the 28th January, Edurne Magro and James Wilson, researchers at Orkestra, presented the research and analysis carried out at the Basque Institute of Competitiveness on these questions, at the Conference on Geography of Innovation, held in Toulouse from the 28-30th January.
The work titled “Governance of the RIS3 Entrepreneurial Discovery Process: What is the Spotlight?” emphasises that smart specialisation strategies should emerge from what is known as “the entrepreneurial discovery process”. It deals with a process in which the Government, the University, firms and the society (quadruple helix) must participate jointly in the construction of a territorial strategy, based on the strengths of the territory. So that these types of processes, where many agents are involved, can move forward, it is necessary that a multilevel governance model exists, where the agents contribute and its monitoring is guaranteed.
In this line, researchers from Orkestra, Mari Jose Aranguren, Edurne Magro, Mikel Navarro and James Wilson analysed the governance carried out in eight European regions that have been studied as part of the FP7 project for smart specialisation.
The conclusions from the study highlight that multilevel governance is a key element in the design of smart specialisation strategies. In almost all of the cases studied, the structure and institutional dynamics have been decisive when defining the dynamics for decision making. As for the type of governance adopted by the regions, three types of typologies (a unique level, multilevel governance from the top down, and multilevel governance based on the relationships) (see presentation) have marked the relationships and the design of these strategies, and will be decisive in the implementation phase.
The presentation was given during a special session on the governance of smart specialisation strategies “Governance of Smart Specialisation Strategies: Deepening in the Entrepreneurial Discovery Process”, organised by Orkestra, in collaboration with Joan Crespo from the University of Utrecht (Netherlands), within the smart specialisation project.
The Conference on Geography of Innovation, which included this special session, aims to gather researchers from different disciplines related to economic geography, regional sciences, politics, sociology, and network theory, among other aspects. The objective is to share and debate on topics related to policies and strategic aspects with a special dimension of innovation activities.
Access to the presentation here:
