There are significant disparities in innovation performance between EU regions. While not all European regions can become innovation hubs, each of them has an important role to play in the EU innovation ecosystem. Narrowing the innovation divide can be achieved by combining regional strengths as identified by the Smart Specialisation strategy.
- research policy | regional policy
- Friday 25 October 2024, 10:00 - 16:00 (CEST)
- Online only
Practical information
- When
- Friday 25 October 2024, 10:00 - 16:00 (CEST)
- Where
- Online only
- Languages
- English
Description
In this context, DG Research and Innovation is organizing a workshop to explore the factors and policy levers that can boost regional innovation. It will bring together initiatives like the Regional Innovation Valleys and the European Digital Innovation Hubs, which aim at strengthening intra- and inter-regional collaborations.
The Regional Innovation Valleys initiative connects less and more innovative regions to tackle key EU challenges: reducing fossil fuel dependence, boosting global food security, advancing digital transformation (including cybersecurity), improving healthcare, and achieving circularity. The Commission selected 149 Regional Innovation Valleys that committed to enhance the coordination and directionality of their R&I investment and policies; to work together based on, but not limited to, their smart specialisation strategies, whilst contributing to the Union’s strategic priorities; to engage in interregional cooperation and to prepare and implement joint innovation plans.
The European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIH) Network is a community of tech experts dedicated to guiding Europe’s businesses on their path to digital transformation. Formed of a diverse array of organisations, EDIHs serve as one-stop shops throughout all EU regions, equipping companies with the essential digital tools to improve their competitiveness, upgrade their infrastructure, and boost their overall success.
The Regional Innovation Scoreboard (RIS), which accompanies the European Innovation Scoreboard every second year, provides a comparative assessment of the research and innovation performance across 239 European regions. These regions are categorized into four groups based on their innovation performance, revealing a persistent geographical divide in innovation capabilities.
Interpreting the findings from the RIS presents certain challenges and requires further analysis, combining both qualitative and quantitative information, including policy developments at national and regional levels. To address these challenges and explore the potential applications of the RIS findings, we conducted a study of 17 regional cases, representing all geographic areas and performance groups: Innovation Leaders, Strong Innovators, Moderate Innovators, and Emerging Innovators.
The study highlights that creating an innovative environment is a long-term investment, which requires continuous effort. There is no one-fit-all approach that would work anywhere. However, a common driver of innovation is the collaboration of various stakeholders from both public and private sectors, and across different fields. Innovation hubs play a critical role in driving innovation because they act as central points that nurture, encourage, and accelerate the development of new ideas, start-ups, and other innovative enterprises.
