Smart specialization strategies (RIS3) represent arguably the most ambitious regional innovation policy ever launched in the EU and as such have posed a major challenge for governments. While developing a smart specialization strategy has not been an entirely new adventure for the Basque Country, which has consistently pursued an industrial strategy over more than thirty years, there is enough novelty in the RIS3 process to pose a challenge even for mature regional innovation policy systems. This report builds on previous analysis of the early implementation of the Basque Country RIS3 (Aranguren et al, 2016) to explore how the processes initially set in motion have subsequently evolved. The focus is on the period 2016-2019 and the analysis is based on interviews with 28 key actors in the Basque RIS3 process alongside a range of other documentary sources.
The analysis finds significant changes in the governance of the entrepreneurial discovery processes established in the three strategic priority areas (advanced manufacturing, energy and bio-health) and four opportunity niches (ecosystems, food, urban habitat and creative and cultural industries). These are materializing in changes in the actors engaged and the strategies pursued, and they lead to six core conclusions that might form the basis for recommendations for the future.
In line with a ‘living strategy’, a new configuration of priorities is emerging There is an increasing horizontalization taking place, built on cross-cutting concern for internationalization, skills, new business models and entrepreneurship Engaging SMEs remains a huge challenge, and Basque experience points to key roles for cluster associations, local development agencies and vocational training centres The integration of social challenges (and civil society) remains a key challenge, and might take inspiration from Agenda 2030 and from transformative innovation policy or mission-oriented policy approaches There is a specific need for larger, more integrated projects, which will require further adaption of the implementation and policy mix There is need to work on the voice of regions within EU decision-making dynamics and to strengthen coordination across regional initiatives The evolution of the entrepreneurial discovery process observed in the Basque Country sheds light on some of the key issues with the ongoing development of RIS3 across Europe. These include the nature of their experimentalist polity, the further reform of regional research and innovation systems, the rising status of monitoring and evaluation as a strategic diagnostic tool, and the need to re-enforce synergies between EU policy instruments and across EU regions.
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