The Guide to Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS 3) is a prerequisite of the approval of every EU region’s and member state’s operational program developed for the 2014-2020 programming period. The Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) with the Joint Research Centre (JRC) jointly created the S3 Platform, which gives member states a professional counselling on how to draft RIS3 documentation as well as helping them identify their strengths in the fields of research, development and innovation. Since 2012, the S3 Platform organises workshops all around Europe, and the latest peer-review workshop was held in Budapest.
The National Innovation Office (NIO) and the Ministry for National Economy (MNE) in collaboration with the Regional Innovation Agencies, which have been working in different regions of the county for the past six months, assessed the possibilities and drafted seven regional and one synthesized RIS3 documents. The representatives of the S3 Platform indicated in February that the Hungarian example looks promising. The reason is that in Hungary, with the coordination of the MNE and the NIO, the top-down (the centralized definition of methodology) and the bottom-up (based on the adopted methodology the regions prepare their own strategies) planning happen simultaneously. According to government decree 1121/2013 (III.11.), the deadline for creating the National Research, Development and Innovation Strategy’s national strategy on smart specialization, is October 31st, 2013.
The opening speeches of the conference were given by Normund Poppens, Deputy Director General of the DG REGIO, László Turóczy, Deputy State Secretary for Competitiveness, Ministry for National Economy and Alessandro Rainoldi, Action leader for the Smart Specialization Platform. All three agreed that the 2014-2020 period, will be a turning point in the history of the European Union, and well developed RIS3 strategies could contribute to its success. Known specialists in the RIS3 planning also took the floor at the conference. The participants of the conference were given the chance to acquaint themselves and give opinion on the planned national RIS3 strategies of four counties (Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Portugal). The representatives of the European Commission and the guest countries jointly commented and advised on some of the strategies, which the assessed countries will incorporate in their national strategies. Representatives from different public institutions and from the business sector from 20 countries attended the conference. Among the delegated countries we welcomed Croatia, the newest member of the European Union since July 1st, as well as two non EU member states (Norway and Serbia).
The event took place in the spirit of “learning together”, and the closing speeches – including Dr. Csaba Deák, the vice president for Strategy of the NIO – highlighted the following key words worth keeping in mind for the future strategy development and implementation: authenticity, big ideas, knowledge management, and the renewal of the industry!