Download Smart Specialisation – a view from the Member State

SMART SPECIALISATION
THE GOVERNMENT PERSPECTIVE
- Cardiff University 28 June 2012
BACKDROP - CHALLENGING TIMES
 Economic landscape : recession & Eurozone
crisis
 EU budget focus on driving high end growth &
maximising impact
 Concentration of investment on top drivers of
growth
 UK National Reform Plan targets
 Stronger performance management &
accountability
 More flexibility to align EU funds
(regional, social, rural and fisheries)
EU ‘COMMON STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK’
INVESTMENT THEMES
1.
2.
3.
Innovation and R&D
ICT: Improving access; quality and usage
SMEs: Improving competitiveness, incl. in the agricultural
and aquaculture sectors
4. Shift to low carbon economy
5. Climate change adaptation and risk management
6. Environmental protection & resource efficiency
7. Sustainable transport and unblocking key networks
8. Employment and labour mobility
9. Social inclusion and fighting poverty
10. Education, skills and lifelong learning
11. Improving institutional capacity for efficient public
administration
UK CHALLENGES FOR STRUCTURAL FUNDS
 Increasing R&D spend &
‘localising’ national investment plans
(TSB)
 Improving access to finance for SMEs
 More renewable energy use
 NEETS / youth unemployment
 Higher level skills
 Financing through ‘financial instruments’
(more loans / fewer grants)
‘LESS DEVELOPED’ REGIONS 2014-2020
 GDP/head below 75% EU27
average
 75%-85% EU co-financing available
for wider range of activities
 Safety net” of 2/3 of previous
allocation for regions moving ‘up’
and out of this category
 At least 25% spend must be from
European Social Fund
 Likely to be West Wales and the
Valleys + Cornwall and Scilly
Isles
‘TRANSITION’ REGIONS 2014-2020
 GDP/head between 75% and 90% of EU27
average
 60% EU co-financing
 Safety net” of 2/3 of previous allocation for
regions moving ‘upwards’ into this category
At least 40% spend must be from European
Social Fund, of which 70% of each programme
must focus on only 4 priorities, with 20%
earmarked for tackling social exclusion at
national level
 80% ERDF to focus on only 3 priorities
 Likely to include :
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Devon
Lincolnshire
East Yorkshire & N. Lincolnshire
Shropshire & Staffordshire
South Yorkshire
Merseyside
Lancashire
Tees Valley & Durham
Highlands & Islands
Cumbria
Northern Ireland
MORE DEVELOPED’ REGIONS 2014-2020
 GDP/head more than 90% EU27 average
 50% EU co-financing
 At least 52% spend must be from European Social Fund,
of which 80% of each programme must focus on only 4
priorities
 At least 20% ESF to focus on social exclusion at national
level
 80% ERDF to focus on only 3 priorities:
Innovation
SME competitiveness
Low carbon and energy efficiency (at least 20%)
SMART SPECIALISATION:
WHAT WE NEED VS WHAT WE WANT
 UK strategy for stimulating R&D excellence

Proven track record of world beating
innovation
 Smart specialisation as a ‘precondition’ for
receiving UK ERDF....does not apply...but
 We want....Locally transparent and locally
engaged innovation / R&D investment
decisions.
 We want....National innovation investment
woven into local investment plans
NATIONAL LEVERS: TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY
Technology Strategy Board (UK national
innovation agency) works with top companies
in R&D to:
 Accelerate ‘the journey between concept
and commercialisation’
 Connect the innovation landscape
 Turn Government procurement into
innovation driver & business opportunity
 Invest in priority areas based on potential to
generate sustainable UK economic growth
TSB DELIVERS THROUGH....
 Technology & Innovation (Catapult)
Centres
 Demonstrator Projects : Innovation
Platforms (eg. Low Carbon Vehicles)
 Support for networking & collaboration
(incl. Knowledge Transfer Networks)
 Support for SMEs (Grant for R&D,
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships,
Eurostars)
 Procurement : driving innovation through
government procurement
LOCAL LEVERS?
 Universities
 Private sector R&D
 Social / business innovation?
? SMART SPECIALISATION: How do we deliver
local impact from a partnership between
national & local investment in innovation ?
 Need to avoid cathedrals in the desert + suboptimal fragmentation
KEY QUESTIONS
 What will shift the economic game?
 How will the difference be measured?
 How much & when?
 Fuzzy boundaries?:
o Different partnerships for different
issues?
o Different geographies for different issues?
 Leadership? Governance?