Smart Specialisation at work: evidence from the Peer and eXchange and Learning workshops

This report explores some of the main challenges, providing lessons and recommendations, on three important components of the Smart Specialisation policy framework: governance, entrepreneurial discovery process and monitoring.

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to contribute to the collective learning process on the Smart Specialisation policy experience. It does so by presenting a systematic collection of evidence and lessons on this policy endeavour. More specifically, the reflections contained in this paper draw upon the views and experiences of national and regional authorities, collected during the Peer eXchange and Learning (PXL) workshops organised by the Smart Specialisation Platform of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (Territorial Development Unit). Overall, 25 among European Union (EU) regions and countries were peer-reviewed and around 350 participants contributed to the debates. This report explores some of the main challenges, providing lessons and recommendations, on three important components of the Smart Specialisation policy framework: governance, entrepreneurial discovery process and monitoring. The arguments and list of points illustrated in this paper do not aim at completeness; rather, they represent an effort to collect disperse evidence and knowledge, which can inform the current debate on the future of the policy in the EU and beyond.