Smart Specialisation Strategies & Synergies ESIF – Horizon2020

Smart Specialisation Strategies & Synergies ESIF – Horizon2020 ESIF Stakeholder Dialogue 23 April 2015 Katja Reppel Deputy Head of Unit REGIO.G.1 – Competence Centre for smart & sustainable growth

Issues • State of play as regards Smart Specialisation Strategies: opportunities & challenges ahead • Concept of synergies btw EU Funds and instruments • Commission actions to facilitate synergies • What could ESIF SD members do to facilitate synergies

Origins of RIS3

What is Smart Specialisation ? = Evidence-based considering all assets and problems in a region, incl. External perspective / internal / global market (critical mass? Opportunities? excellence? cooperation? Value chains?) = No top-down decision, but dynamic /entrepreneurial discovery process uniting key stakeholders around shared vision = Mobilisation of investments and synergies across different departments and governance levels (EU-national-regional) = All forms of innovation – not only technology driven = Differentiation: SWOT analysis (all types of assets), competitive advantages, potential for excellence, opportunities = Concentration of resources on priorities, problems and core needs (no sprinkler principle, no picking the winners, yes to catalytic investments) = Place-based economic transformation: rejuvenating traditional sectors through higher value-added activities, cross-sectoral links, new market niches by sourcing-in and disseminating new technologies rather than re-inventing the wheel; exploiting new forms of innovation

Entrepreneurial discovery process is the core of RIS3 • Reiterative process • Creative thinking / combination • External view needed • Multiple formats of EDP depending on: • RIS3 stage (strategy design vs. Delivery mechanism design vs. Project level) • Theme / value chain specificities (e.g. pharmaceuticals vs digital innovations vs manufacturing ….) Research public and private research bodies, universities, science and technology parks, NCPs, Technology transfer offices, Horizon2020 committee members, regional ESFRI roadmaps etc. Business manufacturing and services, primary sectors, financial sector, creative industries, social sector, large firms, SMEs, young entrepreneurs, students with business ideas, cluster and business organisations, etc. • Entrepreneurial in: • Compositionand • Spirit: (risk-taking, broaderviewbeyondboundaries …) Different departments, if relevant at different government levels, agencies e.g. for regional development, business advice, public procurement offices, incubators, etc. Public administration NGOs and citizens’ initiatives related to societal challenges for which innovative solutions would be helpful, consumers associations, trade unions, Talents! etc. Civil society / Users

Ex-ante conditionalities 29 thematic and 7 horizontal ex ante conditionalities for all ESIF

Typical problems with RIS3 • Re-packaging of old strategies in some MS & Lack of vision / ambition for transformation ; silo-mentality survived • Entrepreneurial Discovery Process unbalanced and non-participatory ; priority setting too statistics-based • Still too many popular / catch-all "priorities" • Policy mix conservative & not adjusted to priorities ; few policy measures on process/service/demand/social(/public sector innovation & regulatory measures ; Lack of administrative capacities • Monitoring systems unfit to spot changes in priorities • Often too ERDF TO1-focused (EAFRD, ESF, EMFF, own funds, Horizon2020, COSME etc. not considered) For the moment 77 action plans to complete & adjust innovation strategies (over 800 action plans for the 35 other EACs …)

Positive impacts of the RIS3 process • Fresh start for innovation policy governance & priority setting in many countries & regions • Concept of RIS3 welcomed as a possible way out of the crisis thanks to economic transformation of regions & MS • Role & potential of regions in innovation policy (place-based) • Better planning and impact orientation • More interest in trans-national and inter-regional cooperation (Vanguard, Macro-regional strategies, INTERREG) • Synergies with COSME & Horizon2020 identified as opportunities • Regions more aware of EU initiatives, such as "KETs" (key enabling technologies) and industry policy • Mutual learning & peer-reviews appreciated

Impact of RIS3 – as seen by MA: 60% of regional policy makers state that the smart specialisation policy framework introduced significant adaptations in the stakeholder involvement process (and 20% spoke about a “completely new process”) More than 40% stated that there have been substantial adaptations to the existing policy mix. Source: Survey by Fraunhofer ISI across ESIF managing authorities, relevant regional innovation policy makers and selected consultants across the EU (2013 Q3).

Main challenges for Commission to make smart specialisation work: President Juncker's focus for Commissioner Creţu: • Ensuring that the new conditionality provisions of the Funds are respected and perform their role … • Contributing to: - 300bn investment package - Energy Union - Digital Single Market • Ensuring coherence and coordination between all funds covered by the Common Strategic Framework, as well as maximising synergies with instruments available at EU level… • Continuity: RIS3 is conceived as an on-going (and reiterative) process with stakeholder involvement (Entrepreneurial Discovery Process), monitoring and adjustments until 2020… • Implementation tools & capacities: quality of the implementation and impact depend on suitability of the support tools, the administrative capacities to design such tools and manage them effectively and efficiently • International opening and cooperation: generate critical mass via combining forces, complementing capacities and getting the chain links together for value chains. Role for synergies with Horizon 2020…

Mobilise Commission tools: • Keep the ball rolling • Commission advisory role in OP Monitoring Committees • Support RIS3 action plan implementation • Policy analysis and support: PSF, RIO, RIM, SmartSpec FP7 project, … • S3Platform: cooperation on RIS3themes (value chains etc.) and shared issues (policy mix, monitoring systems, etc.) 2.Improve implementation tools & capacities • Experts: individual counselling ; NEW: peer-exchanges (TAIEX) • Preparatory action for RIS3 in Eastern Greece & Macedonia 3.International opening and cooperation • Macro-regional strategies & INTERREG: platforms & projects • Horizon2020, COSME, Erasmus+ etc. projects and (cluster) networks • European Innovation Partnerships, Joint Technology Initiatives, KICs … • Pilot action “Stairway to excellence” for synergies with Horizon2020 • Vanguard Initiative

"SmartSpec" Project Objectives & Work Packages • Effective Strategy Design: Identification of institutional and systemic bottlenecks • Entrepreneurial Search Dynamics: Role of organisations and their interaction for the development and implementation of RIS3s • Challenge for MS and regions with less-developed R&I systems. • Social innovation & public service innovation • Better metrics, evaluation and monitoring of RIS3s • 16 Regional "Living Labs" (regional case studies) • Smart Specialisation in Practice: the Learning Journey -10 regions Involvedorganisations: Cardiff University & Newcastle University (UK), Charles University (CR), Deusto Foundation (ES), ERRIN, EURADA, Groningen University & Utrecht University (NL), Lund University (SE), Padua University (IT) + Regional Affiliates See: http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/cplan/research/smartspec

"Stairway to Excellence" Pilot Project • MEUR 1.5 EP pilot project (runs until end 2015) • Implementation by REGIO and the IPTS-JRC to benefit from complementarities with S3Platform • Cooperation with MIRRIS FP7 project and Horizon2020 "Widening" actions • Web-site: http://s3platform.jrc.ec.europa.eu/stairway-to-excellence

Support for value-chain networking New tasks for the S3Platform in cooperation & complementarity with Horizon2020 cluster networks, INTERREG platforms, etc. Eye@RIS3 database: http://s3platform.jrc.ec.europa.eu/map S3 Inter-regional Trade and Competition tool: http://s3platform.jrc.ec.europa.eu/s3-trade-tool Benchmarking Regional Structure: http://s3platform.jrc.ec.europa.eu/regional-benchmarking • Most frequently cited RIS3 fields: • Energy • Health • ICT • Agro-food • Advanced materials • Services / Tourism • Eco-innovation • Advanced manufacturing • Creative industries • With whom do you compete or need to cooperate? Cohesion Policy

How to measure success of a RIS3? • No one-size-fits-all! • place-based objectives for individual smart specialisation priorities • Implementation of specific policy-mix • Degree of (sustained & adjusted) mobilisation of relevant stakeholders (Entrepreneurial Discovery Process) • Quality of monitoring & revision processes • Medium term: improved innovation eco-systems, changes in industrial landscapes towards higher-added value products & services, improvement in IU scoreboard indicators related to RIS3 priorities • … and in the long run:-high-skilled jobs-innovation excellence-global competitiveness…

Enabling provisions in ESIF Regulations • Possibility to combine H2020 and ESIF money in the same project via a derogation from the non-cumulative principle of Art. 129 Fin. Regulation that prohibits a beneficiary to receive 2 EU grants for a project (Art. 65(11) CPR*) • More ESIF can be spent outside operational programme territory (e.g. to pool funding for technology parks, clusters, research infrastructures abroad, …) if for the benefit of the programme area: Article 70(2) CPR (also contract research is possible outside OP territory irrespective of Art 70(2)!) • Stronger obligation to work with innovation actors in other regions & Member States beyond "INTERREG": Art 96(3)d CPR • Alignment of similar cost options possible for easier combining of funds: lump sums, flat rates, standard scales of unit costs under ESIF may use the H2020 rules applicable for similar types of operations and beneficiaries (Art 67(5)b, 68 CPR) • Obligation to develop smart specialisation strategies, including seeking synergies and complementarity with Horizon2020 and other centrally managed EU programmes and involvement of Horizon 2020 stakeholders in RIS3 development process and obligation to foresee up- & down-stream measures to Horizon 2020 in RIS3: Annex 1 to CPR *) Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 Common Provisions for all European Structural and Investment Funds

= PolicySynergies! Why do we need strategic synergies between ESIF and Horizon2020? • Improve the quality of national & regional innovatoin eco-systems and policies to enable more impact of ESIF investments • Leverage more national / regional funding towards EU objectives: Innovation Union, Modernised Industry policy, DAE • Strengthen cooperation between innovation actors and policies relevant for innovation (skilled & creative people, research, enterprises, investors, market access, different Ministries and departments and on different levels, legal and administrative framework conditions…) • Cooperation leading & lagging regions with smart specialisation: not all regions are excellent in everything, but every region has the potential to be excellent in something

What do we understand as synergies? • Obtaining more impacts on competitiveness, jobs and growth by combining ESIF and Horizon2020 … e.g. use of ERDF research infrastructures in Horizon 2020 innovation projects • Amplifying projects / initiatives under the other instrument … e.g. oversubscription of SME instrument: short listed projects ESIF • Carrying further the projects of the other instrument towards market … e.g. SME instrument "seals of excellence" …andwhat NOT: • NO substituting of national or regional or private co-funding to projects or programmes by money from the other instruments • NO diversion of funding away from the purpose of the respective instrument / operational programme (e.g. smart specialisation strategy) • NO simple "run for the money": Maximising the acquisition of additional funding from H2020 for a MS / region is no good objective, as this is no durable impact.

Actions facilitating synergies – DG REGIO • Hands-on support for individual regional and national governments for the development of RIS3 • Awareness raising on synergies & combined funding opportunities during 2014-2020 negotiations & 2014 guide • Eye@RIS3 mapping on smart specialisation priority fields across EU: find partners for Horizon2020 consortia • EP Pilot Project 'Stairway to excellence' in EU-13 to identify potential for synergies & improve RIS3 • Information on other programmesincluded in Guidance for beneficiaries (Art.13) on InfoRegio • Advice on guiding principles for the selection of operations & selection criteria • Supports teaming up of MS and regional innovation actors around shared RIS3 fields (Vanguard Initiative, RIS3 thematic platforms, Eye@RIS3 mapping, workshops, INTERREG) to be better prepared for trans-national Horizon2020 calls and EIP etc. involvement

Actions facilitating synergies – DG RTD • Reference to synergies in Horizon 2020 work programmes 2014-15 in a number of topics • Information being inserted in 2016-17 WP • Alignment to RIS3 as a condition for Teaming proposals • Training to NCPs • Evaluators briefed when explicit reference to synergies • References to ESIF in participant portal • CORDIS for information on Horizon2020 participation of regions

Further actions ongoing/foreseen (1) • Auditors involved in ESIF will be trained and informed to get greater understanding of other programmes • Standard letter to H2020 project applicants on other funding opportunities under preparation • Guide for beneficiaries (RTD) being updated; • Identification and compilation of good practice examples & platform/network for exchange of info and mutual learning considered • Tracking system for identifying and measuring progress of synergies • New business process to transfer positively evaluated H2020 proposals' details to managing authorities

Further actions ongoing/foreseen (2) • DG RTD will provide MAs and ESIF intermediaries with contacts to independent experts registered in the Commission's expert databases • Analysis of planned major projects in 2014-2020 to make info about new research capacities available to Horizon 2020 programmers • Support for the improvement of the policy mix support innovation and competitiveness, notably via the S3Platform, mutual learning, studies, analysis and the provision of experts will be enhanced; • Data and analysis to facilitate international and EU wide comparisons • …

What could ESIF SD member organisations do to facilitate synergies? • Push authorities to keep the entrepreneurial discovery process going & give input to RIS3 monitoring & improvement of policy-mixes • Compare cost models and project formats of Horizon2020, Erasmus+, etc. and past ESIF programmes to explain their advantages etc and discuss with ESIF managing authorities opportunities of alignment … • Promote newforms of innovationsupport • Help increase international connections & demonstrate to MA the positive impact of international cooperation • Think of how to build on past ESIF or FP7 projects to go further in the innovation cycle

Smart Specialisation Strategies & Synergies ESIF – Horizon2020