ecoRIS3Policies & Measures to Support Local

& Regional Innovation Ecosystems

John HobbsTamara Espiñeira

Atlantic Cities General Assembly22nd October 2019

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ecoRIS3 PROJECTINTERREG EUROPE Research and Innovation project

Main goal: develop local innovation plans under Regional InnovationSystems – by promoting sustainable enterprises and contributing toregional economic growth and employment.

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ECORIS3 PROJECT7 partners from 7 countriesworking together to enhancetheir local innovationecosystems by the mean ofRIS3 strategies.

1 transnational advisor

Project Budget: 1,724,163 € (85%funding rate)

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OVERALL OBJECTIVE

Foster international cooperation to help promoting betterpolicies and measures to orchestrate sustainable localand regional innovation ecosystems with RIS3strategies.

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Target nº 1: to enhance innovation ecosystems withinRIS3 strategies responding to the existingchallenges and gaps.

Target nº 2: to generate solid interactions betweenkey stakeholders to orchestrate sustainable innovation

ecosystems:

ecoRIS3 Targets

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TOPICS ADDRESSED

Workshops

• WS1:Public Sector as Orchestrator of ecosystems of innovation and Smart Specialization ( June 17, Portugal)

• W2: RTO & High Education players, (Oct-Nov 17, Ireland)

• W3: Civil Society in search of emancipation through tools and platforms (June 18, Latvia)

• W4: Successful cooperation and experiences between Business & Science,(Oct, 18 Lithuania)

Seminars

• S1: “Quadruple Helix & RIS3”. March 19, Portugal

• S2:“eHealth & Ecosystem”, June 19, Italy

• S3: “Connecting Brains” (Talent & RIS3)” Oct 19, Finland

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Workshops & Study Visits

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Target nº 3: to propose policies and measures to Support Local & Regional Innovation Ecosystems

How? 7 Action Plans (by dec.2019): to specify what will be done in each

region to ensure that the lessons learnt from the cooperation projectare put into action.

Action Plans Implementation, monitoring and evaluation (2020-2021)

ecoRIS3 Targets

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Technical implementation

PHASE 1 (Jan 2017- Dec 2019)

EXCHANGE OF EXPERIENCES: Workshops, study visits, Seminars Regional stakeholder group

meetings and active involvement Peer review SWOT analysis Action Plans

COMMUNICATION ACTIVITIES: Newsletters, social media

PROJECT MANAGEMENT: Reporting every 6 months

PHASE 2 (Jan20-Dec21)

EXCHANGE OF EXPERIENCES: Implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the action plans

COMMUNICATION ACTIVITIES: Final Dissemination event

PROJECT MANAGEMENT: Yearly meeting and reporting of costs & results

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Policy Learning Platform

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Strengths of ecoRIS3 application Topic high on EU agenda

(improving innovation ecosystems in areas of smart specialisation)

Clear focus on Structural Funds programmes (all policy instruments), and involvement of project partners with clear policy relevance.

Builds on similar Interreg Europe projects (INKREASE, HIGHER, CLUSTERS3)

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OP for Investing European Structural and Investment Funds 2014-2020Improvement of an already existing innovation voucher schemeLack of results since the launch of the innovation voucher in 2015Innovation voucher, rebranded as “InoStartas LT”, now covers three steps of the TRL (technology readiness level): technical feasibility study (up to TRL3), but also support for mature SMEs to design their products (TRL3 - TRL6, and TRL7 - TRL9)OP has been updated with “InoStartas LT” scheme, 358 820 EUR already granted to 19 companiesPartner: Sunrise Valley

Science and Technology park, Vilnius (LT) Inspiration from: “Technology Voucher” developed by Fomento San

Sebastian (ES)

Policy change:

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Southern and Eastern Regional OP 2014-2020Development and enhancement of a co-working space in CorkFirst inspiration from co-working space found in San FrancisoCOwoRK City with more than 1300 m² surface, hosts 15 start-upsLocated at Civic Offices, hosted companies benefit from mentoring by Cork City Council Local Enterprise Offices (LEO)Next step: build on this concentration of start-up and develop new national cluster CYBER IrelandPartner: Cork Institute

of Technology (IE)Inspiration from: co-working space Skola6 (LV) and LinkArts factory (LT)

Policy change:

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UIA Question: Is my project innovative?

ECORIS3 provides for a wide range of good practice on innovation ecosystems, allowing to compare the proposed initiative. Thus, it also allows for a benchmark (or a baseline)

ECORIS3 good practice was submitted to a pool of experts that decided if the good practice was really innovative and unique – therefore establishing a method to measure, test and improve initiatives.

UIA Question: Is the proposed partnership relevant?

ECORIS3 examined how the 4 dimensions can influence and improve an innovation ecosystem: public sector, private sector, academia and civil society. It also analyzed how to remove barriers to co-development, how to increase collaboration and how to identify obstacles and avoid silos.

Moreover, each territory of the project developed an Action Plan where all stakeholders are involved since the beginning, both the agents that seem evident and those not so obvious, who can also foster an action from a different sector.

ecoRIS3 Inspiring Urban Innovative Actions

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UIA Question: Are the proposed project and its expected results measurable?

Every good practice submitted by the project was accompanied by a range of indicators that may serve as examples to identify and quantify outputs and results.

Action Plans of ECORIS3 also define target groups. Moreover those plans should forecast a monitoring and evaluation system.

UIA Question: Is the proposed action transferable?

That is the main goal of ECORIS3! Finding solutions that can be used all over Europe, without loosing sight of territorial realities.

ecoRIS3 Inspiring Urban Innovative Actions

Merci!

Questions welcome

www.interregeurope.eu/ecoris3

Dr John Hobbs,Senior Lecturer, Department of Management and Enterprise,Cork Institute of Technology. Rossa Avenue, Bishopstown, Cork.

Mobile: 00353 86 8091294 Office: 00353 21 4335149Email: john.hobbs@cit.ie Skype: jhobbs.cit