JRC continues contributing to develop Smart Specialisation to nurture the European recovery. In particular, Smart Specialisation can serve as a compass to help regions and Member States to orient and deliver targeted investment that can spur the twin green and digital transition and thus boost the European economy. Importantly, our analysis can feed into the European Green Deal by providing bottom-up evidence to understand why and how regions and local actors can engage in the green transition.

The Smart Specialisation Platform, created by JRC and DG REGIO, has become a world reference for innovation policy experiences. From this perspective, JRC will continue to act as a facilitator and a guide for countries, regions and their research and innovation ecosystems in Europe and beyond, on Smart Specialisation.

In line with the EU commitment to achieve climate neutrality, make our economy sustainable and leave no person or place behind, and as shown by the evolution from S3 (Smart Specialisation Strategies) to S4 (Smart Specialisation Strategies for Sustainability), Smart Specialisation also enables the localisation and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, in order to make sure that the global 2030 Agenda becomes concrete at the level of Member States, regions, local communities and cities. This work, encompassing the three economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainability, has been recognised globally and is now a part of permanent cooperation with United Nations.