Udržateľný rast čoraz viac súvisí so schopnosťou regionálnych hospodárstiev inovovať a transformovať a zároveň sa prispôsobovať stále sa meniacemu a konkurenčnejšiemu prostrediu. To znamená, že sa musí vynakladať omnoho väčšie úsilie na vytváranie ekosystémov, ktoré podporujú inovácie, výskum a vývoj a tiež podnikanie, ako sa zdôrazňuje v stratégii Európa 2020 a jej hlavnej iniciatíve Únia inovácií.
Ďalšie nástroje
Podpora inovácií je preto ústredným bodom programov politiky súdržnosti na roky 2007 - 2013, v rámci ktorých je 86,4 miliardy eur alebo takmer 25 % celkových príspevkov určených na inovácie v širšom zmysle. Tento záväzok je ešte silnejší v programovom období 2014 - 2020, v ktorom je 30 % celkových príspevkov určených na inovácie v širšom zmysle. Inovačný potenciál všetkých regiónov EÚ v budúcnosti zmobilizujú aj stratégie inteligentnej špecializácie.
Introduction
Macro-economic research points out that innovation contributes between two-thirds and four-fifths of economic growth in developed countries. In other words, about 85% of productivity growth in advanced economies is driven by innovation. However, statistics confirm large disparities between EU Member States and regions in the fields of innovation and R&D as well as a persistent gap compared to its main competitors at global level. Europe needs to become more inventive, reacting more quickly to changing market conditions and consumer preferences in order to become an innovation-friendly society and economy.
The key drivers of research and innovation are most effectively addressed at the regional level. Reducing the innovation deficit between European regions is therefore a key task for Cohesion Policy. In that context, it invests, among others, in five key elements: Research and innovation, SME competitiveness, ICT take-up, Energy efficiency and renewable energy and Human capital development. Given the limited resources available, it is important to have a strategic approach in the form of a national and/or regional smart specialisation strategy (RIS3) bringing together the relevant business, research, education and public actors to develop and implement strategies that focus their resources on a limited number of areas with competitive advantages.
Innovation 2014-2020 programming period
In the current programming period, investments under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) are concentrated on 4 key thematic priorities: innovation and research, the digital agenda, support for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and the low-carbon economy.
The ERDF investments in innovation are being used to support the implementation of smart specialisation strategies (RIS3) to have a greater and more sustainable impact on jobs and growth in the different regions. To provide (pro)active support to Member States and regions who develop their RIS3 a 'Smart Specialisation Platform' has been set up: More than 170 countries and regions have already registered in this S3Platform (April 2017) to learn among peers on how to develop, implement and monitor their RIS3 and explore possibilities for cooperation. In addition experts are at the disposal of those regions who need specific support (if you would like to register as expert, please contact REGIO-G1-HEAD-OF-UNIT@ec.europa.eu; to register as expert: Expert list.
