Report on the Implementation of Smart Specialisation in Sweden
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Independent expert report Report on the implementation of smart specialisation in Sweden David Paulsson 2019-10-06 Report on the implementation of smart specialisation in Sweden 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Smart specialisation in Sweden – an introduction ............................................................................... 2 2.1. The Swedish innovation context in brief ..................................................................................... 2 2.2. The regional context in Sweden................................................................................................... 3 2.3. Timeline of smart specialisation .................................................................................................. 5 3. Stocktaking ............................................................................................................................................ 5 3.1. Snapshot of smart specialisation in Swedish regions .................................................................. 6 3.2. Snapshot – some observations .................................................................................................. 12 3.3. Challenges .................................................................................................................................. 14 3.3.1. Structural challenge I: The regional size and critical mass................................................ 15 3.3.2. Structural challenge II: The role of the regional authority ............................................... 15 3.3.3. Institutional challenge I: Lack of mandate or mission ...................................................... 16 3.3.4. Institutional challenge II: ERDF Implementation .............................................................. 18 3.3.5. Operational challenge I: The innovation support system ................................................. 19 3.3.6. Operational challenge II: Research links ........................................................................... 21 3.4. Meta-reflections ......................................................................................................................... 22 4. Enabling condition ............................................................................................................................... 23 4.1. Up to date analysis of bottlenecks for innovation diffusion, including digitalisation .............. 23 4.2. Existence of competent regional/national institution or body, responsible for the management of the smart specialisation strategy ................................................................................. 23 4.3. Monitoring and evaluation tools to measure performance towards the objectives of the strategy .................................................................................................................................................... 24 4.4. Effective functioning of entrepreneurial discovery process ..................................................... 25 4.5. Actions necessary to improve national or regional research and innovation systems ............ 25 4.6. Actions to manage industrial transition .................................................................................... 25 4.7. Measures for international collaboration.................................................................................. 26 4.8. Capacity for compliance ............................................................................................................. 26 5. Multilevel coordination ....................................................................................................................... 27 6. Recommendations .............................................................................................................................. 30 6.1. Low resource recommendations ............................................................................................... 30 6.2. Medium resource recommendations ........................................................................................ 31 6.3. High resource recommendations .............................................................................................. 32 References ................................................................................................................................................... 33 1. Introduction This report will take stock and review the implementation of smart specialisation strategies in Sweden. Smart specialisation has at the time of writing formed the basis for research and innovation investments under the European Regional Development Fund for almost a full programming period (2014-2020). On the one hand, the time period passed should present an opportunity to draw some well-founded conclusions about the implementation to date. On the other hand, these conclusions would need to be reviewed with some margin before the next programming period, in order to influence decision-making on European, national and regional level. This report seeks to provide a foundation for such a review. The report have been commissioned by the European Commission and the main purpose is that it should present a detailed report mapping the implementation of smart specialisation in Sweden, with special focus on challenges, obstacles and best practices and including recommendations on how these challenges and obstacles can be overcome, considering regional, national and EU funds and initiatives. The purpose is further elaborated in four main objectives, as the report should include: 1. A stocktaking exercise of the implementation of RIS3 in Sweden, regionally and nationally, with special focus on challenges, obstacles and best practices 2. Recommendations on how these challenges and obstacles can be overcome, considering regional, national and EU funds and initiatives. 3. Access the capability of Sweden to comply with the Enabling condition on Smart specialisation set out in the draft CPR.1 4. Discuss how well the coordination of the smart specialisation strategies between regional and national level as well as the cross-regional coordination works and prepare advice for optimisation. The report will be structured in four main parts. First, a short introduction will provide some basic information on, and relating to, smart specialisation in Sweden in chapter 2. This chapter is based on reports as well as databases. Second, the actual stocktaking will be presented in chapter 3. This chapter is mainly based on interviews with all regional authorities and supported by a review of regional strategy documents. Third, the stocktaking will form the basis for an analysis of capacity for compliance with the enabling condition, as well as the multilevel coordination in Sweden in chapters 4 and 5 respectively. Fourth and lastly, a set of recommendations will be presented in chapter 6. The recommendations will focus on the national and interregional level. To cover specific challenges identified in single regions or to formulate recommendations to specific regions is beyond the scope of this report. However, challenges that are shared by several regions will be addressed. The different chapters are quite well integrated in each other, whereby selective reading of different sections might entail some difficulties. However, there are cross- references in the text so that readers should be able to navigate the report from different starting points. 1 It has been pointed out during the development of this report that the enabling condition and related criteria have been modified, for instance in the Council position on the proposal for the Common Provisions Regulation. In correspondence with the terms of reference for this assignment however, it will be the formulations of the criteria for Enabling condition set out in the draft CPR that will serve as the basis for this analysis. 1 2. Smart specialisation in Sweden – an introduction This chapter will provide some background on smart specialisation in Sweden through some general research and innovation facts and figures as well as a short chronicle on smart specialisation policy implementation. 2.1. The Swedish innovation context in brief Sweden is an innovation leader in the European innovation scoreboard and the leading nation according to the 2019 edition (Hollanders, Es-Sadki, & Merkelbach, 2019). As of 2016, Sweden had the highest gross expenditure on research and innovation (GERD) in the EU. Sweden also performs well in similar rankings (c.f. Cornell University, INSEAD and WIPO, 2019) consequently placing near or at the top of different measurements of innovation. Sweden also generally performs well in index measuring institutions and framework conditions for business (c.f. The World Bank, 2019 and Schwab, 2018).) In terms of entrepreneurship, Sweden’s measured performance is more mixed however, with moderate levels of entrepreneurship across various dimensions (Bosma & Kelley, 2018). The Swedish innovation system is relatively concentrated on the university sector (Hallonsten & Slavcheva, 2018). Most of the public funding is directed at universities and universities also have some of the same tasks that research institutes have in other countries (OECD, 2016). Universities are technically governmental agencies and therefore they all have national mandates and missions. However, while universities are the biggest public research actors,