Regional Innovation Development Based on Smart Specialisation: Typology of Smart Priorities

Abstract

The article clarifies the essence of the concept of "smart priorities" and presents the author's typology of smart priorities, based on the systematisation of theoretical and methodological approaches and empirical study of the results of prioritisation of EU regions development in the framework of regional strategies of smart specialisation. The expediency of supplementing the categorical apparatus of the theory of smart specialisation with the definition of "smart-priority" is emphasized. The author's interpretation of this concept, combining the essence of priority as a constructive component of smart specialisation strategy with the principles of smart choice, which are embedded in the methodology of smart specialisation and reveal its specifics, is proposed. According to the results of the literature analysis, the conclusion about the absence of a generalized typology of smart priorities and the relevance of its development. To typologize the priority spheres, a population approach was used, which involves identifying priorities with similar characteristics and combining them into groups according to certain characteristics. The sample of smart priorities for the study was formed according to the results of a multistage selection of regions registered on the S3 Platform. The final population included 354 priorities of 131 regions of EU countries. Based on the generalisation and systematisation of regional priority domains, eight typogroups were identified according to the following characteristics: the level of territorial division, inclusion of smart specialisation policy objectives, coverage of economic sectors, complexity, sectoral focus, directions of structural change, meaningful similarities, potential implementation by the initiating region. The developed typology allows for a comparative analysis of projects and policies to support them, which are implemented in the framework of regional strategies for smart specialisation. Also, the allocation of priorities on the basis of the potential for implementation by the initiating region provides an additional analytical tool for the development of this strategy. This tool provides for the distribution of regions into groups based on the assessment of their economic and innovative capabilities to develop the selected strategic domains. The proposed approach to the differentiation of territorial units provides preliminary information about the ability of regional ecosystems to create innovation and an understanding of the necessary additional components of smart specialisation strategies.