The Concept of Smart Specialisation as an Innovation Management Instrument in Light of Polish and Austrian Experience

Abstract

This paper presents theoretical assumptions of the concept of smart specialisation and complementary theories of regional development in the aspect of innovation management. The strategy of smart specialisation, which involves the processes of creating a vision of regional development, setting strategic priorities, and searching for competitive advantages to maximise knowledge-based potential, highlights at the same time the necessity for regions to become specialised due to their differences, which constitute their strengths and allow them to stand out, and stresses the importance of strengths increasing regional innovativeness, which allows overall economic growth to be achieved. As smart specialisation relies on the identification of areas in which a region may demonstrate specific resources that are difficult to copy in other regions, the paper presents the Polish and Austrian experience. The paper has a review character and is an attempt to systematise knowledge about smart specialisation at the regional level.