Title: Results of the study on the regional innovation observatories
There is a need for coordination of regional and pan-regional efforts dealing with the collection and provision of important information on regional innovation in Europe. A survey conducted by the IRE Secretariat, exploring this issue, has provided feedback from regional stakeholders and external experts on what is the current state of affairs concerning analysis of data for innovation policy making in European regions and what are the expectations for collaboration at European level.
The regions are keen to be informed
As part of this study the IRE Secretariat has recently been busy examining the activities of the “innovation observatories” operating in the European regions as well as the need for European-level activity in this field. The survey conducted among the IRE members has shown that the regions are interested in informed policy making. The large majority of respondents (82%), representing 99 IRE regions reported that at least one organisation in their region carries out activities related to the collection, processing and analysis of information relevant to regional innovation, and among those saying that no activity is being undertaken in this field, 22% reported that there are plans to start such activities in the future.
The regional “innovation observatories” – though not all bear this title – have been set up according to the specific needs and available resources of each region. They often each monitor several different areas of data. The most frequent is regional innovation performance, including the overall position of the region related to its innovation potential or outcomes – reported by 42% of respondents. To a lesser extent other functions are provided such as:
mapping of the regional innovation system, namely identification of the main players in the innovation system, the activities they perform and the way they interact with each other;
monitoring of innovation policies and programmes implemented in the region (including expenditures, results, impact);
the monitoring of innovation performance and needs of regional companies, including statistical studies and the study of specific groups or specific samples of companies.
The survey also provided feedback on the degree of interest in coordinated activities at European level. A large majority of respondents is interested in such activities, choosing as the most desired service provision, “data and reports on regional innovation” (95% of the responses). Some respondents point out that access to data and information already collected by other regions or pan-regional initiatives would provide a useful reference for benchmarking or provide inspiration on how to collect data and use it for a region’s own purposes.
The regions also see a need to collaborate with peers in other regions more actively; 85% of respondents said that they are interested in coordination of efforts among the existing regional innovation observatories. Moreover many respondents believe that mutual learning as regards data collection and analysis of methodologies can be of more benefit that mere comparison of data.
Meeting different needs
On 30th October 2008, a special workshop was held with the participation of interested volunteers representing the IRE member regions and invited experts. They presented their experience regarding the monitoring of regional innovation issues and suggestions for possible coordinated activities.
The discussions were centred on three points:
The regions would like to have more and fresher data available concerning the indicators of regional innovation performance.
The regions are interested in mutual learning on how to monitor regional innovation programmes. Even though simple comparisons are not possible as the programmes and their implementation structures are different in different regions, it would be very useful for regions to collaborate on the establishment of the common methodology standards. There is a view that the regions are currently shaping their regional innovation observatories and therefore this is the best time to influence the methodology the observatories will use.
The data about innovation in companies is the most needed and useful but also the most difficult to obtain. Data comparing companies would be very valuable, but the collection of company data is very expensive and difficult as companies are usually overloaded with different surveys and not very willing to cooperate. There is interest in the elaboration of a methodology that would provide useful data for the policy makers and innovation practitioners but first of all would be of benefit to the companies providing them with information about themselves.
The way forward
The various ideas on how to help regions with their innovation observatory and policy learning cannot be implemented overnight. For some activities the regions would like to see the European Commission take the lead, recognising its important role in establishing models and standards that are often voluntarily followed by other actors. The European Commission would be welcome as an initiator of a project or activity that would collect in one place all the knowledge and data already available from different sources. Other actions could be carried out with more bottom-up involvement of the regions, for example in the areas of staff exchange and networks for mutual learning.
The detailed report on the study has been published on the IRE Website.
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There is a need for coordination of regional and pan-regional efforts dealing with the collection and provision of important information on regional innovation in Europe. A survey conducted by the IRE Secretariat, exploring this issue, has provided feedback from regional stakeholders and external experts on what is the current state of affairs concerning analysis of data for innovation policy making in European regions and what are the expectations for collaboration at European level.