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IRE Launch Event: outcomes
The Innovating Regions in Europe want to create a policy consulting community of practice in the field of regional innovation policy based on the involvement of regional governmental practitioners and their partners.

An IRE Launch Even twas held on the 13 of May 2009 in Brussels.

The IRE Community aims at improving the “architecture” of the innovation system in Europe in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness.

It is like a family where people support, help, share and correct.

In key words our challenge is to:

Keep it simple
Keep it effective
Keep it personal

AN AGENDA FOR A REFORMED COHESION POLICY
A place-based approach to meeting European Union challenges and expectations Independent Report prepared at the request of Danuta Hübner, Commissioner for Regional Policy by Fabrizio Barca

The purpose of this Report is to help avert these risks by setting an agenda for reform and seeking to initiate a frank, informed and timely debate on conceptual, political and operational aspects. For more information click on the link below.

2008 European Innovation Scoreboard
The 2008 European Innovation Scoreboard has now been published.

It provides an assessment of innovation performance across European countries based on the most recent statistics. The report shows that the EU has made substantial progress, with virtually all Member States improving their performance and the EU catching up with the US and Japan in most areas of innovation. The report was accompanied by the European Innovation Progress Report which provides independent analysis of countries' innovation policies and governance.

The 2008 European Innovation Scoreboard report, together with country profiles and data is available at http://www.proinno-europe.eu/metrics

The 2008 European Innovation Progress report is available here

Report on 'Regional Innovation Observatories in Europe: Activities and Potential for EU Level Co-ordination' available
The report summarising conclusions of the recent exploratory study on the potential EU coordination measures regarding regional innovation observatories has been published.

A final report summrises 6 month expoloratory study, which started end of July 2008, on the regional activities related to collection and processing of relevant information needed for better innovation policies – regional innovation observatories. The study was conducted with the aim to provide information and recommendations for potential EU level activity in this field. The study included 3 main elements: a desk research to identify existing activities of regional innovation observatories in Europe, a survey among the IRE member regions about the needs of EU level activity and a specific Working Group to examine the relevance of such initiative. The study has shown fast growing involvement of European regions’ in the create and running of innovation observatories which aim at, for instance, mapping the local innovation systems, identifying needs of businesses, monitoring market and technology developments, and evaluating the impact of policies. These observatories, not necessarily using this name, are set up to the particular needs pf the specific regions. Most of the observatories are providing information to regional innovation policy makers in order to support them during the policy making process (e.g. design, monitoring, assessment). However, a number of observatories prepare and offer information to businesses located in their regions or to other target groups outside the region (e.g. potential investors). These regionalised innovation observatories are very often part of a broader institution/organisation that support innovation in the region, such as regional development or innovation agencies, departments/units at regional governments, universities etc. The final report identifies and describes a number of inter-regional initiatives which monitor regional innovation activities. Among others, the following ones are concisely characterised: Regional Innovation Scoreboard/INNO Policy Trend Chart; ERAWATCH; OECD Territorial Database (TDB); European Cluster Observatory; and the Regional Innovation Policy Impact Assessment and Benchmarking Pilot Action (under the Sixth Framework Programme for Research and Development). Both the survey and the discussions in the special Working Group show a great scope for the potential for EU level coordination activities, which may start a wide umbrella of projects of more bottom up or more top down character. One of a very important conclusion from the debates with the stakegholders was that a potential activity needs to address the necessity of building links between the results of the observatories and their practical use for the improvement of policies and specific programmes/measures. These links should be part of integrated policy making cycles, which include the information produced by the observatories.

IRE Secretariat team says goodbye
The services of the IRE Secretariat are coming to the end now, but IRE Network will continue its work.

The team of the IRE Secretariat would like to thank you for the good collaboration in the recent years. The project financed by the European Commission to provide the Secretariat services to the members of the Innovating Regions in Europe (IRE) network comes to an end with 31 December this year. The typical services as for example: helpdesk, partner serach, info-point or organisation of study visits will be not longer avaiable as of 1 January 2009. However the IRE Network will not stop its activities. Currently the European Commission, the IRE Steering Group and EURADA (the European Association of Development Agencies) are working on the new formula to continue the network activities without financial support from the EC. The IRE website will be still available as from the 1st of January and you will be contacted soon with the suggestion to continue the cooperation with the IRE. Apologies for any possible inconveniences appearing during the transition period. Best regards IRE Secretariat team

‘The IRE Network: Inspiring Innovation’
A final brochure on the IRE Network results of has been published.

From its humble beginnings with the first four regions in the mid-1990s, the Innovating Regions in Europe (IRE) has grown to become a large and influential network of 235 regions. The new publication on the IRE Network results takes a look back at the evolution of the network and provides a unique overview of its activities and the experience gathered over the years.

The brochure covers development of regional innovation strategies and other trans-regional initiatives and activities that have been carried out under the ‘IRE umbrella’ as well as describes support and services provided by the IRE Secretariat. The publication is illustrated with case studies and lessons learnt. As the main achievement of IRE it highlights the fact that the IRE Network has become a true “community of practice” of people working together, helping to solve each other’s problems, and inspiring and encouraging new ideas.

The brochure can be downloaded from the IRE website. Hard copies will shortly be available upon request to the IRE Secretariat. Please, contact Ms Nathalie Brahim, tel or e-mail .

Minutes of IRE workshop on new generation of Regional Innovation Strategies
The minutes of the IRE workshop held in Gothenburg on 24-25 November have been published.

The presentations at the workshop were given by the regions that are involved in the preparation and implementation of a new innovation strategy.

In a context of increasing global competitiveness and rapid technological and market change, many of the regions that pioneered in developing regionalised innovation strategies have felt the need of reformulating the original strategies and, in some cases, designing and launching new ones. Contrary to the first strategies, the new RISs are broader oriented taking into account new aspects of innovation like user innovation, open innovation, service sector innovation, public sector innovation and so on. All of the new strategies stress on involvement of all regional stakeholders and improvement of their collaboration. In many cases the human capital is in the centre of the strategy and they often aim on making the region more attractive for both companies and people.

The minutes reflect some of the main messages brought forward by the speakers, as well as in the discussions with workshop participants.

ENTER and PREMIO project to help entrepreneurship and e-learning
ENTER and PREMIO propose an innovative training and mentoring model for the promotion and adoption of a culture of entrepreneurship in Europe.

In the actual context of the global economy, starting companies face a very competitive market where knowledge, adaptability and dynamical behavior are required. Entrepreneurs must be aware, from the first moment, of the best practices in their area and know the most advanced management techniques, so that their company might be successful. Effective working tools that fit the needs of promoters of innovative projects and provide them with these abilities beforehand are essential to consistently develop, in the European Community countries, a true entrepreneurial spirit that collaboratively exploits National and regional cultural differences to provide new solutions and development paths. To cope with the requirements of an effective approach to entrepreneurship motivation, training and mentoring, new tools, contents and activities must be designed and developed. E-Learning platforms, together with pedagogical and organizational strategies, already proved able to support a new way of learning, more personalized, just-in-time, more fitted to individual needs, more flexible in content and time and to make people able to answer in a more efficient way to the actual challenges.

In order to enhance Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness in the Northern region of Portugal, as well as in other regions of Europe, TECMAIA - Science and Technology Park of Maia, is promoter and coordinator of two European entrepreneurship and e-learning projects: ENTER – acronym for ENTrepreneurship Enhancement and Reinforcement: www.enter-project.eu and PREMIO – Promotion of Entrepreneurship and Innovation: www.premio-project.eu

ENTER and PREMIO propose an innovative training and mentoring model for the promotion and adoption of a culture of entrepreneurship in Europe. Both projects are supported by the European Community, through the Executive Agency for Culture, Educational and Audiovisual (EACEA), under the Lifelong Learning programme. Countries participating are Portugal, France, Greece, Romania and Estonia, represented by Universities, Training centers, Science and Technology Parks, Development associations, Chambers of Commerce, among others. ENTER project focus on vocational trainees, and in a general way it is addressed to all people interested in developing an innovative idea and becoming entrepreneur; while PREMIO project is completely oriented to the academic world (students, teachers, researchers), focusing on technology-based innovative business ideas.

The training phase is based in a blended-learning format oriented to the construction of Business Plans for each business idea. Particularly in ENTER project that is a multilateral project for development of innovation, in the process of learning, the up-to-date learning tools are fully employed: e-learning platform, interactive multimedia content, simulation, digital repository, instant messaging, forum and video conference. These tools will allow a virtual environment that will promote the enterprise context experience from the very beginning.

PREMIO pilot-courses have started this September end in the 4 participating countries and the trainees’ motivation is high. In Portugal, the group of trainees is highly differentiated including researchers and teachers, beside the students; and also the range of technological areas is large. Particular attention has been given to selection of trainers with relevant enterprise background.

Best business plans will then be selected and granted with individual mentoring by national and international experts through a virtual learning community and it is expected that most of the participants will start their companies that will be hosted for incubation in the local Science and Technology Parks.

“Imagine. Create. Innovate”
Media launch of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation 2009.

The European Commission has launched the communication campaign for the European Year of Creativity and Innovation 2009 with the slogan “Imagine. Create. Innovate”. The aim of the Year is to promote creative and innovative approaches in different sectors of human activity and contribute to better equip the European Union for the challenges ahead in a globalised world.

The European Year of Innovation and Creativity (EYCI) aims to raise awareness of the importance of creativity and innovation as key competences for personal, social and economic development. By emphasizing creativity and innovation, the EU aims at shaping Europe's future in a global competition by fostering the creative and innovative potential in all of us. The EU will offer a framework for raising awareness of the issues concerned and promoting a policy debate on how to increase Europe's creative and innovative potential.

The EYCI is a horizontal, cross-cutting exercise involving many areas; apart from education and culture, it involves enterprise, regional and research policies.

The official inauguration will take place in Prague on the 7th of January, in the presence of the Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and the Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek. All Member States will be represented, among others by their specially-appointed national coordinators.

The media launch of the Year also sees the inauguration of the website http://www.create2009.europa.eu dedicated to the Year with news, events and activities updated regularly throughout year, policy/publicity messages, reports of outcomes of activities and separate pages for partners of the Year. A special section will be dedicated to activities held in Member States.

TrendChart Country Reports 2008
The annual Country Reports for 2008 prepared by the Network of Correspondents are now available online.

The INNO-Policy TrendChart annual country reports are produced for each country that is monitored by the network of innovation policy correspondents. The reports are intended to complement the ongoing monitoring of policy measures and information collected, and provide an in-depth analysis of the innovation environment in each country.

There are 39 INNO-Policy TrendChart country reports. These reports highlight innovation policy trends and priorities, and in the case of the EU Member States also help in appraising progress towards the relevant Lisbon objectives aimed at improving innovation performance across the EU.

INNO Learning Platform mini-studies
Mini Studies of the second learning cycle of the INNO Learning Platform are available.

The second learning cycle of the INNO Learning Platform began on 12 December 2007. Its aim was to

better understand the scope and financial implications of existing support mechanisms in favour of innovation in Europe,
better define the practical application of the subsidiarity principle as provided by the Lisbon Treaty (to support mechanisms in favour of innovation, based on a better identification of market failures),
explore how to better foster synergies and complementarities between regional, national and European levels in support of innovation, taking into account the subsidiarity principle,
identify future challenges for improving existing innovation support schemes or developing new instruments and approaches through mutual learning and transnational cooperation.

The eight subjects studied during the learning cycle 2008 have been made available and can be downloaded through the link below.

The European Inventor of the Year competition
Europe's highest distinction for inventors worldwide.

The driving force, the motor behind the innovation process, is people. Without their inventive spirit, creativity and perseverance there would be no progress.

The European Inventor of the Year competition, launched by the EPO and European Commission's DG Enterprise and Industry in 2006, gives inventors the recognition they deserve. And, like every competition, it is an incentive to all other potential winners.

Awards are presented in four categories:

Industry
SMEs/research
Non-European countries
Lifetime achievement

For the first three competitions, examiners at the European and other patent offices were asked to propose outstanding inventors for the award. This year, for the first time ever, anyone can enter.

For more information, please read the rules for participation.

All nominees will be invited to a gala awards ceremony, where the winners will be revealed. In 2009, the gala will be held on 28 April at Prague Castle in the Czech Republic.

NESTA report: Innovation by Adoption
Measuring and mapping absorptive capacity in UK nations and regions.

Today's globalised economy has not only made it easier to trade and to travel. With new technologies and the growth of migration, new knowledge and ideas can be spread more quickly than ever before. Technology has also made novelty and innovation increasingly important to economic growth and development.

When government seeks to encourage regional innovation, it typically seeks to stimulate brand new ideas and their development within regional boundaries. Yet the truth is that many places and firms are better at adapting the ideas of others than generating new ideas of their own.

The ability to draw in new ideas from elsewhere and build on them at home is a more powerful stimulus than ever in today's economy. This new NESTA report shows that the capacity of cities and regions to meet this challenge will have a major impact on their ability to stimulate economic growth.

This ‘absorptive capacity' will depend on factors such as the presence of universities - with their international academic networks - and multinational firms. Even in the age of technology, personal contact and travel remain important.

So, more attention needs to be paid to how firms and universities acquire new ideas from other places. International firms, migrants and students often have access to new knowledge from their home countries. Greater effort could be paid to tapping that resource and to persuading both domestic and international students to stay in a city after they graduate from its university.

Food Innovation Network Europe (FINE)

Food Innovation Network Europe was the prototype network for starting the Food Cluster Initiative. The development of the FINE network was funded through Regions of Knowledge 2 in the Sixth Framework Programme. As the network is seen as a successful example of building an interregional network of clusters the question arises how this network was developed and what the main achievements where of this young network.

Development of the FINE network: connecting food clusters
Food Innovation Network Europe (FINE) started in 2005 as an emerging network of strong food regions. They gathered with the ambition of increased RTD investments through activation of stakeholders and development of regional strategies and the development of strategic interregional collaborative projects. Partners in the network where from research organisations, regional government, regional development agencies and technology transfer organisations and more or less mature cluster organisations with extensive networks in the industry. All FINE-regions have common regional characteristics: a food sector playing an important role in the regional economy; the presence of a strong agricultural sector and other specialized suppliers of the food industry; a high level of food-related knowledge in the region; the presence of public support for the food industry and local networks linking the different actors together. At the start FINE contained 8 clusters (Øresund, Food Valley, Rogaland, Castilla y Leon, Flanders, Wielkopolska, Scotland, Emilia Romagna), in 2008 also clusters from France (Rhône-Alpes) and Germany (North Rhine Westphalia) joined the network, adding up to at total of 10 food regions.

Regional strategies to increase R&D investments: policy and projects
FINE is mentioned as a success story of Regions of Knowledge 2 . The network had considerable impact on regional policies for food regional technological development and innovation through activating all important stakeholders within the triple helix of the region, analysing the strategic position of the region when it comes to research and industry competiveness and defining a new strategic orientation. This new or renewed strategic orientation within the region was used to develop innovation instruments for implementation. Furthermore it was used to develop the interregional cooperation projects later on in the project. The network and is mentioned in the report of the CREST Working Group on how to achieve better coordinated use of Framework Programme (FP) and Structural Funds (SF) to support R&D as an example of this better coordinated use of FP and SF through the development of RTDI strategies . As the network and its both regional activities and network level activities have the ability to connect regional policy with European policy and also has the ability to connect different funding streams at EU, national and regional level.

Interregional projects based on regional innovation strategies
The network led to a range of interregional research and innovation projects, with companies and research institutes. A Research and Technological Development programme was made, starting with the networking of 46 project idea's, the programme was developed towards 14 actual proposals and projects. FINE develops three kinds of interregional projects, building upon the strengths of the regions:

RTD projects focussing on topics like health or functional foods, food ingredients, aquaculture, traditional food and food & tourism.
developing new RTD infrastructure, like a food incubator network, shared regional facilities for SMEs, and food technology demonstration and/or educational centres. An example is a facility for testing new concepts and food products for public and company restaurants.
networking and promotion actions to foster dedicated RTD, for example, industry/science relations and technology transfer.

The developed projects ranged from setting up new research infrastructure and connecting companies and other research organisation with this new infrastructure, to the development of new cluster organisations with help of other regions, to new research projects. An example of one of these projects, which has been funded recently within FP7, is WHETLAC, which is described in the box. Also next to the action programme organisations visit each other, developing new projects, helping companies find technology in Europe, extending the network further with new activities and new organisations connected.

Future
FINE has developed the basis for an interregional network of strong research driven food clusters, and developed knowledge and experiences for a next step to a mature European regional network of strong food regions with a large impact on both policy, industry and research. The food sector is the largest manufacturing sector in Europe: employing 4.3 million people. The sector has a very strong regional dimension and impact. Food production and research and innovation in food has impact on all citizen in Europe; as food is the starting point of our health but also part of our identity. FINE will further develop and extend this network and make it sustainable by supporting the development of new regional research driven clusters, by more coordinated investments at regional level - by the exchange or regional policies, and by helping companies to benefit from research infrastructure in Europe. FINE will continue to serve as a breeding ground for interregional projects in which Europe's hotspots in the field of food related RTD collaborate making Europe more competitive and healthy.

For more information on the network and the results, see www.networkfine.net

The geography of the inventive activities in OECD regions
OECD report on distribution of innovative activity across regions in OECD economies.

This report is among the first systematic attempts to analyse comparatively the distribution of innovative activity across regions in OECD economies with a set of homogenous measures for both input and output in the process of knowledge production and dissemination.

The descriptive analysis shows that there are important differences in the inventive performance of regions in OECD economies, as measured by indicators for one of the key types of intellectual assets (i.e., patents). Inventive performance is concentrated in some regions in continental Europe, in North America and Japan. Highly inventive regions tend to cluster together. This spatial dependence is found to have increased over time. The inventive performance of regions is directly influenced by the availability of human capital and R&D expenditure. Local agglomeration factors (proxied by the density of population) are also found to have a significant impact while some negative effects appear when regions are mainly rural or when they are mainly service-oriented. Cross-country differences point to the importance of national innovation systems which shape the institutional framework within which innovation takes form and diffuses.

The report can be downloaded through the link below.

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