Support to RIS projects

Regional Innovation Strategy (RIS) projects constitute a central activity within the IRE network. Building on the experiences of the 120 or so projects already carried out, the IRE Secretariat provides specific support to ongoing RIS projects.

Individual support from the IRE Secretariat

Each ongoing RIS project has a specific contact person at the Secretariat, who continuously follows the project’s progress, provides the management with relevant IRE-related information and answers requests for information and support.

Collaboration and exchange opportunities

Specific events are organised for RIS projects to give the participants the opportunity to meet each other, collaborate and exchange experiences with each other as well as with other, experienced IRE regions. A RIS launch conference was organised at the very start of the current RIS projects that brought together representatives of the RIS regions. Thematic focus group meetings are organised which offer RIS regions the opportunity to discuss in depth, innovation-related issues of common interest. The three focus groups focus on:

• Promotion of innovation in SMEs;
• Academic-business links and innovation culture;
• Clusters and innovation financing.

Methodological support
The IRE Secretariat also provides methodological support for every stage of the RIS projects. Four methodological workshops are organised, one at the beginning of each project stage and one at the very end of the projects. Furthermore, the IRE Secretariat reviews methodological guides for RIS projects in order to provide relevant and up-to-date support.

More information about the activities for ongoing RIS projects can be found here.