Regional Innovation Strategy Projects

Regional Innovation Strategy projects provide IRE regions with a unique, tried-and-tested approach to the promotion of innovation. Its five simple steps are:

1. initiating regional dialogue
2. direct involvement of all relevant organisations in shaping innovation policy
3. analysis of regional innovation needs and capacities
4. selection of priorities for innovation support
5. development of action plans and pilot projects.

By following these steps, over 150 European regions have placed innovation at the heart of practical competitiveness strategies. With support from the European Commission, they have developed a shared vision of the future in which every company is an innovator and they have aligned innovation support with the real needs of companies.

Current Regional Innovation Strategy projects

Several generations of Regional Innovation Strategy projects have been implemented. In 2005, 33 new RIS projects were launched in regions in the new Member States and Associated Countries. The projects, which are funded by DG Enterprise and Industry, cover regions in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Israel, Lithuania, Malta, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland and Turkey. Each region is partnered with at least one other region that has already undertaken a Regional Innovation Strategy project, which allows them to take full advantage of previous experiences.

Previous Regional Innovation Strategy projects

The first Regional Innovation and Technology Transfer Strategies and Infrastructure (RITTS, funded by DG Enterprise) and Regional Innovation Strategy (RIS, funded by DG Regional Policy) projects were launched in 1994 on a trial basis, and were followed by two further waves of projects covering regions in the Member States and EEA countries. Twenty-five RIS+ projects, financed by DG Regional Policy, were launched to support regions in the implementation of specific measures and projects stemming from their RITTS/RIS strategies.

The first RIS projects in Central and Eastern Europe were launched in 2001. Sixteen RIS-NAC (Regional Innovation Strategies in Newly Associated Countries) projects, financed by DG Enterprise, were carried out and finalised in 2004.