Regional science and innovation policies

In a growing number of regions, scientific integration has become an integral part of economic integration. Particularly for small countries, such integration provides opportunities to mimic the situation of a large country with sufficient public resources at its disposal to address all potentially relevant research fields, be this in electronics, digital technologies, materials, health, space or the environment, social sciences and the humanities. Not surprisingly, it is the European Union (EU) which has developed, alongside its economic integration, the broadest set of science, technology and innovation (STI) tools to enhance STI integration between its member states. However, even in this case, the resulting scientific integration has, at best, been only partial and led to a highly fragmented landscape for STI policy. Other parts of the world have emulated the EU model to different degrees. The effectiveness of policy implementation varies, owing to factors such as geopolitical disunity and the inherent political reluctance among countries to pool public resources. The larger the amount of such domestic resources, the greater the reluctance. It is what could be called the STI integration paradox. One means of overcoming such reluctance could be to distinguish science policy more clearly from innovation policy. Trends such as the growing focus on low-carbon trade routes and supply chain shortages tied to the COVID-19 pandemic are fostering greater emphasis on place-based innovation. Indeed, these trends suggest that regionalisation could soon replace globalisation as the dominant economic order. In this new normal, science policy and innovation policy could be framed as contributing in opposite directions to regional integration.