Case studies on Smart Specialisation

This report comprises 10 case study reports at regional and national on the implementation of the Smart Specialisation policy across 4 EU countries. This analytical work seeks to provide a wide assessment of the smart specialisation policy experience along with some reflections for the 2021-2027 EU Cohesion policy. The reports were produced by national experts using a common conceptual framework and set of guidelines for data collection. They were also redacted according to a common structure which facilitates comparative analysis and information search in general. The case studies included in this report consists of three sections on (i) governance, (ii) the entrepreneurial discovery process and, (iii) monitoring and evaluation, plus a succinct account of some relevant implementation measures characterised by being experimentalThe section on governance provides an overview of the smart specialisation governance and comprises four parts focused on political support and leadership; autonomy and accountability of the smart specialisation management body; horizontal and vertical coordination; and stakeholder engagement. The section on the entrepreneurial discovery process looks at the main dimensions of the process and develops four parts focused on understanding the continuous entrepreneurial discovery process concept; the entrepreneurial discovery process organisation: structure, role, processes, resources, and the mobilisation and engagement of stakeholders; and capacity building. The last section on monitoring and evaluation consists of four parts focused on the general objectives and main results of the smart specialisation strategy; the specificity and usefulness of the smart specialisation monitoring system; the smart specialisation monitoring system usage; and the smart specialisation evaluation.