Improve the RIS3 effectiveness through the management of the entrepreneurial discovery process (EDP)

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"Beyond EDP" project addresses the issue of inadequacies in the design and implementation of innovation policies which may negatively impact the effectiveness of Structural Funds. Theoretically, Regional Innovation Smart Specialisation Strategies (RIS3) are expected to provide a relevant solution to this issue, but the RIS3 quality is entirely based on the efficient understanding and implementation of the Entrepreneurial Discovery Process (EDP). EDP recognises that policy makers do not have innate wisdom about future priorities. They need to be prepared to listen to entrepreneurs, researchers and citizens in order to identify specialisation areas, improve their acceptance and facilitate the emergence and growth of new activities. All the regions in the consortium, and also those across Europe, are characterised by an economic fabric which needs to strengthen its absorption capacity of knowledge to innovate. Beyond global value chains identified by designing RIS3, policy makers have to build an efficient ecosystem to identify where and how available knowledge could actually be used. Furthermore, they have to find the right policy mix resulting from the EDP. In order to find the appropriate approach tailored to company needs and thus improve the results of RIS3, the whole regional innovation ecosystem need not be involved, but only the most relevant players. Therefore, “Beyond EDP” project aims at professionalising EDP management. It will, in turn, facilitate change management and its acceptance by regional stakeholders, particularly the managing authorities. By this way, it will allow to avoid common mistakes and will provide efficient methodologies and practices, that will benefit to European regional policies makers to enable them to implement effective RIS3 for their regions. Not only the efficiency of RIS3 will be improved, but also the development of relevant public policies.

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