Research institutions, in particular their human resources management, need to be modernized. The gender dimension must be integrated in research and innovation content.
The economy is estimated to have shrunk in GNP terms by almost 18 per cent over the period 2007-2012 with significant adverse impacts on employment and incomes.
The depth of the recession is illustrated perhaps best by the rapid increase in the unemployment rate up from 4. 5 per cent in Q1 2007 to 13.6 per cent in Q2 2013 with total unemployment having almost tripled2 since 2007.
Competitiveness, as measured by unit labour costs, has improved markedly although this partly reflects sectoral composition effects due to labour shedding in low-skilled sectors, such as construction,
and the strong performance of the high 1 General Government Consolidated Debt as a percentage of GDP.
Eurostat 2 Unemployment rose from 4. 5 per cent in Q4 2007 to 12.8 per cent in Q4 2013.
which accounts for more than 70%of private employment, is constrained by high propertyrelated debt, and has faced several years of weak profitability.
In its Medium Term Economic Strategy 2014-2020 (MTES), it has set out how it will continue the work of rebuilding The irish economy,
and enduring job creation. After exiting the EU IMF Programme, the Government is focused on maintaining the reform momentum to achieve the goals of creating more jobs to enhance living standards
and ultimately to achieve full employment. This will in turn, create resources for the delivery of a sustainable,
The 2014 Action Plan sets out how the Government will continue to work to build
Enterprise and Innovation (DJEI) and Forfás over many years4 is to grow incomes and standards of living in Ireland through competitive and sustainable enterprise, innovation, productivity and employment growth.
and innovation, delivering on an agenda of enterprise transformation to create a competitive and sustainable platform for growth and job creation.
There is a strong focus on intensifying promotion of entrepreneurship and the scaling of Irish owned firms
and create employment for a range of occupations, across a number of sectors involved in services
Evidence demonstrates a positive correlation between entrepreneurship and economic performance in terms of growth, firm survival, innovation, employment creation, technological change,
and Social enterprises also provide employment opportunities and contribute to the social fabric of local communities,
In for example, the Agri food sector, focus is on the urban rural divide and retaining employment in rural areas.
The group carried out the bulk of its work in 2011. The high level objectives of the prioritisation exercise were outlined in the RPSG's Terms of Reference:
and capacity and particularly areas that have the greatest potential to deliver economic return through enterprise development, employment growth and job retention in Ireland;
Scientific Adviser to The irish Government. The group was chaired by a senior industry figure. The process was managed by Forfás, Ireland's National Policy advisory agency,
which also supported the work of the Steering Group and assembled the evidence base upon which the findings
I. 6. 2 Analysis of context and potential for innovation 6. 2. 1 National Research and Enterprise Strengths and National and Global Opportunities A significant input to the work of the Steering
The steering group also spent some time considering the appropriate level at which priority areas for RD&I should be identified. 6. 2. 4 Beyond Boundaries The outward looking dimension of Research Prioritisation The work of the Steering group took account of complementary
Technical experts were appointed to the groups to facilitate their work. The four TWGS and their respective scopes are set out in the Table 1 below. 14 Table 1:
16 Forfás and the consultants prepared detailed assessment of each of the proposed areas using a SWOT analysis based on the four high-level criteria and associated sub-questions.
Data repositories serviced by experts to capture and enable the exploitation of publicly available data from research and administrative sources to benefit future research;
The PAG, through its ongoing work, provides a forum for coordination and alignment of the activities of the funding agencies and is driving new behaviours across the STI ecosystem.
Promotion of partnerships between MNCS and indigenous firms involved in research centres. Joined up approach to promotion of strategic international engagement
and collaboration by The irish research community. Emphasis on realising impact from state-funded research in line with the recently published National Intellectual Property Policy.
excellence and importance to enterprise recruitment initiatives to attract iconic research leaders to Ireland, including support for the development
and deliver for industry by making Phds workplace ready, outside of academia, to enhance Ireland's labour force capacity.
Discover Programme The Discover Programme (formerly Discover Science and Engineering), managed by SFI, aims to increase the numbers of students studying science, technology,
and fourth level qualifications in STEM disciplines for the purpose of securing employment in the knowledge economy.
Supports Technology Transfer Strengthening by funding dedicated staff within the Universities to ensure that best use is made of research outputs with commercial potential. 23 Supports High Potential Start up Companies
export-oriented and likely to achieve significant growth in 3 years (Sales of €1m per annum and employment of 10.
The employment outlook for the sector depends critically on addressing domestic competitiveness factors and a favourable international trading environment.
The economy is estimated to have shrunk in GNP terms by almost 18 per cent over the period 2007-2012 with significant adverse impacts on employment and incomes.
The depth of the recession is illustrated perhaps best by the rapid increase in the unemployment rate up from 4. 5 per cent in Q1 2007 to 13.6 per cent in Q2 2013 with total unemployment having almost tripled2 since 2007.
Competitiveness, as measured by unit labour costs, has improved markedly although this partly reflects sectoral composition effects due to labour shedding in low-skilled sectors, such as construction,
and the strong performance of the high 1 General Government Consolidated Debt as a percentage of GDP.
Eurostat 2 Unemployment rose from 4. 5 per cent in Q4 2007 to 12.8 per cent in Q4 2013.
which accounts for more than 70%of private employment, is constrained by high propertyrelated debt, and has faced several years of weak profitability.
In its Medium Term Economic Strategy 2014-2020 (MTES), it has set out how it will continue the work of rebuilding The irish economy,
and enduring job creation. After exiting the EU IMF Programme, the Government is focused on maintaining the reform momentum to achieve the goals of creating more jobs to enhance living standards
and ultimately to achieve full employment. This will in turn, create resources for the delivery of a sustainable,
The 2014 Action Plan sets out how the Government will continue to work to build
Enterprise and Innovation (DJEI) and Forfás over many years4 is to grow incomes and standards of living in Ireland through competitive and sustainable enterprise, innovation, productivity and employment growth.
and innovation, delivering on an agenda of enterprise transformation to create a competitive and sustainable platform for growth and job creation.
There is a strong focus on intensifying promotion of entrepreneurship and the scaling of Irish owned firms
and create employment for a range of occupations, across a number of sectors involved in services
Evidence demonstrates a positive correlation between entrepreneurship and economic performance in terms of growth, firm survival, innovation, employment creation, technological change,
and Social enterprises also provide employment opportunities and contribute to the social fabric of local communities,
In for example, the Agri food sector, focus is on the urban rural divide and retaining employment in rural areas.
The group carried out the bulk of its work in 2011. The high level objectives of the prioritisation exercise were outlined in the RPSG's Terms of Reference:
and capacity and particularly areas that have the greatest potential to deliver economic return through enterprise development, employment growth and job retention in Ireland;
Scientific Adviser to The irish Government. The group was chaired by a senior industry figure. The process was managed by Forfás, Ireland's National Policy advisory agency,
which also supported the work of the Steering Group and assembled the evidence base upon which the findings
I. 6. 2 Analysis of context and potential for innovation 6. 2. 1 National Research and Enterprise Strengths and National and Global Opportunities A significant input to the work of the Steering
The steering group also spent some time considering the appropriate level at which priority areas for RD&I should be identified. 6. 2. 4 Beyond Boundaries The outward looking dimension of Research Prioritisation The work of the Steering group took account of complementary
Technical experts were appointed to the groups to facilitate their work. The four TWGS and their respective scopes are set out in the Table 1 below. 14 Table 1:
16 Forfás and the consultants prepared detailed assessment of each of the proposed areas using a SWOT analysis based on the four high-level criteria and associated sub-questions.
Data repositories serviced by experts to capture and enable the exploitation of publicly available data from research and administrative sources to benefit future research;
The PAG, through its ongoing work, provides a forum for coordination and alignment of the activities of the funding agencies and is driving new behaviours across the STI ecosystem.
Promotion of partnerships between MNCS and indigenous firms involved in research centres. Joined up approach to promotion of strategic international engagement
and collaboration by The irish research community. Emphasis on realising impact from state-funded research in line with the recently published National Intellectual Property Policy.
excellence and importance to enterprise recruitment initiatives to attract iconic research leaders to Ireland, including support for the development
and deliver for industry by making Phds workplace ready, outside of academia, to enhance Ireland's labour force capacity.
Discover Programme The Discover Programme (formerly Discover Science and Engineering), managed by SFI, aims to increase the numbers of students studying science, technology,
and fourth level qualifications in STEM disciplines for the purpose of securing employment in the knowledge economy.
Supports Technology Transfer Strengthening by funding dedicated staff within the Universities to ensure that best use is made of research outputs with commercial potential. 23 Supports High Potential Start up Companies
export-oriented and likely to achieve significant growth in 3 years (Sales of €1m per annum and employment of 10.
The employment outlook for the sector depends critically on addressing domestic competitiveness factors and a favourable international trading environment.
RITTS-147 (1997-2000) Act 5/2001 on Promotion and Developmentof Scientific research and Innovation Firstintegratedplanofr+D+iinthecanaryislands2003-2006 Secondcanarianplanofr+D+i+d2007-2010 Thirdcanarianplanofr
Meetings with experts, universities, research centres, clusters, companies, chambers of commerce Public consultation Advice and review from several consultative bodies with participation of social, education, trade union
internal (islands) and external Significant labour force with a low educational level High unemployment Unbalanced productive structure and consequent inertia Extra-costs for essential infraestructuresand services (eg.
business growth In ordertomaintainitsinternationalleadershipin thetouristicsector, thecanaryislandsrequiresa consensus-basedintegratedapproach, basedoninnovation, whichpromotesdifferentiation, efficiencyand sustainability Main features Ongoing program since 2008, to be updated to RIS3 Promotion of tourism-focused
Putting entrepreneurial knowledge to work...13 How: Setting in motion regional change...13 Where: A role for every region...
inclusive growth, fostering a high employment economy delivering economic, social and territorial cohesion. Investing more in research,
/docoffic/official/communic/comm en. htm 8 Smart specialisation has also been advocated strongly by the Synergies Expert
Putting entrepreneurial knowledge to work Smart specialisation addresses the difficult problem of prioritisation and resource allocation decisions by allowing entrepreneurial actors to demonstrate the most promising areas for future regional development through what has been described as an'entrepreneurial process of discovery.'
'a Policy Brief of the Knowledge for Growth Expert Group advising the then Commissioner for Research, Janez Potocnik. 13 Firstly, a transition from an existing sector to a new one based on cooperative institutions and processes,
In this case, links between local universities and strong public-private partnerships are the types of strategies that may be essential for smart specialisation to work.
and can rely on a trained local labour force and a history of cooperative relations with other regional actors.
Together, these form the basis for action plans and ongoing work. The studies try to identify what the weaknesses
'Tools suitable for this kind of analysis can include comparative studies, rounds of interviews with other regions and interregional work groups.
and workers should all be taken on board of the design process of RIS3. In other words this means that the governance model includes both the market and the civic society.
preparation, assessment (a review by peer regions and experts) and post-review follow-up. Stage 1:
During this preparatory stage, the representatives of the region under review prepare a review of their region's RIS3 in consultation with the S3 Platform team and experts.
representatives of the European commission and independent academic experts working in the field of smart specialisation. Following the peer review phase,
A key feature brought in by these European union-sponsored exercises was the introduction of external experts in this analytical phase.
The benefits of bringing in an external view to address sensitive issues such as redundancies and overlaps,
when the external consultants and experts were involved truly in the exercise, when foreign experts teamed up with national or regional ones,
or when they acted as coaches for the regional decision-makers (to ensure a strong legacy from their input,
Hence, the work for this analytical step of a RIS3 strategy should combine the above types of analyses with other analyses aiming at shedding light on potential for knowledge-based transformation of the economy, based on information on the positioning of the regional
quantitative analyses calculate degrees of specialisation of regional economies on the basis of employment (or value-added) data.
existing and planned technology infrastructures (broadband networks) and other telecom-and internet-related services are presented in the Digital Agenda Scoreboard. 21 Human resources:
Attractiveness of working conditions for researchers compared with other employment opportunities; facilitated mobility of research and innovation personnel between the public and the private sector.
This involves expert work on value chain analysis (undertaken in an international environment and enlightening the spatial division of labour),
context conditions for the operation of the cluster, labour market situation, etc. It also involves an analysis of the linkages between the cluster and other clusters or industries,
in order to examine whether one can talk about related variety across the areas of regional specialisation. One interesting approach is revealed the skill relatedness'(RSR) method (Neffke and Svensson Henning
These types of analysis are conducted by experts who study the cases in close cooperation with cluster actors:
Mixing regional experts with international experts helps to give more weight to the international competitiveness issue.
and involve interactions between experts (Table 1; see more details on the FOREN website. For RIS3, foresight studies would ideally combine regional expertise with international expertise able to put regional assets in perspective with wider trends. 22 Neffke F. and Svensson Henning M. 2009
mind mapping) X XX X X X X X Expert panels XX X X X X X Delphi survey X X X
and external experts who can contribute to the benchmarking and peer review processes. Defining the scope of the RIS3 is crucial,
with a wide participation of actors and experts from within and outside the region. This needs to be communicated, understood and acknowledged:
and international experts who can offer benchmarking and peer review services, for example. Figure 1 exemplifies a number of organisations belonging to each of the previous categories,
University of Tampere, Work Research center, Working Paper No. 85 (Final Report on Quadruple Helix Research for the CLIQ project, INTERREG IVC Programme.
supervising the work 39 programme, political and institutional support, and liaising with the European commission. The chair of the SG was invariably a local notable drawn from the business community, academia or the public sector;
i) a project launch event such as a high profile seminar or conference (ii) a series of presentations throughout the region to key sectors, especially to the business community and the higher and vocational training institutions (iii) publicity
providing new employment opportunities for specific categories of the population, combating social divide, etc. These justifications go much beyond the alleged classical benefits of innovation for job and economic value creation.
of which is depicted by a different cell in the three-dimensional box of regions. results/outcome indicators classification scheme on the use of results/outcome indicators within a reformed Cohesion Policy adopted by the international panel of experts
and proposed for discussion to a wide regional audience (including national representatives as well as foreign experts at relevant points).
the existence of key assets and capabilities (incl. specialised skills and labour pools) for each of the areas proposed and,
Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK and Lyme, US. 37 Technopolis (2011), Review of innovation promotion instruments at regional level, unpublished report for OECD. 55 Table
and for cooperative projects Participation in national and international competitive research programmes Research spin-off promotion schemes (e g. regional seed and venture capital funds) Regional high-tech clusters, S&t Parks,
incubators Entrepreneurship stimulation packages Global talent attraction in targeted new sectors Promotion of participation of public and private actors in international technology networks Lobby national government
labour force) S&t parks and incubators Promoting national talent attraction schemes Knowledge vouchers Platforms to define development visions for high tech niches Strategy:
of business clusters Promotion of innovation in services Technology parks and incubators Innovation vouchers in selected specialisations Place-branding activities Source:
diffusion) Regional agencies for innovation promotion, combining technology transfer with other services Promote innovation start-ups (business angel networks, mentoring schemes,
graduate recruitment in firms Concentration of regional action on non-traded sectors Support innovation in service or cultural industries Small-scale cluster support with an orientation towards connection to global networks Innovation vouchers,
and entrepreneurship culture promotion Supply-chain management initiatives to reduce fragmentation Innovation-oriented public procurement Redefinition of programmes for regional technical schools Innovation awareness-raising,
entrepreneurship promotion events Develop latent demand for innovation (innovation vouchers, placement of students in SMES) Orient polytechnics centres to new qualifications Training for low-skilled and unemployed
while evaluation should be carried out by independent experts, guided closely by those responsible for the policy.
staff exchanges Improved technical competencies of staff, increase effectiveness of in-house R&d Improved innovation performance,
number of enterprises having adopted a new technology, number of staff reporting new working behaviours, etc.
growth of employment in knowledge-intensive sectors, R&d expenditure per worker, etc. 1) Indicators should be selected to reflect the programme's objectives
through staff secondments and temporary hosting of experienced researchers. The last calls for proposals under FP7 will be published in summer 2012.
promotion of local academia-industry cooperation and their cross-border networking, aid for international partner search,
directly to firms) and cross-sector centres concerned with generic issues (such as product development and work in partnership).
by the European Strategy Forum for Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) and EC work, which should not be hindered by the lack of a European consolidated vision in the near future.
as well as experts to work directly on regional development priorities. Universities are a critical'asset'of the region
for instance, stimulate the entrepreneurial spirit of their staff and students, provide advice and services to SMES,
Universities can also play an important role in the field of vocational training. Barriers and challenges Improving the contribution of universities to regional growth by implementing such mechanisms requires the interconnection of the partners in the innovation systems.'
Knowledge transfer and information actions for the provision of vocational training and skills acquisition actions, demonstration activities and information actions.
KETS are knowledge-intensive and associated with high R&d intensity, rapid innovation cycles, high capital expenditure and highly-skilled employment.
capable of generating economic growth and employment and strengthening the competitiveness of the EU economy. They bear enormous market potential.
References Policy Recommendations of the High-level Expert Group on KETS (2011). 98 95 http://www. observatorynano. eu/project/96 http://www. proinno-europe
which to invest and work; contribute to the social integration of marginalised groups of the population
research, education and can increase the attractiveness of regions in terms of human resources and investments. These positive impacts are highlighted in different EU policy documents and studies. 102 99 http://ec. europa. eu/enterprise/sectors/ict/files/communication key enabling technologies sec1257 en. pdf 100
The importance of saving jobs in the EU's creative industries,'TERA Consultants, March 2010.
See also the emphasis on the creative industries in the European Competitiveness Report 2010, Commission staff working document, COM (2010) 614.102 In particular in the 2010 Commission Communication'Regional policy contributing to smart growth':
A group of experts from Member States currently working on the'strategic use of EU support programmes,
Develop partnerships between national and regional authorities in charge of different public policies such as economic development, employment, higher education and culture.
promotion and development of cultural heritage. 109 Other investments could include: the development and use of new information technologies (for example to promote the digitisation of cultural heritage), strengthening of entrepreneurship in CCIS,
further focus will need to be put 96 on the promotion allowing new potential users to become familiar with this innovative way of financing
in order to encourage the procurer to become an'intelligent'customer. 130 This can be achieved through better preparatory work
exchanges of civil servants/procurement officers and exchanges and promotion of good practices amongst peers131 (e g. awarding prizes for the best innovation procurement or methodology132),
New forms of engaging with employees, end-users or citizens, NGOS and local communities can be powerful tools for innovation,
workplace innovation or quadruple helix models (including civil society), however, they require a considerable mentality change. 164 Social Innovation Exchange
Examples can be found in urban regeneration, community-led local development, microfinance,(e-)health and ageing, workplace innovation,
and networking of local stakeholders to implementing active labour market policies. For the next programming period social innovation is treated in a horizontal way in the ESF regulation.
DG Employment, Social affairs and Inclusion will also directly fund social experimentation projects through PROGRESS and the Programme for Social Change and Innovation to reform social policy.
Co-initiators of the SBI are DG Enterprise and DG Employment, Social affairs and Inclusion. Early December, the Commission proposed the Regulation on European Social Entrepreneurship Funds. 169 DG Enterprise has mobilised CIP funds for social innovation.
and organise a conference on workplace innovation in cooperation with the Flemish government. They are also coordinating the Social Innovation Europe Initiative,
but also with regard to other relevant policies such as education, employment and rural development policies? Does it assess/take into account the existing level of policy coordination within the region?
1 Northeast Region Smart Specialization Strategy Document prepared by Agentia pentru Dezvoltare Regionala Nord-Est November 2013 Consultant:
partnership creativity labour 3 responsibility Slogan Northeast Region smart specialization through people and local products Smart Secialization Strategy Structure Vertical priorities The Northeast
%and Neamt (25,3%)Counties, being positioned as the second place as hierarchy, from the perspective of the total turnover, irespectively on the first place as hierarchy, from the perspective of the total number of employees from all the processing industries
neither to develop their team work ksills. In this context, a internship financing is imposed as necesarry to increase their attractivity and impact.
and and innovative maner of promotion to become successfull games. To this purpose, the new generation of gamers has at its disposal all kind facilities to get access on this market
and to improve the safty of the food staff. Finally, in the field of clothing and textiles, an interesting research theme is represented by intelligent materials,
Online consultation with RDI experts and stakeholders proposals of promising R&i programs for each candidate field;
Large-scale online consultation of experts and stakeholders on the 90 R&i fiches quantitative evaluation, backed up by pro/con arguments;
othrough comparative analyses of relative specialization in research and development sectors in Europe. oone of the key inputs in the work of panels fleshing out the shortlisted smart specialization fields were analyses of global drivers of change
The design of the strategy involved a number of collaborative procedures, from work in relatively large and diverse panels to participative online consultations.
/)Foresight-Expert pannels (http://www. cdi2020. ro/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Componenta-paneluri-prioritati. pdf)- Methodology (http://www. cdi2020. ro/pachete-de
The largest share of the working population is employed in services but at just under 40%it is far below the EU average.
but both the public opinion and experts are divided about the best approach to the matter. Economically, the eight‘development regions'are very unequal in strength,
ensuring the involvement of a large number of experts and stakeholders, including representatives of the business community.
and defined gradually by groups of experts and stakeholders, on the basis of available evidence,
13 panels of 15-25 experts and stakeholders worked from this input as well as a large selection of data on the economic value added, on scientific collaborations and results, on societal needs,
there are a lot of elements to be taken into account, from historical and geographical context, to specific public policies (regarding human resources, taxation, industrial development etc.)
It is also important that we review some of our previous works in order to put in context the present paper.
The polarization among EU states is emphasized also by the fact that the retribution per employee increases more rapid than the economic development level,
we made a meta-analysis of the research results regarding the level of economic development in the European union and the amount of gross R&d expenses as percentage of GDP and the dynamics of R&d human resources in Romania and in EU. Also, in order to better
We have argued in a recent study of ours that in the European union the share of R&d human resources in the total number of employees is correlated positively with the level of economic development (Lavric, 2013.
There is also another important aspect regarding the R&d human resources that consists in the fact that the retribution per employee increases more rapid than the economic development level
look much better than the simple extrapolation of the latest trends resulted from the analysis of the R&d human resources and gross expenditures.
as there is a growing diversity of human resources that are involved in constructing complex products. Therefore, the ability to build competitive and successful teams,
or to revolutionize how the processes work, is on an upward trend. If mixed with proper financing
and execute projects. 3. Shaping the organizational culture in the direction of fostering creativity and collaboration among the employees.
financial incentives for employees to develop new ideas, job rotation of staff, multidisciplinary or cross-functional work teams,
nonfinancial incentives for employees and training employees on how to develop new ideas or creativity. 4. SMES should develop strategies that integrate R&d and innovation.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT This work was cofinanced from the European Social Fund through Sectoral Operational Programme Human resources Development 2007-2013
The dynamics of R&d human resources in Romania within the European context. Proceedings of the 7th International Management Conference"New Management for the New Economy",Bucharest, Romania.
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