IASP participates in JRC Smart Specialisation event

Science and Technology Park Belgrade, IASP member from Serbia, recently hosted a smart specialisation event in collaboration with JRC, the science and knowledge service of the European Commission. 

Focusing on the role of incubators, accelerators, science parks and financial instruments in delivering sector specific support to startups and SMEs, experts from across Western Balkans and South-East Europe also discussed Serbia’s draft smart specialisation strategy and compared the experience of other European regions that are more advanced in implementing Smart Specialisation.

The first day focused on opportunities for regional collaboration within smart specialisation priority domains, reflections on the EU experience and lessons learnt, possible challenges implementing the strategy and the opportunities resulting from interna­tional cooperation.

The role of incubators, accelerators, and science parks was at the heart of the debate on the second day, with speakers from Lithuania, Sweden, Austria, France, Hungary, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Armenia and the Ukraine sharing their experiences on partnerships, twinning and soft-landing and how sector specific funding instruments can be used to align with national and emerging S3 priorities.

Representing IASP, Paris Kokorotsikos explored a methodological approach for sector specific business and R&D platform development within STPs, in line with the priorities of regional and or national smart specialization strategy, sharing case studies from Thessaloniki and Bucharest. He also highlighted the IASP Strategigram as a valuable tool in assessing degree of specialisation both where company size and position in the technology transfer stream are concerned.