The Contribution of Spanish STPs to the Europe 2020 Strategy. Promoting regional innovation, economic and social development

With the recent Strategy Europe 2020, the European Commission ensures innovative promotion in all regions through the development of smart specialization strategies which seek to efficiently exploit resources already available and the innovation potential for each region. Science and Technology Parks (STPs) are some of the most popular instruments for promoting innovation and competitiveness at regional level. In Spain, SPTs turned out to be key tools and backbones in different territorial policies and strategies for competitiveness, contributing to the regional development and to more and better innovation capacities. This Paper will extend the knowledge on the socioeconomic impact of Science and Technology Parks on its immediate surrounding territory, as well as on success factors and lessons learned in the Spanish experience with STPs, especially with regard to the Europe 2020 strategy and the development of smart specialisation strategies.