Smart growth - smart specialisations
In 2010 the European Commission accepted the Strategy Europe 2020 – Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.
3 priorities were indicated in the Strategy:
- smart growth, that is a growth based on knowledge and innovation;
- sustainable growth, that is transformation in the direction of competitive and low-emission economy that uses resources effectively;
- inclusive growth, that is supporting the economy characterised with high level of employment and ensuring economic, social and territorial cohesion.
In order to fulfil the above priorities, each region and Member State[1] of the European Union, including Poland, was obliged to prepare a strategy for smart specialisation.
The actions undertaken in the scope of NSS - in broad context - form a part of the UE strategy for growth Europe 2020, which fulfils goals in the scope of employment, innovation, education, social inclusion, as well as climate change and energy policy that should be attained until 2020.
The strategy for smart specialisation defines:
- social and economic priorities of a given region/country in the field of research, development and innovation (R+D+I);
- areas of concentration of investments on the fields ensuring the increase in added value of economy, competitiveness of economy in foreign markets, as well as improvement in the quality of life of the society.
The purpose of establishing smart specialisation is:
- to transform the economy of a country in the direction of such economy that effectively uses resources, including natural resources;
- to create innovative social and economic solutions that support this transformation.
The smart specialisations include:
- the existing potential of science and business in the fields of R+D+I (research, development and innovation),
- current possibilities of development of economy,
- existing co-operative links in the scope of fields of specialisation,
- trends in development and market niches in that a given country may have advantage in competition with other countries,
Identification of smart specialisations allows to concentrate the investments in research, development and innovativeness (R+D+I) in the fields of greatest innovative and competitive potential in a country - that is in the areas that may bring the greatest advantages to a county and to its economy.
Investments concentrated in such a way will contribute to coping in a better way with the greatest social and economic challenges that the world faces nowadays, and so does Poland. This means striving at achievement of:
- permanent economic growth by means of more innovative and competitive services, products and technologies,
- improvement of the quality of life of a society, e.g. by pro-health actions, actions connected with ageing society
- improvement of the condition of natural environment, e.g. by the fight against smog, depletion of natural resources or hindered access to water.
Smart specialisations serve as a compass for investments in research and innovation, and owing to active engagement of entrepreneurs and scientists in the process of defining specialisations, they allow for more effective launching of technological solutions in the market and also increase chances for faster return on investment in R+D+I.
[1] Depending on the final provisions of the Partnership Agreement between the European Commission and the Member State
