A Good Practice Guide for Performing Regional Innovation Benchmark Audits: eDIGIREGION 2

By eDIGIREGION Project Team eDIGIREGION Project Team

For regional stakeholders, this Guide presents the eDIGIREGION Regional innovation Benchmark Audit tool, its structure, how it can be used, what data is required, and how to perform a Regional Innovation Benchmark Audit. The Guide also provides a set of tried and tested methods for engaging with regional stakeholders, gathering and analysing the innovation benchmark audit data. The Guide further illustrates the functionality of the tool by providing four case studies as to how the eDIGIREGION Regional Innovation Benchmark tool was used in South East Ireland, central Hungary (Budapest), Bucharest-Ilfov, Romania and Castilla-La Mancha, Spain. Performing a comprehensive Regional innovation Benchmark Audit is a foundation step in designing and implementing a region-specific Joint Action Plan to develop sustainable entrepreneurial regions and regional innovation ecosystems.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Oak Tree Press
• Release date: Apr 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9781781192825

Book preview

A GOOD PRACTICE GUIDE FOR PERFORMING REGIONAL INNOVATION BENCHMARK AUDITS

eDIGIREGION Project Team

Published by OAK TREE PRESS, Cork, Ireland

www.oaktreepress.com / www.SuccessStore.com

© 2017 eDIGIREGION Project Team – Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT), Unitatea Executiva pentru Finantarea Invatamantului Superior, a Cercetarii, Dezvoltarii si Inovarii (UEFISCDI), Desertic AIE, Universitatea Politehnica din București (UPB-CETTI), Kozep-Magyarorszagi Regionalis Innovacios Ugynokseg Kozhasznu Egyesulet (KM RIU Khe), Mobilitás és Multimédia Koordinációs Iroda Nonprofit Kft. (MMO), Regens Informatikai Reszvenytarsasag (Regens Plc), Budapesti Muszaki Es Gazdasagtudomanyi Egyetem (BME), Asociatia Romana Pentru Industria Electronica Si Software (ARIES), Universidad De Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM), Kernel Management Partners Ltd.(Kernel Capital), Agentia pentru Dezvoltare Regionala Bucuresti-Ilfov (ADRBI), Irish Business and Employers Confederation (Ibec), Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha (JCLM) and Tipperary County Council (TCC).

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 78119 281 8 (paperback)

ISBN 978 1 78119 282 5 (ePub)

ISBN 978 1 78119 283 2 (Kindle)

ISBN 978 1 78119 284 9 (PDF)

Cover design: Billy Rooney.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording or electronically without written permission of the publisher. Such written permission also must be obtained before any part of this publication is stored in a retrieval system of any nature. Requests for permission should be directed to Oak Tree Press, [e-mail].

COLOPHON

This document is a deliverable produced as part of the eDIGIREGION project,¹ which has been funded by the European Union’s 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development.

Project acronym: eDIGIREGION.

Project full title: eDIGIREGION: Realising the Digital Agenda Through Transnational Cooperation Between Regions.

Grant agreement number: 319913.

Authors: Bill O’Gorman, Valerie Brett, Niall Crosbie, Dave Feenan and Aisling O’Neill.

CONTENTS

COLOPHON

FIGURES

TABLES

ABBREVIATIONS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

FOREWORD

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Background

1.2 The eDIGIREGION Concept

1.3 Regions involved in the eDIGIREGION project

1.4 Regional innovation benchmark audits

1.5 Using this Guide

CHAPTER 2: BENCHMARKING AND REGIONAL AUDITING WITHIN A EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK

2.0 Introduction

2.1 Regional Innovation Benchmark Audits

2.2 Benchmarking regions in Europe

2.3 Audits of Innovation

2.4 Use and meaning of ‘Benchmark Audit’ within this Guide

CHAPTER 3: A REGIONAL INNOVATION BENCHMARK TOOL

3.0 Introduction

3.1 Part A and Part B of the Regional Innovation Benchmark Audit tool

3.2 Construct of the data themes

3.3 Using the completed Regional Innovation Benchmark Audit

CHAPTER 4: GATHERING THE DATA FOR THE REGIONAL INNOVATION BENCHMARK

4.0 Introduction

4.1 The data gathering process

4.2 Protocol and ethics of the data collection process

4.3 Details of the data collection method

CHAPTER 5: IDENTIFYING STAKEHOLDERS, DEVELOPING COMMITMENT AND MAINTAINING ENGAGEMENT

5.0 Identifying relevant regional stakeholders

5.1 Primary, secondary and key stakeholders

5.2 Stakeholders analysis techniques

5.3 Engaging stakeholders

5.4 Guidelines for engaging with regional stakeholders

5.5 Securing and retaining stakeholder commitment

CHAPTER 6: IMPLEMENTATION AND RESULTS OF THE REGIONAL INNOVATION BENCHMARK AUDITS

6.0 Introduction

6.1 The Regional Innovation Benchmark Audit in four eDIGIREGION regions

6.2 The Regional Innovation Benchmark Audit results

6.3 Stage 5 and Smart Specialisations

6.4 Outcomes

CHAPTER 7: THE IMPACT AND VALUE OF REGIONAL INNOVATION BENCHMARK AUDITS

7.0 Introduction

7.1 South East Ireland

7.2 Central Hungary

7.3 Bucharest-Ilfov, Romania

7.4 Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

7.5 Summary

REFERENCES

APPENDIX 1: SELECTION OF REGIONS TO DEVELOP THE REGIONAL INNOVATION BENCHMARK AUDIT TOOL

Selecting the reference regions

Critical factors for innovative regions in ICT

APPENDIX 2: REGIONAL INNOVATION BENCHMARK AUDIT TOOL

Introduction

Part A Socio-economic and R&D profile

Part B Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis

FIGURES

1: The eDIGIREGION Concept

2: The Regional Innovation Benchmark Audit Tool – Part A

3: The Regional Innovation Benchmark Audit Tool – Part B

4: The seven-stage data collection process of Regional Innovation Benchmark Audits

5: Power versus interest grid

6: Stakeholder influence diagram and categorisation

7: The stakeholder analysis matrix

8: Evolution of the Regional Innovation Benchmark Audit Tool

TABLES

1: Example of question layout

2: Data generated for the Regional Innovation Benchmark Audit

3: Themes parameters and measurable characteristics

4: Protocol and ethics of the data collection process

5: List of Indicators (indicative) for the analysis of regions

6: Indicative questions within the themes of Policy, Technological Orientation, Clusters and Networks, and RTD / Innovation funding

7: Indicative questions within the themes of Smart Specialisation, Regional Attractiveness, Innovation Ecosystem, Triple Helix, and Entrepreneurial Environment

8: Desired characteristics of stakeholders engaging in the audit process

9: Defining stakeholders by their relationship to the effort

10: Five-step process of identifying and engaging relevant stakeholders in the Regional Innovation Benchmark Audit process

11: Effective stakeholder engagement

12: Stakeholder engagement plan

13: Steps in performing a Regional Innovation Benchmark Audit

14: A Regional Innovation Benchmark Audit network

15: Number of stakeholder engagements and engagement type by region

16: Engagement of stakeholders by triple helix category

17A: SWOT analysis by region: Theme – Technology Orientation

17B: SWOT analysis by region: Theme – Regional Attractiveness

17C: SWOT analysis by region: Theme – Policy

17D: SWOT analysis by region: Theme – Triple Helix

17E: SWOT analysis by region: Theme – Entrepreneurial Environment

17F: SWOT analysis by region: Theme – Innovation Ecosystem

17G: SWOT analysis by region: Theme – Clusters

17H: SWOT analysis by region: Theme – Networks

17I: SWOT analysis by region: Theme – RTD and Innovation Funding

17J: SWOT analysis by region: Theme – Smart Specialisation

18: Smart Specialisations grouping by region

19: Details of Smart Specialisations mapped across the collaborating regions

20: Potential opportunities for collaboration between the four audited regions

21: Challenges in implementing Smart Specialisations across the four collaborating regions

ABBREVIATIONS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors of this book thank all the eDIGIREGION participants for their contribution to both the project and the contents of this book.

The authors also thank Olivier Brunet, Senior Policy Officer, DG Research & Innovation, at the European Commission.

FOREWORD

More and more nation states are embracing the concept that the economic growth of the state is very much dependent on the economic health, growth and sustainability of its regions. The many decades of rhetoric about the importance of regions is now being focused on as a reality, as a necessity. However, regions are very different to each other; each has its own set of governance patterns, structures and nuances.

Equally, innovation takes many forms and has many different meanings. Innovation is as much influenced by society, societal needs, levels of educational attainment of society, societal values, and the absorptive capacity of society, and therefore the absorptive capacity of regions, as it is influenced by the advancement of technology itself. It is well-documented that innovation is closely connected to economic growth. For decades, policy-makers and policy-implementers have been chasing