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Wednesday, February 22, 2012 |
INNODEC INdicateurs inNOvants pour une intervention active dans les Dynamiques du système Economique local (Innovative Indicators for an active intervention in the local dynamics of the Economic System)Programme/ Programme Interreg III C Sud Type of operation/ Type d'opération Individual project Topic for co-operation/ Thème de coopération Innovation and local development Lead partner / Chef de file Province of Lucca 1, Piazza Napoleone 55100 Lucca ITALY Duration / Durée The Innodec project will run from February 2005 to April 2007 Total budget / Budget total (EUR): 1,040,000.00 ERDF contribution / Contribution FEDER (EUR): 621.250,00 Problem addressed by the project / Description du problème ciblé par le projet The European Union is giving an increasing importance to the knowledge economy as one of the keys for our competitiveness and prosperity. In particular, knowledge and innovation have been singled out as one of the three main areas that can bring economic growth and jobs to Europe and they are among the issues that the European Commission call for immediate action within the renewed Lisbon Strategy. Two concepts of the European Innovation Policy must be underlined. First, local economic development depends on the capability to absorb and produce innovation. Second, the local public bodies play a leading role because they should facilitate innovative process supporting the establishment of dynamical economic, social and cultural systems opened to change. During last decade if on one hand a growing attention to the innovation performances in the regional contexts has favoured the born of innovative actions, on the other, some researches have pointed out the lack of appropriate indicators for the innovation level gauging of the different European economic local systems. The problem is that institutional local bodies have difficulty in finding those indicators suited to reveal the presence and relative potentiality of innovative phenomena. Traditional indicators ( i.e. employment, import-export, deposits and investments, demography of firms, ect…) mirror local economy’s basic structure but don’t seize neither quick change’s signs nor long term factors of local development. If some advanced innovation indicators exist, they usually are for national or supranational analysis and not enough updated to measure small territories conditions. As a matter of fact for ordinary local Public Administrations the prospect of creating, promoting and implementing innovation in their small economic systems is not a trivial task. These public bodies do not possess the required knowledge, skills and tools to plan good hypothesis of change. At the same time, at the international level studies based on new indicators multiply rapidly in order to build world classifications of competitiveness, attraction and innovation. On the basis of these considerations and accordingly to the 7° Framework Programme of Research and Development, Innodec faces the problem of the economic local system’s modernization by the individuation of a list of new indicators qualified for the innovation degree assessment in the different territories partnering in the project. Those indicators would represent an useful tool of analysis for public bodies, by which it could be easier making accurate analysis of one’s own local economies and more operative institutional interventions. In order to achieve this purpose all INNODEC actions are planned starting from the consideration that the innovative process is very complicated since not only it concerns economic aspects but it depends on cultural and social changes. Thus three steps of the innovative process have been individuated: a. to co-operate to promote awareness of innovation’s importance within each territory’s general public and small and medium enterprises system, in order to consequently elaborate a shared demand for new indicators; b. to elaborate a new system of innovation’s indicators and transfer it to Public administrations; c. to maximise the new tool efficacy on each local territory. Overall objective / Objectif général de l'opération The overall objective of the project is to develop and test a set of new indicators to measure and activate innovation and competitiveness of local economic systems. Thus helping to embed innovation at the hearth of further local development policies and to boost innovation capacity building within the territories involved. Preparing, supporting and facilitating the adoption and transfer of this new instrument of innovation analysis, INNODEC aims to provide European local public bodies with a clear view of the strategic opportunities, strengths, weakness and threats of the today’s competitive dynamics. More specifically, this purpose will mainly be served by: a. the creation of a network among Public Administrations in order to share experiences, best practises and know-how in the innovation field. Employing the buttom-up approach the project provides for the organization of some local workshops focused to apply the participation methodologies – i.e. EASW - on the innovation theme. This could be of great benefit to obtain at the end of the project a results sharing among economic and institutional local actors and to establish a first friendly approach to the next utilisation of the new tool. b. the definition of a new range of innovation indicators supporting next Public Administrations innovative actions; c. the transfer of instruments and of a participative methodology. Expected results / Résultats attendus The project will improve the capacity of SMEs in the participating territories to engage in innovation processes, particularly in those cases where local expertise is inadequate. Through a range of new indicators, methodologies and tools - such as EASW methodology, GIS system and an Innovation Balance Document - schemes, awareness and knowledge about innovation production among local public bodies and businesses will be improved, as well as a pool of qualified policies for local SMEs development will be created. In detail, the expected results/products are: a. an analysis of the state of innovation of the small/medium size enterprises(excellent experiences) b. creation of a demand for new innovation measuring tools suitable to each different local reality and based on the Lisbon Agenda purposes c. individuation of an indicators system taking in consideration new variables. The expected impacts are: d. facilitate dynamic behaviour within the enterprises system in the field of innovation e. a more large participation of the Public Administrations to the regional and European Programmes oriented to innovation f. implication of the local economic and social actors in the decision making process. The new tool, supported by a graphic visualisation of the data, will permit to the Public Administrations to achieve a better acknowledgement of the economic system and of potential strands of innovation to support the innovation development. A good evaluation of the economic context will determine a better efficiency of the policies and the instruments for the regional development. Partnership / Partenaires The INNODEC project gathers four European local Public Administrations and three technical partners, whose task consists in providing its own experience, methodologies and knowledge in the field of innovation development. Province of Lucca - Lead Partner - (Italy) Province of Granada (Spain) Department of Eastern Attica (Greece) Development Regional Agency of Klaipeda (Lithuania) University of Pisa (Italy) Firenze Tecnologia (Italy) Labein Foundation’s Technologic Centre (Spain) Activities / achievements so far INNODEC envisages four major actions: 1° action: NETWORK AMONG PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONS The creation of a network involving in primis the local Public Administrations consists in realising a series of International thematic meetings in the different territories partnering - Athens, Granada, Klaipeda, Lucca - in order a. to emphasize the regional and local policies finalised to support an economy based on knowledge and technological innovation b. to analyse and compare the difficulties that Administrations usually have in evaluating the local innovation degree by the use of the existent indicators c. to present former local economic systems’ experiences in the innovation field (i.e. within the Regional Programmes of Innovative Actions, V Framework Pogramme, other pilot actions in field of regional development, etc. ...) 2° action: INNOVATION BALANCE Taking in to consideration all different local needs emerged in the course of the International meetings technical partners will carry out studies and researches. More specifically, the University of Pisa on the basis of socio-economic data will elaborate a document called the innovation balance. Being a scientific lecture of the innovation dynamics it will serve as a guide for local policy makers’ public policies planning towards innovation. In the future it could be of great benefit to periodically update it, every 2 years at least. In order to success this goal a Technical Scientific Committee has been created, whose specific task is to test the quality of the disposable data. Following a bottom- up approach, civil society, enterprises, Universities and local stakeholders will be involved in the socio-economic data survey. The Labein Foundation Technological Centre will realise the second knowledge tool with the advanced methodology of Geographic Information System (GIS) map, providing Public Administrations an friendly graphic visualisation of the innovation degree within each considered territory. 3° action: THE DREAM Through a cultural awareness oriented to innovation, involving Universities, civil society, enterprises system, it will be possible to achieve a “dream” indicating possible scenarios and challenges. The awareness will be realised through: a. a constant recognition of innovative experiences (what exists) b. a deep observation of the cases of excellence c. the individuation, promotion and “agreement” of the next possible scenarios (challenges and dream) This approach will consent to define the new tendencies towards innovation. To achieve this specific goal the EASW - European Awareness Scenario Workshop -participative methodology will be used. With regard to EASW, it’s foreseen to supply partners with a guide, to realise a pilot workshop in order to explain and test this kind of participative methodology and organise a series of local workshops in each territory to optimise cohesion policy’ supports for local development through a wide participation of local actors. 4° action: THE PLANNING The main activities taken place during the first three moments might bring to the establishment of a range of relationships among enterprises, administrators, citizens and companies and stimulate to plan other projects that, through appropriate funding, will consent to carry out the policy of promoting innovation building at local level. All the Innodec’s outcomes will be spread by the activity of diffusion and information which will be realised following the indications of an appropriate Communication Plan. At the end of the activities is foreseen an International Congress where the results of the project will be presented, especially the new innovation instrument for the partners territories. |
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