eDIGIREGION : Realising The Digital Agenda Through Transnational Cooperation Between Regions

Final Report Summary - EDIGIREGION (eDIGIREGION : Realising The Digital Agenda Through Transnational Cooperation Between Regions)

Executive Summary:
eDIGIREGION is a unique collaborative project that brings together a consortium of fifteen complimentary and experienced partner organisations from four diverse European regions: - South East Ireland, Central Hungary, Bucharest-Ilfov and Castilla-La Mancha. The consortium partners are representative of the triple helix stakeholders in each of the four regions and include industry associations, research / academic organisations, policy-makers and research-funders. The goal of the eDIGIREGION project is to enhance regional competitiveness by exploiting regional strengths and smart specialisations to realise the key objectives of The Digital Agenda for Europe. The Digital Agenda for Europe and related Europe 2020 policy documents form the context for the project and strongly inform and guide the project’s activities – in particular, the following key aspects have strongly influenced the ambition and direction of the project:
• Develop a more inclusive and sustainable ecosystem of innovation and research between relevant regional stakeholders (universities/research centres, industry, and government);
• Improve the research-innovation process through enhanced regional infrastructures and interoperability between all relevant regional stakeholders;
• Engage industry, especially, creative and innovative SMEs in the articulation and implementation of regional research-driven agendas, particularly in the innovation elements of the process;
• Identify regions’ “smart specialisations” (existing and desired) and enhance regions’ research and innovation ecosystems to work towards delivering these specialisations;
• Facilitate the internationalisation and cross-border cooperation and collaboration of regional research-driven clusters in order to benefit from the sharing of knowledge, skills, resources and intelligence;
These key policy considerations place the project and its work, at the centre of European Regional Innovation Systems in the technology domains of The Digital Agenda. The project is working towards enhancing these systems to boost innovation, creativity and successful exploitation of research results at regional level and in turn, enhancing regional and national economic competitiveness and sustainability. Through its activities, eDIGIREGION is supporting the development of high-potential research-driven clusters, thus directly contributing to the key strategic European goal of enhanced competitiveness and the sustainable economic growth of Europe’s regions. The main outputs of the project include:
• A detailed review of international good practice for research-driven clusters
• A set of ‘good practice’ parameters and measurements for cluster development
• A series of benchmark audits for each of the project’s four regions
• Four region-specific Joint Action Plans
• A comparative analysis across the four regions to develop an inter-regional
• Joint Action Plan (iJAP)
• A framework for Transnational Cooperation among the regions and their stakeholders
• A series of inter-regional actions (iActions), an inter-regional mentoring programme and an
• inter-regional brokerage programme for ICT SMEs
• A public repository containing the techniques, processes and methodologies from the project
• together with a library of public documents
• A series of ‘how to’ guides available to all regions across the EU.
• A programme of regional seminars and workshops and international conferences

Project Context and Objectives:
The context for the eDIGIREGION project is set within the frame of the Digital Agenda for Europe and more specifically, how to embed the objectives of the Digital Agenda for Europe at regional level in a series of stakeholder-supported actions which respect the smart specialisation strategy. The project is working with triple helix partners (government / public: industry and academic / research) in four diverse European regions - South East Ireland, Central Hungary, Bucharest-Ilfov and Castilla-La Mancha. These regions were identified after careful assessment of the research and innovation strategies of each region, the level of research-driven cluster activity in the domain of the Digital Agenda technologies, the opportunities for beneficial inter-regional cooperation between the regions (including the benefits of transnational collaboration and mutual learning, sharing of resources, exchanges of knowledge) and the technology capacities and technology-focus of the regions. In addition, the four country bands (groups) in the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) were also considered to ensure a diverse range of innovation performance – followers, moderate innovators and modest innovators.

The project’s aim is to boost regional innovation and competitiveness by enhancing the capacities and capabilities of the four regions to develop and implement region-specific plans for the development of their capacity in the technology domains of the Digital Agenda. The project has the potential to make an important contribution to enhancing European Regional Innovation Systems in the technology domains of the EU Digital Agenda, thus boosting regional and national economic competitiveness and sustainability, leading to a stronger and more robust Europe.

A key challenge in making Europe more innovative (and consequently, more competitive) is to reduce the level of fragmentation in EU R&D efforts, increase the level of research-industry linkages and increase the level of cooperation between regional stakeholders engaged in the innovation process through the creation of regional innovation systems.
A strong regional innovation system linking all stakeholders with smart research-driven clusters at its core, can significantly increase the capacity of European regional players to invest in and undertake research and technological development (RTD), boost regional innovation and enhance regional sustainability and competitiveness. However, creating an open, collaborative, and cooperative environment where all relevant regional stakeholders engage with and stay committed to an agreed regional research agenda can be challenging. It is a complex process that must consider a wide range of region-specific issues as well as seeking inputs and lessons from external exemplary regions. It is an interactive and integrative process involving all relevant stakeholders and requires a dynamic set of supporting techniques and methodologies that support regional stakeholders to define and take ownership of the region’s research agenda.

In order to successfully construct an innovative and creative regional ecosystem, the triple helix needs to work in unison in a seamless, collaborative and cooperative manner that can unlock new possibilities for all stakeholders (especially research-intensive industries). This is particularly critical in the domain of the Digital Agenda, where high-potential research-driven clusters can create an ecosystem where academia and business supported by regional government and smart governance, can work together to deliver new / improved products, processes and services from the results of technology research (successful Innovation). The successful operation of such an ecosystem can ensure a more rapid transfer of research, innovation, and knowledge: the sharing of resources between academia and industry: the identification and accessing of private and public sector funding for research, innovation and commercialisation: and the development of new, innovative and services, products and processes: - resulting in sustained regional economic improvement, enhanced competitiveness and growth, citizen inclusion, well-being and knowledge enhancement.

The genesis of the project is derived within this context and more specifically from the Europe 2020 policy document, ‘A European Strategy For Smart, Sustainable And Inclusive Growth; its relevant Flagship Initiatives, Innovation Union, A Digital Agenda For Europe and An Industrial Policy For The Globalisation Era; and the EU policy documents, Regional Policy Contributing To Smart Growth In Europe 2020 and Towards World-Class Clusters in the European Union: Implementing the Broad-based Innovation Strategy.

The key aspects of these policy documents that informed the development of eDIGIREGION are the need to:
•Develop a more inclusive and sustainable ecosystem of innovation and research between relevant regional stakeholders (universities/research centres, industry, and government);
•Improve the research-innovation process through enhanced regional infrastructures and interoperability between all relevant regional stakeholders;
•Engage industry, especially, creative and innovative SMEs in the articulation and implementation of regional research-driven agendas, particularly in the innovation elements of the process;
•Identify regions’ “smart specialisations” (existing and desired) and enhance regions’ research and innovation ecosystems to deliver these specialisations;
•Create a regional governance environment that generates smarter public service offerings, infrastructure, and interactions that are supportive of industry, wealth creation and inclusivity of all the region’s citizens;
•Facilitate the internationalisation and cross-border cooperation and collaboration of regional research-driven clusters (by increasing, within and across regions, the mobility of personnel from research centres, universities, government and industry) in order to benefit from the sharing of knowledge, skills, resources and intelligence about global markets;
•Define and implement a process to facilitate ease of securing funding (investments), be it private and/or public (regional, national or European), for research and innovation activities, especially for those of high-potential interoperability and internationalisation

eDIGIREGION’s response to these key policy drivers is to work with the four regions to:
•Create and support research-driven clusters that bring together the region’s triple helix stakeholders of research centres / universities, industry and government
•Support the development of region-specific Joint Action Plans, setting out a measures to enhance the region’s innovation capacity in the technology domains of the Digital Agenda
•Engage in a series of inter-regional actions (iActions), mentoring programmes and initiatives to support inter-regional collaboration and cooperation
•Record the methodologies and techniques employed and make this available to all European regions through a series of ‘How To Guides’ and a Central On-line Repository that is publically available to all stakeholders
•Engage in a wide range of dissemination and outreach activities to raise the profile of the approach to all European regions.

A key focus in eDIGIREGION is to create and support an integrated collaborative innovation ecosystem involving the triple helix and other relevant stakeholders in each region. eDIGIREGION will give regions the methodologies to create and support these ecosystems where academia and business can collaborate in an environment supported by regional government. In addition, the project will establish a platform for inter-regional collaboration, supporting regions to internationalise and improve their capacity to compete internationally in the technology domains of the EU Digital Agenda by unlocking new business opportunities, and increase international exchange of ideas, technologies and resources.

The specific objectives of the project are to:
•Undertake a detailed review of good practice for research-driven clusters across the EU and internationally in order to understand their growth paths, policy environment and critical points of intervention that have contributed to the clusters’ success. In particular, the analysis will seek to understand the regional value chains, the pathway for research to innovation to commercialisation (R-I-C) and routes to internationalisation
•Develop a set of “good practice” parameters and measurements from this analysis to develop a benchmarking methodology.
•Perform a benchmark audit of each eDIGIREGION region (that includes establishing current RTD policy and practices, interoperability of relevant stakeholders, absorptive capacity, innovation capacity, and the extent of alignment between regional RTD and regional economic policies, strategies and practices) to establish the region’s smart specialisations (actual or desired);
•Develop region-specific Joint Action Plans that sets out specific measures to boost the region’s innovation capacity in the technology domains of the Digital Agenda
•Undertake a comparative analysis (including strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats) among the eDIGIREGION regions to develop an inter-regional Joint Action Plan
•Create a framework for Transnational Cooperation among the eDIGIREGION regions and their stakeholders, that supports inter-regional:
o research and innovation collaboration and cooperation
o interoperability among stakeholders
o cluster coordination and cluster management
o technology, knowledge and resource sharing
o mentoring and mutual learning
•Develop an internationalisation strategy and initiate internationalisation activities in the technology domains of the Digital Agenda
•Package the techniques, processes and methodologies from the eDIGIREGION project into a public Repository that is accessible to all stakeholders in all regions
•Disseminate information about eDIGIREGION, through regional seminars and workshops and international conferences, to increase public awareness and visibility about research-driven clusters, and to extend the impacts of the project to the widest community of stakeholders

Project Results:
The main results of the project are as follows:

1. A comprehensive review of thirteen internationally-leading regions.
The project analysed the development paths of selected leading regional research-driven clusters that have been identified as ‘best in class’ at European and international (beyond the EU) level. Thirteen regions were selected for analysis based on a set of criteria which included such factors as their outstanding reputation, their referencing in EU reports and research studies on cluster excellence and regional development together with expert interviews. The thirteen regions comprised of regions from within the European Union, North America and from the dynamically-growing Asian and South American economies. An effort was also made to select regions at different stages in their development paths which would be instructive and informative in terms of providing solid fundamentals for understanding our own regions.

A template was developed for the analysis and circulated to each of the authors responsible for analysing each region. This ensured a coherent approach to the analysis in each region and facilitated the extraction of good practices. The analysis focused on identifying ‘good’ practices, as opposed to ‘best practices’ with the objective of forming a composite picture of ‘good practice’ indicators. The template was informed by workshop discussions that took place in the different eDIGIREGION regions, where participants, based on their experiences, highlighted different aspects of regional and cluster development which should be prioritised for analysis. These discussions yielded a structure for the study and identified a number of topics that can be used to define a set of critical success factors, viz:
A. Context and development paths
B. Trends in RTDI performance (region’s statistical analysis)
C. RDI governance model
D. Policy interventions
E. National / Regional Innovation Policies
F. National / Regional Innovation Programmes
G. National / Regional ICT R&D Policy Priorities / strategic focus areas
H. Technology Orientation in National ICT R&D Programmes
I. The triple helix in action

Within each of these topics, a set of parameters was identified which included, inter alia:
1. Infrastructure (Connectivity, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), research centres)
2. Policy (on R&D, innovation, tax, economic, legal, regulations)
3. Funding (national, regional and EU, accelerator programmes, business angels and VCs)
4. Human resources (ease of hiring, availability of talent, industry-academia mobility)
5. Networking and association among key actors (triple/quadruple/quintuple helix interaction)
6. Internationalisation (internationalisation measures, strengthen region’s reputation for
innovation)
7. Smart Specialisation (smart specialisation best practices, selected focus areas)
8. Uniqueness of the selected region (identification of differentiating characteristics)

The analysis initially saw regions being selected and the approach to the analysis defined. The framework for the analysis comprised desk research and literature review to understand the effectiveness of the region and the good practices and smart specialisations already documented. This desk research involved studying EU reports, national government / organisation reports and journal articles. The key regional development milestones that were identified in this literature review were confirmed and validated by a comprehensive statistical analysis which confirmed the impact of these milestones as significant steps in the region’s development. Finally, direct contacts and consultation with region-specific experts (drawn from a variety of triple helix stakeholders including government, industry and research in each region) provided additional inputs not readily accessible from the literature review and statistics. This triangulation of literature review / desk research, statistical review and expert consultations provided a robust and rigorous framework in which to conduct the analysis of the regions.

The task of carrying out the regional analysis was purposefully given to a number of different eDIGIREGION partners who individually authored the regions assigned to them. This approach has resulted in different experiences and capabilities being brought to bear in the regional analysis making the analyses richer, more comprehensive and multi-faceted, which in turn enhances its value as input to the selection of good practices - which in many cases, would be more relevant for the eDIGIREGION regions, considering their current stages of development

2. A Good Practice Guide for Developing R-I-C Clusters
The review and analysis of the thirteen regions was used to define a set of practices, measures and initiatives which contributed to the international success of the analysed regions, and which in turn, can be used to benchmark the eDIGIREGION regions. The good practice guide identified, defined and collected a wide range of good practice measures and initiatives which can contribute to regional improvement and development and serve as important inputs to the benchmarking of the eDIGIREGION regions and to the creation of Joint Action Plans (JAPs) in each of the regions. The Guide highlights those key elements and components, based on analysis, the adaptation of which, can encourage real changes within the national/regional innovation systems and strengthen regional research and development (R&D) capacities and capabilities. The good practices which were identified, were categorised from seven dimensions:

1. Policy
2. Funding
3. Human resources
4. Networking
5. Internationalisation
6. Smart Specialisation
7. Infrastructure
In each of these seven dimensions, a large number of good practices were identified which came to the fore during the regional analysis.

3. Development of a Regional Benchmark Audit Tool
A Regional Benchmark Audit Tool was developed in the project. The methodology for its use was defined including the audit structure, how it can be used and what data is required to complete an audit. A methodology for the gathering of the benchmarking data is defined to ensure a consistent use of the tool across all regions together with guidelines on how the completed benchmark audit reports can be presented and used as a basis for a Joint Action Plan within the region and an International Joint Action Plan across the consortium regions.

The Benchmark Audit Tool was used to identify the region’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (SWOT) and smart specialisations, and as such, is an important step in understanding the current position of the region, how it measures against the good practices identified and what needs to be done to improve its capacity to embed the RTD and innovation aspects of The Digital Agenda. The benchmark parameters used to gauge a region’s performance have been derived from the parameters and characteristics identified from the cluster analysis undertaken across the thirteen regions, as being characteristic of leading performers and ‘best in class’ regions. This close link between the analysis and the benchmarking ensured that the benchmarking exercise is grounded in the actual experience of high-performing regions and is built around the parameters and characteristics of leading-edge, good practice RTD & Innovation regions.

The Regional Benchmark Audit tool comprises two parts:
Part A is for gathering relevant socio-economic and R&D profile data about the region. This includes: - size of the region, population, population age profile, structure of region, governance, employment levels, employment by sector (in ICT, R&D, Higher Education), infrastructure (especially ICT infrastructure), EU, national and regional funding for ICT and R&D (private and public sector), number of spin-outs, spin-ins, patents, industry profile and stock (MNEs, indigenous SMEs and micro-enterprises).
Part B is for gathering data in nine (9) different themes that are relevant to good practice RTD / Innovation processes and practices – policy, technology orientation, clusters and networks, RTD / Innovation funding, smart specialisations, regional attractiveness, innovation ecosystem, triple helix, and entrepreneurial regions. These nine themes have been selected on the basis of the parameters and characteristics identified from the cluster analysis work undertaken in Work Package 2 (WP2). In Part B of the Regional Benchmarking Audit tool, the relevant stakeholders and/or stakeholder groups were asked to delineate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunity and Threats for each question within each theme.

4. A process and methodology for identifying and engaging relevant stakeholders in the Regional Benchmark Audit process
An analysis was undertaken, examining different complementary methodologies for defining the key stakeholders based on their interests and motivations and the influence that they can have on the work of the project – this helped guide each regional team in selecting the key set of relevant stakeholders in the region with which to engage. A comprehensive set of guidelines to be used by all regional teams to facilitate the process of undertaking the audits was developed which will also ensure that there is consistency of approach across all regions, ensuring that the data collected can be readily used for comparative analysis and will support inter-regional activities.

A detailed methodology for engaging relevant stakeholders was developed, ensuring that engagements are at an appropriately senior level and also ensuring that these engagements can be sustained over the lifetime of the project. The guidelines produced are complimentary to the structure, processes and methodologies for the Regional Benchmark Audit. These guidelines are designed to ensure the active ‘buy-in’ and commitment of the region’s triple helix stakeholders to the benchmarking process and the project’s activities. This active ‘buy-in’ and engagement from the key stakeholders is key to the successful completion of the regional benchmark audits and a series of meeting / workshops were undertaken in each region in the period.

5. Four Regional Benchmark Audit Reports
A regional benchmark report was prepared in each consortium region. These regional benchmark audit reports were prepared following the methodology defined in the project and involved engagement with a wide range of stakeholders in each region. While respecting the methodologies defined in the project, it is worth noting that each region has its own region-specific nuances, its own process of interaction between regional stakeholders, and its own culture of engaging and communicating with stakeholders. The audit reports set out the regions’ current position in each of the nine thematic areas, identifying the regions’ strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats and smart specialisations. The benchmark audit reports will be used as a basis for developing the region-specific Joint Action Plans. The audit reports set out how each region is performing against the good practices identified and what needs to be done to improve its capacity to embed the RTD and innovation aspects of the Digital Agenda for Europe.

The Regional Benchmark Audit Reports for each region were compiled and some of the key findings of the individual audit reports extracted and analysed in order to identify synergies and opportunities across the regions. Some of the key challenges and opportunities were looked at with a view to identifying areas for further elaboration in the international Joint Action Plan, where the consortium partners and their stakeholders will create a framework to maximise inter-regional collaboration opportunities, as exemplified by the synergies offered in the regional smart specialisations from each region.These engagements included a large number of stakeholder meetings, ranging from one-to-one interviews, to small groups to larger workshops, in each of the four regions. In total 56 meetings with stakeholders were organised during the audit process:- Ireland (14), Romania (8), Spain (21) and Hungary (13)

The completed benchmark audits were used to:
• Identify a region’s potential smart specialisations
• Establish a region’s preparedness to embed the RTD and innovation aspects of the EU Digital Agenda
• Identify the gaps in the region’s performance and propose measures that need to be undertaken to improve the region’s position
• Lay the basis for the development of the Regional Joint Action Plans (JAPs) and the International (inter-regional) Joint Action Plan (iJAP)

6. Joint Action Plans
A set of processes and methodologies to be used to engage all relevant stakeholders to develop their region-specific Joint Action Plan, was developed, in order to select the optimum methods for increasing the interoperability between relevant stakeholders to generate and take joint ownership of their regional JAP. These methodologies were used to commence the process of preparing the region-specific Joint Action Plans. The JAPs are the tools to promote the establishment of new innovation ecosystems (or boost the development of already-existing ones), built on the Digital Agenda pillars and framed in the Smart Specialisation areas identified by each region.The JAPs describe a set of joint collaborative actions for regional stakeholders to advance each area of smart specialisation. Collectively, these actions build on the region’s strengths and enhance the innovation capacity of the region to realise the RTD objectives of the Digital Agenda for Europe. The actions (smart specialisation-specific and horizontal) are detailed in a set of Action Cards. An extensive engagement with regional stakeholders was undertaken during the preparation of the JAPs. The focus in each region in the period was to push forward and progress the Joint Action Plans. This was done through a series of workshops and events which involved either some or all, of the region’s triple helix stakeholders, to achieve buy-in and consensus on how the specific actions could be realised. Much of the effort was focused on where possible, including all triple helix stakeholders and specifically industry, which often proves difficult to engage. During the final year, the relationship with the regional stakeholders (including all the R&D&I actors) in all regions, was not only consolidated but progress to a higher level. This has been crucial to strengthening the links between the main representatives of the triple helix, which in a number regions, had weakened during the previous years due to the economic crisis. The result of close engagement with regional triple helix stakeholders in all regions, has been the strengthening of the regional innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems.

7. Inter-regional Joint Action Plan (iJAP)
An inter-regional JAP was developed which sets out the guidelines for an effective cooperation process between the regions. The purpose of the iJAP is to enable the consortium to collaborate and cooperate. The iJAP sets the basis for an inter-regional, transnational cooperation framework between eDIGIREGION regions and comprises a set of actions aimed at adding value through inter-regional cooperation. The iJAP selects a number of international working areas and maps them to regional capacities to identify potential synergies and joint collaborative opportunities. A selection of working topics (Precision Agriculture: Industry 4.0: Innovation Ecosystems) and a list of six iActions is produced. These six actions comprise the initial set of international initiatives that the consortium will work on and include: Transnational Industrial PhD, Matching universities’ curricula with industry and market needs, Creating a Transnational Research Network, Preparation of Joint Project Proposals, Establish a trans-regional thematic group of experts and Increase understanding about the “4.0” approach (in agriculture and industry). As the project progressed, substantial progress was made in progressing the iActions. To guide this work, the project developed a comprehensive framework and guidelines for internationalisation, with a view to progressing the iActions and undertaking other inter-regional initiatives.

8. Inter-regional Co-operation
A Methodology and Implementation Framework for Transnational Cooperation, a Methodology and Implementation framework for Mentoring between Regions and a Methodology and Implementation Framework for Internationalisation were produced in the project. These three complimentary frameworks together, present a framework for the processes and methodologies of successful inter-regional cooperation, knowledge transfer and mentoring across regions. They were used to inform the actions around operationalising the iJAP especially in the areas of transnational cooperation, mentoring, and mutual learning between the consortium regions and also informed the inter-regional mentoring programme, which was delivered on two occasions during the project (in Bucharest and Albacete). The framework also guided the inter-regional actions and ensured that substantial progress was made in realising the six selected iActions from the iJAP. The iActions were refined during the project and in line with the agreed approach, a champion was identified for each iAction. The champion was the ‘driver’ of the iAction and led the discussions on the area, specifically at the partner meeting at the time of the second International Conference in Bucharest in May 2016.

Progress on selected iActions is set out below.

iAction: Bringing university curriculum closer to industry needs
Substantial progress was made on this iAction and there was a deep exchange of knowledge, experiences and approach across the consortium. UPB-CETTI who took the lead on this iAction presented the experiences of how UPB-CETTI trains it engineers in response to specific industry requirements, specifically:-
• How the engagement with industry was structured?
• What was the feedback from industry and how was this captured?
• How is further feedback and input from industry supported in the longer term?
• How did it impact on the skills and capabilities of graduates?
• Is there a continuing role for industry – either in terms of further inputs to the curriculum or delivery of the curriculum?
• How was this reflected in the curriculum of existing programmes and / or development of new programmes?
• What was industry’s opinion of / reaction to the graduates?
• How was this change communicated to the awarding authorities and what was their reaction?

Discussion on these points centered around the integral role of human resources in innovation and the need for university curricula to incorporate industry needs into their offering. The challenge mounted by this is that industry and university together must collaboratively anticipate the future needs of industry and society in achieving this, including the role of education in igniting the imagination and creativity of students and how this spans all the way back to primary education but must also be addressed within third level. Basic electronic skills, as with many scientific skills, maintain their relevance so if we can educate individuals to possess these core skills as well as entrepreneurial skills, they will be able to better adapt to the rapidly changing technological world in which we now live. The overarching conclusion of this discussion was that education needs to be disrupted and models which we take for granted, have to be re-thought.

iAction: Development of Inter-regional Industrial Phd: i2Phd
Substantial progress was also made on this iAction which was led by UCLM who undertook a survey to gauge the interest in progressing an inter-regional industrial Phd. An analysis of this information pointed to 80% of respondents among eDIGIREGION partners as being interested in developing an inter-regional industrial PhD. A high figure of 70% was also recorded among SMEs, who are also interested in progressing this action and willing to incorporate and supervise the PhD candidate. Recurring themes in survey respondents included: industry knowledge gap is around ICT solutions for industry and agriculture: majority of interested parties are facing research problems: companies think that an inter-regional PhD could be a good solution to their actual problems: regions consider collaboration as being to solve regional needs.

89% of stakeholder respondents have expressed an interest in developing an inter-regional industrial PhD. 100% of them consider a multidisciplinary topic as an important thing, 90% would be willing to supervise the PhD candidate and 93% would be willing to incorporate it into their staff programmes. During the lifetime of the eDIGIREGION project, an industrial PhD has been initiative and the approach is to internationalise this programme, once mature. In parallel, UCLM and WIT are also making progress to commence a transregional PhD with the idea to industrialise it in the future. The importance of cooperation between high-level educational institutions and industry to foster regional competitiveness and retain human capital was highlighted in many forums during the project. The i2PhD could be a tool to make this happen, not only at regional level also at the interregional level. An industrial PhD fosters innovation and competitiveness of the companies, promotes technology and knowledge transfer from academia and delivers high trained professionals. The principal reason to implement industrial doctorates is to engage and move excellent research closer to the industry in order to improve regional competitiveness, and therefore, economic and social welfare. Analysis undertaken during the project focused on the benefits for each party involved, the major challenges of implementing the inter-regional industrial Phd and its main objectives and generic characteristics.

iAction: Increase understanding of the 4.0 approach
This iAction emerged in the iJAP in recognition of the need for industries in each of the four regions to realise the full potential offered by the Industry 4.0 approach. Since European industry is moving towards the industry 4.0 model, it is both imperative and challenging for manufacturing and ICT companies that are not yet in this revolutionary process to find out about current opportunities and potentialities for the near future. The Industry 4.0 discussion in the eDIGIREGION project focused on a thorough explanation of key aspects of industry 4.0 (below) and introducing the potential of Industry 4.0 and in highlighting it as a component in driving more competitive and digitally transformed industry in regions. Key aspects include:-
• Overview on internet of things: definition, application in different industry sectors and industrial internet of things
• Background for industry 4.0: the main industrial revolutions and the shift from muscle power to mind power.
• Aspects of Industry 4.0: (i) support for decision-making -internet of things, utilisation of sensors, networks and decision support systems; (ii) integrated
supply chains at ERP level and investments from the European Commission
• Implementation of Industry 4.0 in different industries: - viability and protection: security: short and near term objectives and expectation: differences in
uptake in large and small enterprises.

9. Research to Innovation to Commercialisation (R-I-C)
The Internationalisation framework elaborated in the project for increasing regions’ competitiveness through internationalisation activities, sets out specific supports for Research to Innovation to Commercialisation (R-I-C), including the exploitation of international commercial opportunities by regional industry (large and small), start-up enterprises and entrepreneurs. This in turn, informed two specific interventions in the project: - the development and delivery of an inter-regional mentoring programme for entrepreneurs and an inter-regional brokerage event for ICT companies.This was a strong theme in the project and the two separate but linked interventions were undertaken in supporting Research to Innovation to Commercialisation (R-I-C) activities. R-I-C is an important underlying theme in the project and the focus was on supporting new businesses (concept promoters) and SMEs in progressing their business development and thus increasing regions’ competitiveness, through an inter-regional support framework, facilitated by eDIGIREGION.
This comprised of two interventions: -
1. The development and delivery of an inter-regional mentoring programme for entrepreneurs / concept promoters
2. The delivery of an Inter-regional brokerage event for ICT companies from the four regions

9.1. The development and delivery of an inter-regional mentoring programme for entrepreneurs / concept promoters
Concept promoters were selected from the projects four regions. Concepts were early stage ideas for innovative products or services that are ICT related and will be of benefit to furthering the development, sustainability and profitability of industry (Industry 4.0) and / or agriculture. Concept promoters were selected through a call for concepts in each region. The objective of the programme was to allow the chosen concepts to benefit from an intensive support and mentoring programme delivered in workshops during the second International Conference in Bucharest and the third International Conference in Albacete. The programme was delivered by a team of international experts, drawn from the four regions, each a specialist in an aspect of the commercialisation process with wide ranging domain expertise and industry knowledge - including market analysis, product development, business models, funding etc. – all working to progress each of the concepts along the path to commercialisation. The format of the workshops was interactive with maximum time allowed for concept promoters to engage with mentors and with each other (peer-peer learning). The objective was that each promoter will:
(a) Gain experience about their concept and its market orientation and saleability
(b) Gain insightful knowledge about their concept and its market orientation and saleability
(c) Meet and engage with other concept promoters
(d) Meet and engage with international experts
(e) Start the process of developing their own international network to develop and commercialise their concept.

Some of the topics covered in the workshops are shown below:
• Stakeholder Agreements
• Innovation Observatory
• How to Scale the Business
• Design Thinking
• Analysis of markets, industry and competitors
• Assessment of promoter/promoter team
• Defining the Business Model
• Proof of Concept
• IP strategy and Funding strategy
• Product Development - Completing the design and prototyping
• Product Development - Defining the production process and product reproduction
• Product Development - Defining and Managing the Supply Chain
• Product Development - Resources assessment and allocation
• Preparation for Market –Market Assessment and Defining Route to Market

Mentors were also encouraged to continue to work with promoters between conferences.

As a result of this experience of organising the Concept Promoters Mentoring intervention a proposal to develop a more elaborated proposal for a mentoring platform, to enable on-going support and mentoring for the innovative ICT concept promoters, was developed. The platform concept called “eDIGINav” comprises of mentors and mentees who meet on a monthly basis to engage at both a national and transnational level. Elements of this model were used to inform the delivery of the second mentoring intervention in Albacete and to maintain contact with mentees, between workshops. It is also planned to further develop and use the concept after the lifetime of the eDIGIREGION project to sustain support for R-I-C activity.

The proposed eDIGINav concept in set-out in seven steps:
1. Promoter selection via open calls for concepts every four months
2. Mentor selection based on specific criteria.
3. Mentee Agreement signed.
4. Mentor Agreement signed
5. Matchmaking of regional mentor and mentee.
6. Coaching of mentees in using the eDIGINav platform.
7. Continuous monthly feedback from both mentor and mentee.

Step 1 - Promoter selection via open calls for concepts
A call for promoters will be made. Promoters must:
• Hold 100% of the equity of the business.
• Live in the partner region
• Not be a full time student
• Be willing to engage for the eight month programme
• Sign the Mentee Agreement document

Step 2 - Mentor selection based on specific criteria
Mentors will be selected based on the following criteria:
• Expertise in scaling a business
• Domain expertise in a key area relevant to a startup
• Independent and neutral to the promoters/mentees

It is recognised that for the relationship to work between the mentor and mentee, there needs to be honesty, openness, empathy and basically a non-judgmental approach. Ideally the mentee will gain more if the mentor is from outside their core sector as this will remove the temptation to assume that the experiences of the mentor in that sector is best practice.

Step 3 - Mentee Agreement signed
This is a basic agreement to acknowledge the responsibilities and confidentially of all parties in the various interactions. Whilst it is not possible to commit all mentors to sign individual agreements with every mentee, the regional administrator on behalf of the regional management will be responsible for obtaining the mentee’s signature of this agreement.

Step 4 – Mentor Agreement signed
This document will be signed between the regional administrator and those regional mentors who have agreed to participate. In essence, this commits the mentor to two hours per month for a time period. It also allows for an opt out clause for mentors as they are providing their time free of charge and indicates that the mentor will not be liable for any business decision based on the mentees action.

Step 5 - Matchmaking of regional mentor and mentee
This task will be undertaken by the regional administrator. This is a key task wherein the mentee will request that one of the four regional mentors become their principal regional mentor for the following eight months. One confirmed as a principal regional mentor, that individual cannot be another principal regional mentor until the eight month period has lapsed. The onus will be on the regional administrator to monitor and manage this relationship. The mentee will need to be coached by the regional administrator as to the ideal principal regional mentor based on their concept and that mentor’s ability to assist the mentee on their journey.

Step 6 - Coaching of mentees in using the eDIGINav platform
This task will be undertaken by the regional administrator which should require an initial face to face interaction for one hour at the start of each induction into the next Nav Group. (A Nav Group is the collective intake of the four regional promoters in April, August and December. We are currently engaged with Nav1 Group. Subsequent groups will be called Nav2, Nav3 etc.)

Step 7 - Continuous monthly feedback from both mentor and mentee
The onus will be on the regional administrator to obtain feedback via the monthly reports and interaction with both mentee and mentor and transmit this information to the eDIGINav manager.

9.2. ICT Brokerage
The ICT Brokerage event, organised in Dublin by eDIGIREGION proved to be an outstanding success and one of the highlights of the project. The event was cast within the context of supporting the realisation of inter-regional business opportunities. 35 (thirty-five) companies participated in the “Brokerage Event”. Companies from Romania, Spain, Hungary, Northern Ireland and Ireland participated. 288 (two hundred and eighty-eight) meeting requests were facilitated. Each company attending had a minimum of 8 (eight) thirty-minute meetings each. 314 (three hundred and fourteen) meetings took place with 101 (one hundred and one) successful matches and agreed follow up activity based on feedback forms. The feedback to the event was excellent. A positive outcome of the event was the signing of a commercial arrangement between an Irish ICT company and a visiting Romanian company. A post-event evaluation was carried out which asked participants for their impressions of the event, which indicated that all the participants benefitted greatly and plans are being developed to continue the event in some format, after the end of the eDIGIREGION project.

10. Central On-line Repository
Another activity undertaken in the project was the successful development of the Central Online Repository (COR) which is now available publically. The repository houses a wide range of documents and data that are relevant to the themes and topics dealt with in the project. Semantic analysis is being used to provide the capability to index the content and access an interface that assists users identify/search a word, concept or common subject by analysing phrases and approximating concepts from the indexed documents. This has been an essential resource for the consortium partners as they develop their regional Joint Action Plans and the international (inter-regional) iJAP. Much work focused on improving the user’s experience and navigation around the repository. In order to understand a users’ perspective and the relevance of the COR, a series of test groups were set up. These test groups were given access to the repository and in their feedback commented on the functionality of the COR as well as commenting how useful it can was in their professional activity. The feedback from these test groups built on the previous feedback from eDIGIREGION partners. It is intended that the repository will continue after the lifetime of the project and remain as a resource to all those interested in the central themes of the project. This has been facilitated by the addition of an RRS Feeder which will help keep the Central Online Repository relevant with the addition of fresh information after the project’s lifetime. UEFISCDI, the host organisation for the repository, has agreed to host it after the lifetime of the project to ensure that it is a continuing resource to support those engaged in triple helix innovation activity at regional level. In addition to the RSS Feeder, users can contribute to the COR by uploading documents manually, via email. This e-mail based upload function will include sending a document to an e-mail address by the user that will apply filters to the document and then uploaded it automatically in the Repository database. To access the repository and benefit from the rich information available, public users can go to the project website (www.edigiregion.eu) and click on the Central Online Repository button.

11. Stakeholder Engagement and Dissemination
92 (ninety-two) regional information sessions, seminars and workshops were held over the project’s three years (92 in total – not including dissemination events or partner meetings). These events played a key role in keeping regional stakeholders aware of and engaged in, the project. All relevant regional stakeholders were invited to participate in these events. The stakeholder engagement took different forms, as appropriate throughout the project, from large seminars to smaller workshops to one-to-one interviews. These engagements resulted in the project being aligned with major policy initiatives in the regions and the full ‘buy-in’ of relevant stakeholders.

In addition to this level of activity a strong programme of dissemination was undertaken which included four international conferences being organised (Budapest in May 2015: Bucharest in May 2016: Albacete in November 2016 and Waterford in March 2017). These were major milestones for the project and brought together leading international speakers and local regional stakeholders to address many of the central themes in the project. These conferences attracted a combined audience of approximately 400 (four hundred) comprising of policy-makers, industry, civil society organisations, academics and researchers. The themes of the conferences were related to the core objectives of the project and included ‘Boosting World-Class Innovation Regions through Digitally-Enabled Ecosystems across Europe’ (Budapest): ‘Return on Innovation Through Interregional Entrepreneurial Ecosystems’ (Bucharest): ‘Interoperability between regional actors to define, action and implement region-specific Joint Action Plans’ (Albacete) and ‘Sustaining Regional Innovation and Growth through Partnership’ (Waterford).

In addition to these high profile international conferences, members of the consortium actively participated in a wide range of European events including Information and Proposers Days, Brokerage events, European Week of Regions and Cities (where eDIGIREGION organised a well-attended workshop in 2016), Concertation Meetings with other projects, International Conferences including Regional Studies Association, University-Industry Interaction Network (UIIN), International Conference on Regional Science, Future Networks Conference, SMART REGIONS Conference as well as selected European-level technology, clustering, regional development, startup events and workshops. This high level of dissemination activity was also continued within each partner region with collectively over 70 (seventy) dissemination events being reported on (this figure does not include events classified as engagement events with stakeholders in preparation of the audits and Joint Action Plans – a further 92 (ninety-two meetings) or partner meetings.

This high level of dissemination activity was complimented with a number of papers, publications, press coverage and the professional production of three books (Guides) from the project.

Three separate but connected guides were produced in year 3. These guides are based on aspects of the project and are intended for use by those who want to use the experience of the project. 500 copies of each guide were produced (1500 in total) and distributed widely across partner regions. The guides are also available as ebooks.
Guide 1: A Good Practice Guide to Regional Innovation Ecosystems
The aim of this guide is to provide illustrative examples of the characteristics, parameters and drivers of innovation in what are considered to be good practice regional innovation ecosystems. The guide is intended for regional stakeholders who wish to advance innovation in their own regions and draws heavily on the material in deliverables D2.1- Cluster Analysis Report and D2.2-Good Practice Guide for Developing R-I-C Clusters. The guide is 157 pages.

Guide 2: A Guide for Performing Regional Innovation Benchmark Audits
The aim of this guide is to describe a methodology and set of templates to perform a regional innovation benchmark audit. It is intended for use by regional stakeholders who wish to advance innovation in their own regions. The guide draws heavily on content from the following eDIGIREGION deliverables; D3.1- Technique, Process, Protocol and Methodology for Gathering Data to Benchmark regions; D3.2 -Guidelines To Establish Commitment And Engagement From Regional Stakeholders To Complete The Regional Benchmark Audits: D3.3- Regional Benchmark Audit Reports From Each Consortium Region and D3.4 Compiled Benchmark Audit Report For Each Consortium Region. It contains 129 pages.

Guide3: Guide for Developing and Implementing Joint Action Plans (JAPS) and Inter-Regional Joint Action Plans (iJAPS)
The aim of this guide is to present a set of techniques and templates to develop a comprehensive, collaborative Joint Action Plan (JAP) and iJAP, focused on RTD and the innovation aspects of ICT for a region. It is intended for use by stakeholders and stakeholders in non-contiguous regions. It draws on the content of several eDIGIREGION deliverables including: D4.1- Methodology And Framework For Engaging Stakeholders To Develop JAPs and iJAPs: D4.2- Region Specific Joint Action Plans: D4.3- Inter-Regional, Transnational Joint Action Plan (iJAP): D5.1 - Methodology And Implementation Framework For Transnational Cooperation: D5.2- Methodology And Implementation Framework For Mentoring Between Regions and D5.3- Methodology And Implementation Framework For Internationalisation.

12. Website
The project's website was developed at an early stage in the project for dissemination purposes and is aimed at informing all consortium partners, EU officials and the general public of the project’s progress. It also provides a link to the eDIGIREGION on-line Intranet and Central Online Repository.

The outreach of the project has been optimised through the use of social media tools / web technologies which can be accessed through the website (applets) to social networks (mainly Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn).

The main visible areas of the website are the News and Events section which are continuously updated and all consortium partners are encouraged to send news of relevance to be uploaded. The website allows credentials - based access to partners to the project’s Intranet and Central Online Repository. In addition the project’s Central Online Repository (see 3.2.1.2.4) can also now be publically accessed directly from the website, www.edigiregion.eu. The website is linked to the project's Facebook and Twitter accounts, which contributes to increasing the reach of the project. Photos and text from partners are uploaded both in social media and on the website to reflect the work being undertaken in the project and the progress being made. During the main project events there were live updates sent to social media and also linked to the consortium partners' social media accounts (e.g. during the international conferences, workshops, partner meetings). The project is also active on Twitter and there was a high increase in use during the 4th International Conference in Waterford, Ireland, providing a good insight into the social media users behaviour in the four regions involved in the project. However, given the restrictions in the amount of information that can be transmitted through Twitter, Facebook is regarded as being more useful in some regions involved in the project. The project was also active in LinkedIn.

13. Advisory Board
Throughout its activities, the project has been guided by an Advisory Board comprising four recognised domain experts. Their inputs especially around the time of the International Conferences, were invaluable in guiding the work of the project and identifying relevant themes for the International Conferences. The Advisory Board comprised of Prof. Pauli Kuosmanen (Finland), Mr. José Manuel Leceta (Spain), Ms. Lucia-Maria Seel (Romania) and M. Jacques Magen (France).

Potential Impact:
The project has had a substantial impact. Each regional lead partner on the occasion of the final project meeting, was asked to present an overview of how the project impacted on their region. A snapshot is presented below.

South-East Ireland
Topline impacts of eDIGIREGION included:
•Re-establishment of local, regional and national networks
•Regional development emphasised Waterford Institute of Technology’s (WIT) strategy as regards WIT’s role and commitment to developing the South East as an entrepreneurial region
•Government took a keen interest in eDIGIREGION and its potential capability to identify regional Smart Specialisations
•Involvement in articulating the South East Action Plan for Jobs (SEAPJ)
•Clarification and articulation of five regional Smart Specialisations: Identification of five Smart Specialisation champions: Alignment of South East Smart Specialisation with the SEAPJ
•Raise awareness across the regions of the need for collaboration and cooperation among regional stakeholders
•ICT Brokerage event in Dublin was a major success and embraced by stakeholders
•Supporting the regional Smart Specialisation with resources
•Enhancing the entrepreneurial environment in the South East
oWithin Higher Education Institution level
oWithin the sub-region through the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs)
oSupporting enterprise awards initiatives

Bucharest - Ilfov region, Romania
Topline impacts of eDIGIREGION included:
•Renewed focus on Innovative Entrepreneurship and its potential capability to identify regional Smart Specialisations
•Enhanced regional cooperation through Regional Benchmark Audit, regional workshops and the engagement of local stakeholders
•More open inter-regional co-operation e.g. through Startup Europe Week in Bucharest with its focus on innovative entrepreneurship, International Conferences - a fast track for European collaborations
•Building Future Partnerships - proposal submitted under H2020
•eDIGIREGION methodologies for Benchmark Audit Report applied and adapted for a national project (SIPOCA)
•Support in identifying inter-regional commercial opportunities for Romanian start-ups and SMEs - 10 Romanian ICT companies present in ICT Brokerage event in Dublin.
•Provided basis for access to H2020 PSF Support to encourage the development of a Romanian Innovative Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
•Renewed progress on bringing university curricula to meet industry needs

Castilla-La Mancha, Spain
Topline impacts of eDIGIREGION included:
•Implementation of good practices to successfully create innovation clusters
•Enhanced triple helix collaboration. More Openness and Government involvement
•Better knowledge of the innovation capacity of the region
•Interviews allowed a direct interaction with researchers, corporate managers, public servants, entrepreneurs. Important suggestions went directly to the JAP proposal
•Joint work of the regional triple helix (continuous communication flow)
•International linkages: other regions and countries initiatives
•Region’s entrepreneurs and ICT SMEs successfully engaging internationally, stimulated by the ICT Brokerage event
•More triple helix engagement: Discussion on the creation of a Regional Agency for Research and Innovation: Database with regional companies and research institutions: Tool to create, maintain and manage relationships: RIS3 revisions - starting revision of RIS3 and new role for
•ICT in the RIS3: triple helix workshops (all the stakeholders)
•Progress on industrial doctorates: Pilots in the School of Computer Science (ESI- UCLM): ProfESIonalizate and FORTE Programmes and Indra signing an agreement to foster iPhD
•First steps towards a new Regional Plan for Research, Development and Innovation
•Enhanced collaborative ecosystem between regions (and cities) and elaboration of joint project proposals (Interreg Europe and SUDOE)
•Stronger contacts between actors in the value chain.

Budapest, Hungary
Topline impacts of eDIGIREGION included:
•Enhanced triple helix interactions leading to the development of Joint Action Plans. Extensive benchmarking exercise. Revisited key issues in subsequent wider evaluations (EU peer evaluation and Stairway to Excellence)
•JAP process identified horizontal issues (sub-optimal education, chasm between R&D and uptake of results, challenge of building an inclusive ecosystem) and technology / application issues
•Learning from good practices in world leading innovative regions. Interaction with those regions at international conferences and workshops
•Drive towards implementation of the Digital Agenda – ICT in Agriculture and Digitising Industry. Promotion of key messages on role and innovation potential of ICT in the economy and wider society – specifically drive competitiveness in high tech and traditional sectors and underpin innovation in societal challenges
•Learning from collaborative culture and cross-regional exchanges;Progress on positioning Hungary in the Digital Single Market (Smart Specialisation and Operational Programmes) – focus on Industry 4.0 and ICT in Agriculture
•Inter-regional collaboration – iJAP and large scale pilots

The work of the eDIGIREGION project will have a strong practical and lasting impact on the four regions involved and indeed potentially on all European regions. eDIGIREGION has supported the triple helix to plan and design an ecosystem of research, innovation, creativity and exploitation of research results at regional level in the technology domains of The Digital Agenda. The project has designed and developed a dynamic set of methodologies that will enable regions to generate an inclusive, sustainable, living, region-specific, Regional Digital Agenda tailored by the region’s stakeholders to embrace their region’s needs and build on their smart specialisations. Through its work, the project has:
•Supported the development of an integrated collaborative innovation ecosystem involving the triple helix and other relevant stakeholders in each region.
•Supported the establishment of Joint Action Plans for the development of the regions built around smart specialisations and triple helix stakeholder engagement
•Placed special emphasis on integrating SMEs into research-driven clusters and support closer integration of industry needs with technology developers / researchers and regional policy-makers.
•Pushed real research collaborations through the pipelines created by the Joint Action Plans by facilitating regional actors to bring technology through the research to innovation to commercialisation process and supporting inter-regional collaboration on new business and innovation opportunities
•Provided a platform and mechanism for inter-regional transnational collaboration, which can be used by all European regions.
•Supported regions to internationalise their SMEs and Startup Enterprises in thematic technology domains and improve their capacity to compete internationally in the technology domains of The Digital Agenda.
•Raised the visibility of regional research-driven clusters among interested stakeholder groups beyond the project at national and EU levels
The impact of the project also continues beyond the lifetime of the project. A number of initiatives commenced during the lifetime of the project will continue after the end of the project, especially the inclusive engagement with regional stakeholders and the inter-regional collaboration on progressing the iActions and the support of regional enterprises. All the project’s partners along with their regional stakeholders are committed to maintaining the progress made during the project in order to deliver a lasting legacy for the project.

List of Websites:
www.edigiregion.eu

Final Report Summary - EDIGIREGION (eDIGIREGION : Realising The Digital Agenda Through Transnational Cooperation Between Regions)

Share this page

Download