Juliet WilliamsChairmanSouth West of England Regional Development Agency17 February 2009

Regional Action Plans for Innovation Development and

Enterprise

European Regional Development Fund

RAPIDE’s promise…

› the business of business… provoking economic growth

› challenging ‘partnership’ and risk

› making Lisbon happen

› giving management teams the correct tools

› providing leadership

› harnessing the remote, rural, peripheral economies

So, what actually is RAPIDE?

› RAPIDE’s mission: ‘Innovate or die!’

› improving the way in which EU regions support and stimulate innovation as a critical driver of sustainable competitiveness

› how? By bringing new ideas and opportunities to market more quickly…

› managing risk › financing› effective partnerships

› why a fast track network?› effecting real change in our regions as a result of

knowledge sharing› partner regions become ‘champions’› influencing future policy and programmes

Partner-Regions

› South West of England – UK› Galicia – Spain› Kujawsko-Pomorskie – Polend› Örebro – Sveden› Region of Western Greece› Saxony-Anhalt – Germany› Tartu – Estonia› Wales – UK› Presov – Slovakia› South Bohemia – Czech Republic› Lapland – Finland› Észak-Alföld – Hungary

Fast Track to action

› providing a ‘safe’ environment for discussion

› giving our network partners the confidence to share

› living up to Fast Track status… Fast Track under Regions for Economic Change… delivering capitalisation

› Fast track under Regions for Economic Change

› supported by 5 Commission DGs, including Enterprise and Industry; Regional Policy; Information Society and Media; Research; and, Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities

› a partnership of 11 new and old Member States

RAPIDE is about people!

› People are our toolkit… practitioners not spin doctors

› ‘Seeing is believing’› what works, what doesn’t› hands-on peer interrogation and review› honesty rules!

› ‘Beyond best practice’› recognising, sharing, Implementing the lessons learnt through our mainstream funding programmes

› ‘Connectivity’› going beyond our partner needs and opportunities› influencing the approach to innovation across Europe

The deliverables

› learning how to share the good and previously unmentionable

› knowing which experiences are transferrable

› Regional Action Plans that have every chance doing their job

› new methods of integrating tried and tested innovation into Convergence and Competitiveness programmes

› policy recommendations around taking innovation to market more quickly

› more effective support for innovation and business opportunity in partner regions and beyond

The RAPIDE methodology

› Work so far› project launch (Toruń, Poland, October 2008)› Working Summit, Effective Partnerships (Cardiff, Wales,

December 2008)› Working Summit, Financing Innovation (Patras, Greece,

February 2009)

› To come› Working Summit, Managing Risk (Bath, England, April

2009› partners develop their Regional Action Plans in groups,

with all plans peer-reviewed as they develop (June 2009 – June 2010)

› mid-term review (Örebro, Sweden, June 2009)› final conference (Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, June 2010)

Eila LinnaDirector Lapland Institute for Tourism Research17th February

Lapland Case – Laboratories as a Tool for Innovations

European Regional Development Fund

How it works?

ArcticPower-lab-Testing in extreme cold conditions, -Product development www.arcticpowerlab.com

.

plab- technology- Virtual reality- 3D-modellinghttp://plab.ramk.fi

ENVI-rescue operation-first aid -emergency care -treating emergency care, intensive -care and surgery patients -rehabilitative ward work www.envi.fi

VI

OutcomeFrom various origins collected knowhow is combined innovative way to get new applied knowhow

eg. services to support the core business -> service innovations-> safety-> regions competitiveness

Transferrable or not?

› Vast, sparsely populated area› Fragmented structure of business fields› SME- and micro-size enterprises

› Multidisciplinary universities› Culture of cooperation

› Knowhow › Trust and respect› Mutual interest› Commitment› Creativity and desire to experiments

Dr.-Ing Christos Tzomakas

Head of Scientific-Technical Support & Programmes Implementation Department

Regional Development Fund - Region of Western Greece

17 February 2009

Regional Action Plans for Innovation Development and

Enterprise

European Regional Development Fund

ROP / IV - Western Greece

The 2nd axis with a total budget of 85,7M € includes among others the following category actions that are targeted to innovation promotion in RWG:

• Promotion and reinforcement of collaboration among HEI, RI and enterprises, and support of activities of RTD

• Enhancement of RTD and innovation infrastructures

• Foundation of new enterprises and modernization of existing firms with focus in innovation and the new technologies

• Development of infrastructures of initial installation of enterprises that exploit results of RTD

• Dissemination and demonstration of innovative projects

• Further development of the regional infrastructures and accessibility services

• Digital convergence and reinforcement of entrepreneurship

• Sustainable development and quality of life

Main priorities of ROP WG for the new programming period 2007-2013:

The equilateral triangular model approach on excellence

For more information

RAPIDE www.rapidenetwork.euInterreg IVC www.interreg4c.netDG Regio ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/index_en.htm

European Regional Development Fund

Juliet WilliamsChairmanSouth West of England Regional Development Agency

Eila LinnaDirector Lapland Institute for Tourism Research

Dr.-Ing Christos Tzomakas

Head of Scientific-Technical Support & Programmes

Regional Development Fund Region of Western Greece