Combining Regional Strengths to Narrow the EU Innovation Divide

This policy brief by the ESIR group discusses the regional innovation divide in Europe and the world. It outlines the main causes for the concentration of innovation in hubs, which are necessary for a strong innovation environment. However, such concentration should not come at the expense of the regions incapable of creating such concentration, which should synergise with the innovators using innovation-oriented smart specialisation strategies. It also recommends for these strategies to be accompanied by a holistic effort to integrate other policies such as skills and redistribution.