Smart specialization strategies—insights gained from a unique European policy experiment on innovation and industrial policy design

Abstract This paper aims to develop a coherent vision and detailed methodology of the policy approach that is evoked by the term “smart specialisation strategy” (S3), and to explore and elaborate the requirements and implications in terms of design and implementation that are consistent with that policy concept. As such, the paper addresses the issue of designing an innovation policy whose goal is the creation and development of networks of innovators in order to generate some desired structural changes within the framework of a regional economy.