DIRECTION DE LA POLITIQUE ECONOMIQUE Towards a RIS3 strategy for: Wallonia European Cluster Alliance (ECA) and TACTICS workshop: BRUSSELS, June 21th, Mathieu Quintyn

DIRECTION DE LA POLITIQUE ECONOMIQUE Outline I. About S3. II.Clusters and Competitiveness policies. –Table of contents of the Walloon RIS 3 presentation - Sevilla,May 3th –A) The Walloon Innovation Policy Strategy –B) Specialisation: critical mass and priorities –C) Entrepreneurial process of discovery –D) The external context : national/international. III. Walloon S3 platform experience

DIRECTION DE LA POLITIQUE ECONOMIQUE I. About S3. The S3 platform is designed to assist regions and Member States in developping RIS 3 strategies: Walloon peer reviewed session is based on the RIS 3 Guide which is a methodological guidance document for policy makers and implementing bodies on how to implement RIS 3

DIRECTION DE LA POLITIQUE ECONOMIQUE II.Clusters and Competitiveness policies. Table of contents of the Walloon RIS 3 presentation - Sevilla,May 3th Expectations from the workshop Regional profile Walloon innovation policy : overview Place-based dimension of the RIS 3 – SWOT Specialisation : critical mass and priorities –Industrial, innovation and R&D policies Entrepreneurial process of discovery : the case of Competitiveness Poles policy External context Governance Measuring the progress Summary and next steps Cluster and Competitivenes Poles (Walloon Industrial policy)

DIRECTION DE LA POLITIQUE ECONOMIQUE II.Clusters and Competitiveness policies A)The Walloon Innovation Policy Strategy. The Walloon Government is the relevant regional authority responsible for regional economic development and RD&I policies. Mainly developed through Competitiveness Poles and clusters in strategic economic sectors.

DIRECTION DE LA POLITIQUE ECONOMIQUE II.Clusters and Competitiveness policies B) Specialisation: critical mass and priorities.  Walloon industrial policy: Mainly developed through clusters and Competitiveness poles policies. But embedded in a comprehensive strategic framework addressing main competitiveness challenges : The Marshall Plan/ Marshall Plan 2. Green.

DIRECTION DE LA POLITIQUE ECONOMIQUE II.Clusters and Competitiveness policies B) Specialisation: critical mass and priorities.  Walloon industrial policy: Cluster initiatives are seen as political tools for implementing place-based eco- systems (with a focus on SMEs strategic change and business environment improvement), for detecting innovative projects and new innovation methods and for fostering cross-fertilisation among different industries. A cross-sectoral approach. A mix of top-down/bottom-up approach. + definition of a common research strategy for Wallonia and Brussels with a focus on 5 target markets for the future, linked to societal challenges and competitiveness poles.

DIRECTION DE LA POLITIQUE ECONOMIQUE II.Clusters and Competitiveness policies C) Entrepreneurial process of discovery: Competitiveness Poles: The university study of Henri Capron (Marshall Plan) On the basis of the university study of HENRI CAPRON ( Free University of Brussels), sectors in which the Region has a high innovative potential were identified: Life Sciences and health (BIOWIN), the Agri-Food Industry (WAGRALIM), the Aeronautics and space Industry (SKYWIN), Mechanical Engineering (MECATECH), Transport & Logistics (LOGISTIC & TRANSPORTS). Sustainable chemistery and materials (GREENWIN) Scientific basis: analysis of regional potentials and development perspectives. Moreover, the strategy of each pole (defined by its industrial and scientist partners) is analyzed and continuously evaluated by an independant and international Jury of experts  involves a specialisation in targeted themes within the key sector (niche markets).

DIRECTION DE LA POLITIQUE ECONOMIQUE II.Clusters and Competitiveness policies C) Entrepreneurial process of discovery: Competitiveness Poles: Call of proposals: a public/private partnership Competitiveness Poles: calls for projects launched by the Government on a yearly basis. Calls for projects are managed by the management team of the pole (information, support to applicants, networking, …). Selection in 3 steps : –Short-list by Board of the Competitiveness Pole itself : first assessment of the project’s quality + conformity to Pole strategy; –Regional administrations : checking of the eligibility of the projects ; –International Jury : quality assessment of projects is entrusted (international and independent view). On the basis of the opinion of the Jury, the government labels the relevant projects and allocates the financial means.

DIRECTION DE LA POLITIQUE ECONOMIQUE II.Clusters and Competitiveness policies D) The external context: national/international. International dimension through Walloon Competitiveness Poles The international strategy of each Pole is analyzed by the independent and international Jury of experts. For developing international linkages, each pole recruited a sectoral expert (AWEX – Walloon Export and Foreign Investment Agency) with a view to developing this international promotion strategy. Focus on societal challenges in front of globalisation. Promotion of partnerships (in R&D projects, internationalisation) through specific grant programmes. Participation to RDI European programmes: FP7 (RoK), CIP (Europe INNOVA/Innovation Express) and Interreg projects.

DIRECTION DE LA POLITIQUE ECONOMIQUE III. Walloon S3 platform experience Since early 2000’s, Wallonia have been building an integrated innovation strategy closely linked to its industrial policy and including basic principles of S3. Walloon Competitiveness Poles and clusters play an important role in that context. Such S3 Peer-review can provide regional policy-makers with new and important insight into their RIS3 strategy by looking at it from other regions' perspective. As regards the S3 concept : the debate should be focused on the innovation stimulation processes, rather than on sectoral priorities choosen by each region. No one size fits all approach. The concept is still on a on-going process.

DIRECTION DE LA POLITIQUE ECONOMIQUE III. Walloon S3 platform experience Usefullness of the S3 recommendations to improve and consolidate regional tools and strategies and to complete the on-going reflections and evaluations: -European good practices and orientations (Industrial and innovation flagships) -Creative Wallonia Programme in support of non-technological innovation market and demand –led innovation. -OECD peer review of the Walloon RSI (on process) -Prospective study on industrial policy and value chains (on process) -(Coming) : strategy for structural funds programming Importance of EU support programs to complete and consolidate regional tools and strategies and foster integration of regional actors in EU and global networks. Better articulation !!! “Wallonia specialisation strategy is on the good track” (S3 platform, OECD)

DIRECTION DE LA POLITIQUE ECONOMIQUE Thanks for your attention. Contacts and information: Websites: Walloon materials on the S3 platform: