1. Governance Settings Kevin Morgan Cardiff University
Smart Regions Conference
Square, Brussels
1-2 June 2016

2. Why governance matters
Governance refers to the ways we organise and regulate our collective affairs - ideally to secure legitimacy and efficiency
Good governance is vital to all aspects of RIS3 -
helps build consensus around a RIS3 vision
fashions a transparent process of project selection
crafts a robust monitoring/evaluation framework which helps us learn fast about what works where and why

3. Political leadership
RIS3 Guide was the first regional policy guide to treat poor governance seriously because it correlates with low innovation, poor services and political cronyism
Sound political leadership is crucial to the success of the RIS3 process
Political leadership is arguably the most important factor of all because it enables/mobilises other factors

4. Political (and collaborative) leadership
Robust political leadership is the difference between a transactional v transformational RIS3 ethos
transactional ethos = tick box culture, chasing the money, gaming the system etc
transformational ethos = a political commitment to use the RIS3 process to effect real change
Collaborative/distributed leadership also important to share the burden of leadership at different stages

5. Governance and entrepreneurial discovery
The Entrepreneurial Discovery Process needs to be both inclusive and selective
Inclusive - to enable all actors to have the chance to be considered for support
Selective – to ensure that strategic choices are made in a timely fashion to secure critical mass
Managing these twin goals is difficult because there will always be more losers than winners

6. Governance and the policy mix
RIS3 places enormous demands on the public sector
for smarter public administration
for user-focused business services
Public authorities need to be more receptive to and more collaborative with RIS3 partners
Processing feedback from partners in a timely and efficient way gives the policy mix more bite
Administrative capacity is essential to translate feedback into a “live” policy mix

7. The public animateur
The public sector could play a more catalytic role in helping regions meet the RIS3 challenge
by breaking policy silos to leverage its multiple roles as producer, regulator, purchaser
by deploying its convening power to foster peer-to-peer learning networks in and beyond the region
by synchronising hard power (purchasing/regulating) with soft power (brokering/convening)
in short by promoting public sector innovation

8. Barriers to public sector innovation
Barriers to public sector innovation/smart state:
Feedback is critical - but it is stymied by fear, power and hierarchy
Failure is not tolerated - but the public sector is invited to be more experimental & less risk averse
Learning is difficult – because time and space are not afforded to monitoring, evaluation and reflection