Entrepreneurial discovery is an interactive and inclusive process in which the relevant actors identify new and potential activities and inform the government. Some of the key features that have been pointed out by scholars and policymakers dealing with innovation policies to define what EDP is about are:

• The EDP is an inclusive and interactive bottom-up process in which participants from different environments (policy, business, academia, etc) are discovering and producing information about potential new activities, identifying potential opportunities that emerge through this interaction, while policymakers assess outcomes and ways to facilitate the realisation of this potential.
• The EDP pursues the integration of entrepreneurial knowledge fragmented and distributed over many sites and organisations, companies, universities, clients and users, and specialised suppliers (some of these entities being located outside of the region) through the building of connections and partnerships.
• The EDP consists of the exploration and opening up of a new domain of opportunities (technological and market), potentially rich in numerous innovations that emerge as feasible and attractive.

This process is what mainly distinguishes Smart Specialisation from traditional industrial and innovation policies.