News archive - Update on the "Western Balkans Regional R&D Strategy for Innovation" technical assistance project
With job creation stagnant and economic growth stalled, the Western Balkans region faces an intensifying need to create knowledge-based economies that can generate higher-value-added jobs and stronger growth. Hoping to foster synergies among their similar interventions and build on a growing collaboration, governments from the seven economies in the Western Balkans are developing— with the assistance of the European Commission, the Regional Cooperation Council and the World Bank — a regional strategy for research and innovation. In line with the countries’ European integration processes and the goals of the European Union’s growth strategy “Europe 2020,” the overarching objective is to increase the impact of research and innovation on economic growth and employment opportunities.
The Strategy will identify priorities, recommend policy and institutional reforms and be accompanied by an action plan detailing initiatives to be implemented at the supra-national level. It is expected to be presented in 2013 and serve as a framework for a collective effort to promote the Western Balkans’ most urgent priority: increasing innovation, growth and prosperity.
Expected results
- Larger number of scientific publications in high impact journals.
- Enhance collaboration between scientific Diaspora and local researchers.
- Improved success rate of regional applicants in EU funded programs.
- Increased number and value of patents licensed to the business sector.
- Stronger industry-science linkages.
- More research-based startup companies.
- Higher growth.
- Better job opportunities
Source: email by Sebastian Penn, Private and Financial Sector Development, The World Bank.
- International; Other
- Western Balkans
- Cross-thematic/Interdisciplinary
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WB_Strategy_in_Brief.pdf (pdf, 743.71Kb)
Entry created by Danaja Lorencic on December 4, 2012
Modified on December 24, 2012
