This concept and its concrete developments have had an immense impact in Europe and then beyond after the European Council’s decision to adopt smart specialisation as an essential principle of European regional policies.

Although the smart specialisation approach and method are now well known in Europe (at least the general principles), they still remain an unknown quantity elsewhere. And yet this approach has huge potential - especially in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia - to assist policymakers, experts and public agencies in structuring their policy and development programme. This is why, by means of the smart specialisation concept and approach, this course will address not only innovation policy issues in developed countries but also development by innovation issues and structural change in the least developed countries.

The course aims to offer an overview of the concept and concrete methods allowing the design and application of a smart specialisation strategy on the regional (or national) scale. It will combine formal presentations, numerous case studies carried out in the field, as well as first-hand accounts.

This course is especially intended for public policymakers on the regional, national and international levels, in Europe, North America and Asia. It is also meant for those responsible for development policies, in Africa or South America for example. It is then targeted at experts and analysts who develop consulting services in this domain. And finally it is for Master and PhD students and researchers in the fields of economics and innovation and economic policy and spatial and regional policy.

The MOOC is composed of five sections, each comprising three to four modules (of approximately 10 minutes each). The course will last five weeks.

Source: www.smartspecialisation.ch