The Conference welcomed around 500 participants - People of Europe who design, implement and master regional economic development through innovation discussed where and how it makes sense for public authorities to act, leaving European, national, regional and local actors to deliver where they are best placed to do so.

The European Commission, Member States and Regions presented achievements in the current financial period 2014-20 and key directions for smart specialization as a tool for an effective economic transformation in 2021-27.

The conference focused on three topics:

• Boosting innovation-led growth in the EU industrial transition regions
• Supporting the catching up EU regions to close the innovation gap
• Integrating regional economies in the global value chains

In 2014 smart specialization strategies were introduced in the European Union's Cohesion Policy as the basis for research and innovation investment. As a result, around 180 strategies have been established to shape investments from 2014-20. The Conference provided the opportunity to national and regional authorities to share experience on how smart specialization strategies have been implemented, present projects financed and discuss impacts on the ground.

As well as highlighting best practice and lessons learned, there was also an opportunity to debate the future of innovation in the context of European regional development with representatives from the European institutions and national and regional governments. The conclusions of the discussion will be an important contribution to the implementation of post-20202 Cohesion Policy.

Original source and more information: conference website

The plenary sessions on day one, including the opening have been web-streamed and are now available to watch at  https://livestream.com/streamdis/smartregions

Please click here to see the photos of the event in the Flickr gallery of @EUinmyRegion.