Innovation policy sets actions and programs to promote and support innovation to drive economic growth and competitiveness.
This can include funding for research and development, incentives for companies that invest in innovation, and regulations that support the growth of new industries. The goal of innovation policy is to create an environment that fosters innovation and encourages the commercialization of new ideas and technologies.
There is a growing need within the public sector to use innovation in the policy development context in order to better address the needs of individuals and communities. As public sector innovation continues to be institutionalised, new frameworks are needed to help governments make a more strategic and deliberate use of innovation to achieve policy goals.
The results produced by research often do not translate into concrete benefits for the economy and society. With Horizon Europe, the focus shifted to ensuring that scientific excellence generates a tangible and recognisable change in a target group, a concrete impact – Andrea Di Anselmo, META Group
META Group works with public authorities – from city administrations to national governments and European institutions – to design, improve and implement support schemes for innovation, entrepreneurship and technology transfer.
Since 1993 we help regional stakeholders design, improve, and implement support schemes for innovation, entrepreneurship and technology transfer. Implementing these strategies means rolling out new measures. While some will be based on best practices, all must be adapted to local conditions. This process involves equipping teams with new skills, enabling cooperation between institutional agencies and stakeholders, and carefully assessing resource management.
Here are some of the main technical implementation services we provide:
Building on META Group’s extensive international experience, we equip cities and regional governments, development agencies, and incubators with the know-how, tools, and methodologies they need to design and implement innovation and smart specialisation strategies.
We have tested, refined and adapted the necessary know-how, methodologies & tools – along with the associated training and change management processes – in over 30 regional assistance programmes.
While this experience will always inform the strategy, each best practice must be analysed and adapted to the region’s specific context.
Many of the measures set out in the strategy should be first developed into a business plan, which:
We work with partners and clients to ensure these challenges are tackled and we build a strong foundation for innovation.
In many cases, new measures have to be tested before being rolled out. Pilot projects therefore build, test and refine prototype measures in an agile way. The findings are then used to improve both the specific measure and the overall strategy.
These practices are based on META Group’s 30 years of experience in working with over 100 public organisations on designing or improving their innovation and entrepreneurial strategies.
