Juliet Williams Chairman South West of England Regional Development Agency 17 February 2009 Regional Action Plans for Innovation Development and Enterprise European Regional Development Fund

RAPIDEs promise… the business of business… provoking economic growth challenging partnership and risk making Lisbon happen giving management teams the correct tools providing leadership harnessing the remote, rural, peripheral economies

So, what actually is RAPIDE? RAPIDEs mission: Innovate or die! improving the way in which EU regions support and stimulate innovation as a critical driver of sustainable competitiveness how? By bringing new ideas and opportunities to market more quickly… managing risk financing effective partnerships why a fast track network? effecting real change in our regions as a result of knowledge sharing partner regions become champions influencing future policy and programmes

Partner-Regions South West of England – UK Galicia – Spain Kujawsko-Pomorskie – Polend Örebro – Sveden Region of Western Greece Saxony-Anhalt – Germany Tartu – Estonia Wales – UK Presov – Slovakia South Bohemia – Czech Republic Lapland – Finland Észak-Alföld – Hungary

Fast Track to action providing a safe environment for discussion giving our network partners the confidence to share living up to Fast Track status… Fast Track under Regions for Economic Change… delivering capitalisation Fast track under Regions for Economic Change supported by 5 Commission DGs, including Enterprise and Industry; Regional Policy; Information Society and Media; Research; and, Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities a partnership of 11 new and old Member States

RAPIDE is about people! People are our toolkit… practitioners not spin doctors Seeing is believing what works, what doesnt hands-on peer interrogation and review honesty rules! Beyond best practice recognising, sharing, Implementing the lessons learnt through our mainstream funding programmes Connectivity going beyond our partner needs and opportunities influencing the approach to innovation across Europe

The deliverables learning how to share the good and previously unmentionable knowing which experiences are transferrable Regional Action Plans that have every chance doing their job new methods of integrating tried and tested innovation into Convergence and Competitiveness programmes policy recommendations around taking innovation to market more quickly more effective support for innovation and business opportunity in partner regions and beyond

The RAPIDE methodology Work so far project launch (Toruń, Poland, October 2008) Working Summit, Effective Partnerships (Cardiff, Wales, December 2008) Working Summit, Financing Innovation (Patras, Greece, February 2009) To come Working Summit, Managing Risk (Bath, England, April 2009 partners develop their Regional Action Plans in groups, with all plans peer-reviewed as they develop (June 2009 – June 2010) mid-term review (Örebro, Sweden, June 2009) final conference (Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, June 2010)

Eila Linna Director Lapland Institute for Tourism Research 17th February Lapland Case – Laboratories as a Tool for Innovations European Regional Development Fund

How it works? ArcticPower-lab -Testing in extreme cold conditions, -Product development plab - technology - Virtual reality - 3D-modelling ENVI -rescue operation -first aid -emergency care -treating emergency care, intensive - care and surgery patients -rehabilitative ward work VI Outcome From various origins collected knowhow is combined innovative way to get new applied knowhow eg. services to support the core business -> service innovations -> safety -> regions competitiveness

Transferrable or not? Vast, sparsely populated area Fragmented structure of business fields SME- and micro-size enterprises Multidisciplinary universities Culture of cooperation Knowhow Trust and respect Mutual interest Commitment Creativity and desire to experiments

Dr.-Ing Christos Tzomakas Head of Scientific-Technical Support & Programmes Implementation Department Regional Development Fund - Region of Western Greece 17 February 2009 Regional Action Plans for Innovation Development and Enterprise European Regional Development Fund

ROP / IV - Western Greece The 2nd axis with a total budget of 85,7M includes among others the following category actions that are targeted to innovation promotion in RWG: Promotion and reinforcement of collaboration among HEI, RI and enterprises, and support of activities of RTD Enhancement of RTD and innovation infrastructures Foundation of new enterprises and modernization of existing firms with focus in innovation and the new technologies Development of infrastructures of initial installation of enterprises that exploit results of RTD Dissemination and demonstration of innovative projects Further development of the regional infrastructures and accessibility services Digital convergence and reinforcement of entrepreneurship Sustainable development and quality of life Main priorities of ROP WG for the new programming period :

The equilateral triangular model approach on excellence

For more information RAPIDEwww.rapidenetwork.eu Interreg IVCwww.interreg4c.net DG Regioec.europa.eu/regional_policy/index_en.htm European Regional Development Fund Juliet Williams Chairman South West of England Regional Development Agency Eila Linna Director Lapland Institute for Tourism Research Dr.- Ing Christos Tzomakas Head of Scientific-Technical Support & Programmes Regional Development Fund Region of Western Greece