The Regional Government, through the Regional Directorate for Science and Technology, will receive today and tomorrow the advisor to the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO), Manuel Laranja, Professor at the Lisbon School of Economics & Management, under the evaluation process regarding the implementation of the Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3).
 
Developed by DGREGIO with the aim of providing the European Commission with an assessment on the implementation of the RIS3 in Portugal, this process is particularly dedicated to the Azores, Madeira and Lisbon. It intends complement the work that the Joint Research Centre, as a European Commission service for Science and Knowledge, has already carried out in other Portuguese regions. 
 
According to the Regional Director for Science and Technology, Bruno Pacheco, the visit of the DGREGIO advisor to the archipelago “will reinforce the evaluation and analysis of the RIS3 Azores under development, while providing an external perspective and contribution as regards the implementation of the smart specialisation strategy in the Azores."
 
The DGREGIO consultant will assess the implementation of the RIS3 strategy in the Region, through interviews with the coordinators and some members of the Thematic Working Groups (TWG), one of the main governing bodies of RIS3 Azores.
 
Moreover, an interview will be also conducted with the Regional Directorate for Science and Technology, the regional authority responsible for the implementation of RIS3 in the Region:
 
The results of this this evaluation, which will be reported to the European Commission, could be decisive for any changes to be made in the initial strategy.
 
RIS3 has been implemented in all European regions as a key instrument for mobilising their growth and job creation potential In fact, they are becoming economic transformation agendas that have channelled investment to research and innovation in strategic areas.
 
The RIS3 approach underpins the premise of a limited set of priority areas in order to channel resources more efficiently to investments with the greatest potential impact on the regional economy. It is a key criterion for European structural investments.
 
For this reason, regions should evaluate the results achieved so far regarding the implementation of the RIS3 strategy as part of the preparatory work for the definition of the new EU framework programme.