Regional Innovation Monitor Plus 2016 - European Commission€¦ · network of regional experts. Since 2014, the RIM Plus has introduced a thematic focus on advanced manufacturing

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30 May 2016

Regional Innovation Monitor Plus 2016 Regional Innovation Report Western Greece (Industry 4.0 and smart systems)

To the European Commission

Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs Directorate-General

Directorate F – Innovation and Advanced Manufacturing

Regional Innovation Monitor Plus 2016

Regional Innovation Report Western Greece (Industry 4.0 and smart systems)

technopolis |group| in cooperation with

George Strogylopoulos and Dominiki Tsiouki, LOGOTECH S.A

Regional Innovation Monitor Plus 2016 i

Table of Contents Executive Summary 2!1. Advanced Manufacturing: Industry 4.0 and smart systems 6!

1.1 Overview of performance and trends 6!1.2 Business sector perspective 7!1.3 Scientific research potential 8!1.4 Role of intermediary institutions 9!1.5 Developing skills for the future 10!1.6 Major investment projects 12!1.7 International cooperation 13!1.8 Policy support and delivery mechanisms 14!1.9 Good practice case 17!1.10 Leveraging the existing potential 19!

2. Regional Innovation Performance Trends, Governance and Instruments 21!2.1 Recent trends in innovation performance and identified challenges 21!2.2 Institutional framework and set-up 24!2.3 Regional innovation policy mix 25!2.4 Appraisal of regional innovation policies 28!2.5 Policy good practice 29!2.6 Possible future orientations and opportunities 31!

Appendix A Bibliography 33!Appendix B Stakeholders consulted 33!

Table of Figures Figure 1: Industry4.0 concept .......................................................................................... 2!Figure 2 - FP7 EU Funding per program ......................................................................... 9!Figure 3 – Scientific fields of doctoral dissertations in Dytiki Ellada ........................... 10!Figure 4 - Publications, citations and relevant impact indicator of the regional scientific institutions ....................................................................................................... 11!Figure 5 - Scientific areas of excellence of the regional institutions .............................. 12!Figure 6 - Expected Impact of i-VISION ....................................................................... 18!Figure 7 - Total intramural R&D expenditure (GERD) by sectors of performance ....... 21!Figure 8 - Total intramural R&D expenditure (GERD) of higher education sector ..... 22!

ii Regional Innovation Monitor Plus 2016

List of Tables Table 1 – Enterprises that operate in the field of Industry 4.0 and smart systems in the region of Dytiki Ellada ...................................................................................................... 7!Table 2 - Estimated resources / funding per action type and funding source for the sector “Materials – Microelectronics” ............................................................................. 15!Table 3 – Performance Innovation Policy Governance (2007-2013) ........................... 25!Table 4.-Regional innovation support measures (2014-2020) ..................................... 27!

Regional Innovation Monitor Plus 2016 1

PREFACE In the context of the growth and investment package set out in the Investment Plan of the European Commission, the Regional Innovation Monitor Plus (RIM Plus) provides a unique platform for sharing knowledge and know-how on major innovation and industrial policy trends in in some 200 regions across EU20 Member States.

Launched in 2010, the Regional Innovation Monitor aimed at supporting sharing of intelligence on innovation policies across EU regions. Building upon the experience gained and results obtained during the period 2010-2012, the RIM Plus 2013-2014 provided practical guidance to regions on how to use the collected information, via a network of regional experts. Since 2014, the RIM Plus has introduced a thematic focus on advanced manufacturing.

The RIM Plus 2015-2016 evolved from a general monitoring of innovation policies towards establishing a more thematic focus in selected areas in order to contribute to improving the competitiveness of European regions.

Particularly, the RIM Plus aims through its activities and in close cooperation with the regional stakeholders and other relevant initiatives to:

•! Contribute to the development of new and open spaces of collaboration and exchange on advanced manufacturing, each with a clearly defined thematic focus.

•! Play an enabling role in providing evidence-based information on specific themes and bring in outside perspective from other regions.

•! Map out regional practices in support of advanced manufacturing and relevant pilot/demo projects and work towards involving the relevant stakeholders.

•! Provide an easy access and comparative overview of regional innovation policies and relevant actions in the field of advanced manufacturing.

•! Share the lessons learned with the European Commission services to feed into the preparation of future programmes.

The main aim of 30 regional reports is to provide a description and analysis of developments in the area advanced manufacturing with a clearly defined thematic focus and regional innovation policy, taking into account the specific context of the region as well as general trends. All regional innovation reports are produced in a standardised way using a common methodological and conceptual framework, in order to allow for horizontal analysis, with a view to preparing the Final EU Regional Innovation Monitor Plus report.

European Commission official responsible for the project is Alberto Licciardello ([email protected]).

The present report was prepared by George Strogylopoulos ([email protected]) and Dominiki Tsiouki ([email protected]).The contents and views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the Regions, Member States or the European Commission.

Copyright of the document belongs to the European Commission. Neither the European Commission, nor any person acting on its behalf, may be held responsible for the use to which information contained in this document may be put, or for any errors which, despite careful preparation and checking, may appear.

Further information:

https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/regional-innovation-monitor

2 Regional Innovation Monitor Plus 2016

Executive Summary 1. Advanced Manufacturing: Industry 4.0 and smart systems

Industry 4.0 or ‘the fourth industrial revolution’ is a collective term, embracing a number of contemporary automation, data exchange and manufacturing technologies. It had been defined as “a collective term for technologies and concepts of value chain organisation” that draws together cyber-physical systems (CPS), the Internet of Things (IoT) and the Internet of Services. Industry 4.0 facilitates the vision and execution of a ‘Smart Factory’. Within the modular structured Smart Factories of Industry 4.0, as shown in Figure 1, the cyber-physical systems monitor physical processes, create a virtual copy of the physical world and make decentralised decisions. Over the Internet of Things, cyber-physical systems communicate and cooperate with each other as well as with humans in real time, and via the Internet of Services, both internal and cross-organisational services are offered and utilised by participants of the value chain.

Figure 1: Industry4.0 concept

As manufacturing enterprises strive to find methods to increase their competitiveness, in a continuously changing environment, the adaption of the following specific challenges is considered crucial:

•! The increase of efficiency in terms of energy and resource efficiency

•! The shortening of time-to-market, especially shorter innovation cycles, more complex products and larger data volumes

•! The enhancement of production regarding flexibility in individualised mass production and high productivity, in today’s volatile markets.

In order for these challenges to be met, along with the need for increased automation in industry, the development of intelligent monitoring and autonomous decision-making is particularly important. Smart monitoring systems will provide steering and optimisation to companies and entire value-adding networks in almost real time.


Therefore, cyber-physical systems are becoming increasingly essential in this context, that is to say, the networking of embedded systems both with one another and with the Internet. The vision for Industry 4.0 is that decentralised CPS should interact via embedded internet-based technologies in order for:

•! the product to be manufactured to contain all necessary information on its production requirements;

•! integrated production installations to be self-organised having considered the entire value chain;

•! flexible decisions on production processes to be taken on the basis of the current situation.

The basic concept of ‘self-organising factories’, proposed by Industry 4.0, is that as information generated in the virtual world flows into real manufacturing processes, completely new production environments will emerge. In smart factories, groups of machines will be organised, supply chains will automatically coordinate with one another, and unfinished products will send the data required for their processing to the machines that will turn them into merchandise.

Furthermore, production in an Industry 4.0 system is expected to become a marketplace in which machines offer their services and exchange information with products, in real time, as in a social network. In such an environment, factories will use the Internet of Things to stream real-time data for the global marketplace, interacting with supply chains to automatically attract work. ‘Intelligent products’ (Smart Devices) will emerge in order to efficiently provide data about use, status and the environment of the machines and resources. As the amount of data (big data) derived from these intelligent products is huge, smart algorithms (analytics) will play a key role in real-time data collection and processing.

The vision of Industry 4.0 is the combination of intelligent networking and the most efficient technologies towards a holistic concept that will cover the entire process of product development and production. There are several examples of digital solutions along the value chain in existing industrial companies, such as Digital Manufacturing, Digital Engineering and Product Development or Digital Supply Chain.

•! Challenge 1: Increasing collaboration between the business sector and the educational and scientific research institutions

Besides the fact that the region possesses various well-performing educational and research institutions that operate in the field of Industry 4.0 and smart systems, and a broad spectrum of supportive mechanisms, no strong synergies have been established between the above institutions and the business sector. The institutions are either introverted or seek collaborations with foreign businesses and institutions, thus hindering technology transfer among regional parties and the promotion of innovation. As a result the region is not able to take full advantage of its capacity to attract more companies, retain them, and exploit economies of scale and scope. In order to reverse this phenomenon, several actions should take place.

•! Challenge 2: International networking of the sector

The competitive advantage of the region depends on the international performance of both R&D institutions and specialised SMEs operating in the area. The use of the existing extrovert activities of the local companies and the potential facilitation of clustering activities like that of Corallia is a challenge for the development of more internationally competitive products and international distribution channels.

•! Challenge 3: The linkages between advanced manufacturing systems and the agrifood industry

The region, as do many others in Greece, performs strongly in relation to the production of agricultural products (primary agricultural sector and food industry). Both sectors are in deep need of technological advancements, creation of new


specialised products and technology transfer. In addition, aquaculture is a promising industry for Greece and the region, which urgently needs technological upgrading and R&D especially in the area of production of new species.

2. Regional Innovation Performance Trends, Governance and Instruments

Regional R&D and innovation performance is mainly based on the competitive R&D infrastructures that attract both national and international financing. However, interaction with the local economy is limited.

The new structure relating to the implementation of Smart Specialisation and the monitoring of its results offers broader opportunities for the region. It is obligatory to channel its resources towards priority areas and to apply common and compatible mechanisms with the central state in order to secure results and outputs.

3. Future Actions and Opportunities

With regard to Industry 4.0 and Smart Systems

The Regional Operational Plan 2014-2020 proposes specific measures to support the microelectronics industry. These measures are directly related to advanced manufacturing. However, more effort should be put into the process of entrepreneurial discovery in order to connect these measures with both the creation of new entrepreneurship and the support of more traditional sectors that create wealth for the region such as the agrifood industry.

•! Linking smart advanced manufacturing systems with the agrifood (including aquaculture) sector

There is a series of technological interventions that can take place in the field. The levels of potential financing from the structural funds are high and specific results are demanded from R&D institutions, such as new methods of feeding, and the development of new species that can enrich Greek exports. Machinery equipment (customised) plays an important role and collaboration with other regions is important.

•! Bringing advanced European knowledge on smart manufacturing systems to the local industry

There is an initial collaboration between the university and local enterprises. Academics have started to recognise the importance to find ways of collaboration with local firms since this will create new income for their institutions. Structural funds design favours this approach and regional innovation policy measures will focus towards this direction.

•! Embracing clustering activities

The region is a pioneer in developing clustering activities, although the local potential was not enough to keep activities in the region. Regional authorities must benefit from the knowledge of the past and support both existing clustering efforts as well as new ones relating to smart specialisation priorities.

With regard to innovation policy

The general priorities of the region’s Smart Specialisation Strategy recognise the need to further support research and innovation in the selected priority areas. The region has set itself the goal to connect the strong R&D potential of its local institutions with the companies in the area. In addition, such a goal aspires to retaining the local scientific and R&D personnel in the region and reducing “brain drain”.

Advanced manufacturing is very much connected to ICT diffusion and exploitation. This is also one of the strategic priorities of Dytiki Ellada in order to differentiate its local economy and develop smart systems for both manufacturing and applications in the cities.


Both of the two priorities above are linked with efforts to support entrepreneurship, create new firms based on technological advancements and create new ideas through the applications of new technologies in various sectors.

As have all Greek regions, the region of Dytiki Ellada has very much depended on the national strategy and measures relating to R&D and innovation policy. During both of the periods of 2000-2006 and 2007-2013, innovation and R&D policy in Greece was very much centralised. All calls for tender were launched by the General Secretariat for Research and Technology (GSRT).

Until today regions did not have the authority to launch calls for tenders relating to R&D. Through the implementation of the Smart Specialisation Strategy ‘conditionality’, and the future implementation of the ‘law for R&D and innovation 4310/2014’ currently under revision, regions will manage their own funds and will be obliged to focus their calls for tender on their “smart” priorities.

ICT, microelectronics and advanced manufacturing are priority areas for Dytiki Ellada, and a series of measures are directed towards these areas. At the same time, regions will benefit from the national programmes, like the Operational Programme (OP) for Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation 2014-2020, only if they create competitive collaborative projects that are directly linked to their regional priorities.

A series of opportunities arise from this new structure. To those above we should add the reorganisation of the management, monitoring and evaluation system both at national and regional level. This includes regional councils on R&D and innovation, working groups and application of continuous methodology to support entrepreneurial discovery.

Entrepreneurial discovery is the key policy feature that should affect any future orientations and opportunities. Based on that, and through the validation of the existing initial proposals, we can identify the following opportunities.

•! Take advantage of the rich R&D potential

Despite the fact that the vast majority of the scientific institutions in Dytiki Ellada are not related with the local business structure, there are a lot of spillover effects that could take place if policy planning is focused and careful. For example, companies can benefit from technology advancements in manufacturing, spin-off firms can be created from scientific results and traditional sectors can benefit from regional and national scientific excellence.

•! Demonstrate the added value from international initiatives

Clustering activities and other R&D international activities have affected small segments of the regional economy. This applies mainly to the microelectronics industry and R&D collaborations through EU projects in the regional areas of excellence. Such expertise should be used by the region to influence the economy segments to be mobilised internationally.

•! Collaboration with other regions with the same economic patterns

The region of Dytiki Ellada has initiated one of the most successful examples of clustering activities in Europe. In addition, these activities have been expanded all over Greece and have created collaborations and exports abroad. Such activities have mobilised significant resources in major regions such as Attica. The region should do more to benefit from those interrelations, no longer keeping them at an informal level but making them more political and influencing also other sectors of the regional economy.


1.!Advanced Manufacturing: Industry 4.0 and smart systems

1.1!Overview of performance and trends The manufacturing sector has always been of great importance for the region of Dytiki Ellada, in terms of both employment and turnover. In more detail: 10.4% of the region’s enterprises operate in the manufacturing sector producing 14.5% of the regional turnover (at national level the percentages are 8.8% and 19.5% respectively). Regarding employment, in 2012, 7.2% of the region’s employees were occupied in the manufacturing sector. However, the crisis has heavily affected the region’s production and employment, in almost all sectors. Employment in the manufacturing sector declined by almost 28.2% between 2010-2012 as a result of the crisis, which affected construction in particular.

However, the regional manufacturing sector is dominated by low- and medium-technology manufacturing, and no significant R&D activities in terms of investment and patenting can be observed. In more detail, reviewing the companies operating in the field of ‘advanced manufacturing’ (AM) in the region, we can identify those that are active in the areas of ICT and software, advanced engineering and control systems.

Since most of the companies could be characterised as followers in the global environment, as seen below, the main trends that are observed in the region under the thematic area of advanced manufacturing are global ones. In more detail, these trends are:

•! the increase of efficiency in terms of energy and resources;

•! the shortening of time-to-market, in particular, shorter innovation cycle, more complex products and larger data volumes; and

•! the enhancement of production regarding flexibility in individualised mass production and high productivity in today’s volatile markets.

In that context, several key issues emerge in order to address the aforementioned trends. These key issues are:

•! the development of intelligent monitoring and autonomous decision-making systems;

•! the networking of embedded systems both with one another and with the Internet;

•! the use of the Internet of Things to stream real-time data for the global marketplace, interacting with supply chains to automatically attract work;

•! the development of Intelligent Products (Smart Devices); and

•! the use of smart algorithms (analytics).

The regional trends do not differ from those that can be observed at the national level, since the country in general lacks significant heavy manufacturing and specialises mainly in the above mentioned areas (ICT and software, advanced engineering and control systems). In any case, turnovers and market shares of the region’s companies in the field are not significant in international markets.


1.2!Business sector perspective Although Industry 4.o and smart systems appear to characterise the economic structure of Dytiki Ellada, the business sector in the region is not yet as developed as it could be, given the research capacity that the region possesses in that field. In addition, regional support and funding was not directed specifically towards this area during the last programme period of the Structural Funds. On the contrary, strong financing was directed towards intermediary organisations like the internationally successful Corallia Cluster, which supports the related to the microelectronics industry ‘mi-Cluster’. This cluster, initiated in the region of Dytiki Ellada, has expanded all over Greece and, through the collaboration with the Hellenic Semiconductors Industry Association, has become a successful case study at European level.

The enterprises that operate in this field in the region are SMEs, which are either located in the local Patras Science Park or Patras Industrial Zone, or collaborate with Corallia (see Table 1).

Table 1 – Enterprises that operate in the field of Industry 4.0 and smart systems in the region of Dytiki Ellada

Company Website Algosystems S.A. http://www.algosystems.gr ALTHOM http://www.althom.de Citrix Digital Sky http://www.digitalsky.gr eDynamicsL.t.d. http://www.edynamics.gr/ Meazon S.A. http://www.meazon.com Noesis Technologies L.P. http://www.noesis-tech.com Sciensis http://www.sciensis.com Yodiwo S.A. http://www.yodiwo.com

As the regional demand for the products and services provided by the companies that operate in the field of Industry 4.0 and smart systems is low, the companies have to address clients outside the region or even outside the country, responding in this way to needs arising outside the region’s economy. Those companies produce not only generic but also customised products and services in order to attract more foreign customers and to be better able to compete with international rivals. Although some of the companies do collaborate with foreign enterprises, there is still much room for improvement. Specifically, the companies of the region should participate more actively in national and European programmes and seek to partner with enterprises of other Member States in order to increase knowledge transfer and the spillover effects that may arise. So far the region’s companies are not able to enjoy economies of scale or scope, due to their small market shares. Regarding the aspirations of leadership on global markets, the majority of the companies are followers and could be either characterised as optimisers (cost optimisation and process innovation) or locked-in (without aspiration).

Another significant factory that characterises the region is the one of the Hellenic Arms Industry (EBO Aigion). The Aigion Factory was founded in 1977 with the primary purpose of supplying the Armed Forces of the country with the G3 rifle, incorporating technologies and productive specialisations unique in the country and internationally in defence material. The accumulation of advanced manufacturing production technologies became over time, to a significant extent, an endogenous development for the production of parts of weapons and ammunition or complex integrated products. Today the factory is in serious decline, however there is strong interest from foreign investors for collaboration.


The regional potential in the field has not been studied thoroughly in order to provide numerical results concerning future trends. From a qualitative point of view it is evident that competition exists in manly two areas. Firstly, in the area of R&D and the participation in the development of internationally recognised software products and secondly, the creation and promotion of small firms specialised in control and AM systems that are supported mainly by the cluster ‘Corallia’ in order to perform better internationally. The case of EBO Aigion is a special case. From a high-flying performance during the 1980s and 1990s, recently it has become a pure non-competent subcontractor. However, the advanced equipment that it possesses, as well as the expertise of the personnel, still attracts international interest for collaborations.

Regarding the creation of start-ups, these are mainly related to microelectronics, software development and Corallia. Relevant birth rates are not significant, however, new company creation and especially spin-offs from universities and research institutes is a key policy area that will be heavily supported during the current programming period of Structural Funds.

In that framework, a solid and coherent policy support system regarding the relationships among all the key players of the region in the field of Industry 4.0 and smart systems should be further developed.

1.3!Scientific research potential One of the key strengths of the region of Dytiki Ellada is the existence of highly qualified researchers and the active operation of various scientific research institutions in various technology and application areas relevant to manufacturing. Namely, these institutions are the following:

•! University of Patras, mainly the Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems and Automation (LMS)

•! Hellenic Open University

•! Technological Educational Institute of Dytiki Ellada

•! Institute of Chemical Engineering Sciences – Foundation of Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH/ICE-HT)

•! Computer Technology Institute and Press “Diophantus”

•! Industrial Systems Institute.

Most of the abovementioned institutions are specialised in terms of research in the thematic area of ‘Industry 4.0 and smart systems’. Specifically, among all these institutions, the University of Patras is the most active one as it participates in many regional, national and international programmes (see section 1.6 below) and is a key actor regarding the development of advanced manufacturing technologies within the specific thematic area, driven mainly by the institution’s research interests and the interest of foreign enterprises, rather than by regional needs (Figure 2).


Figure 2 - FP7 EU Funding per program

Source: National Documentation Centre

The main relevant technology or application areas in which the regional institutions have competitive advantage are chemical engineering, electrical and electronic information engineering (signal processing, computational mechanics, electrical and electronic engineering, control and systems engineering), materials engineering (surfaces, coatings and films, electronic, optical and magnetic materials, mechanics of materials, materials chemistry, ceramics and composites, polymers and plastics), mechanical engineering (automotive engineering, industrial and manufacturing engineering, aerospace engineering) and engineering technologies regarding safety, risk, reliability and quality.

Regardless of the aforementioned strong specialisation and competitive advantage, the institutions have weak relationships with the regional industrial base. In that framework, there are a lot of unexploited opportunities that may derive from cooperation between the business sector and the scientific research institutions.

1.4!Role of intermediary institutions The abovementioned strong performance of the region’s research institutions is supported by the presence of several intermediary public and private institutions. These institutions are the following:

•! Innovation and Technology Office of the University of Patras

The Innovation & Technology Transfer Office (ITTO) is responsible for the transfer of technologies from Campus to the commercial sector so that the public can directly benefit from the ingenuity and creativity of the university’s outstanding researchers. Providing access to new and improved devices, drugs, services, etc., all contribute to improving the quality of people’s lives. ITTO strives to find the most efficient ways to take a concept developed by the university’s inventors and turn it into a product useful in everyday life. ITTO promotes, protects and manages the intellectual property developed by faculty members, students, and other researchers, evaluates inventions, manages the patent portfolio, negotiates technology licenses and assists entrepreneurs with the creation of start-ups.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

University!of!Patras

Hellenic!Open!University

ICT NMP TPT HEALTH KBBE

ENERGY SEC SSH SPA SP1MJTI

CAPACITIES PEOPLE IDEAS EURATOM


•! Patras Science Park

The Patras Science Park (PSP) supports the growth of innovative, technology based companies across several sectors, including ICT and industrial technologies, contributing to the region’s knowledge economy. Today, PSP is the home of 24 companies and institutions, employing nearly 120 highly skilled personnel in areas such as engineering, chemistry, physics, and medicine. These companies are provided with a mix of high-quality office space, technical infrastructure and supportive administrative and business services.

•! Corallia Cluster Initiative including Patras Innohub (see section 2.5)

The role of these institutions is to foster the transfer of technologies from the public to the private sector, operating as linkages between the two sectors. In more detail, these institutions aim to translate market needs into applied research and thus to enhance product and process innovations in the field.

1.5!Developing skills for the future As mentioned above, there are a lot of educational and research institutions in the region of Dytiki Ellada, most of which are specialised in the thematic area ‘Industry 4.0 and smart systems’. In that framework, there is a well-defined and organised system regarding education, knowledge and skills development in that area. In more detail, the regional educational and research institutions are constantly producing knowledge and skills regarding the thematic area under consideration. As already mentioned, this knowledge is mainly driven by the personal scientific interest of the regional researchers or by the international trends or the needs of business operating outside the region or even outside the country.

It is worth mentioning that almost 30% of the doctoral dissertations of the regional academic institutions are in the field of “Engineering and Technology”. This trend indicates that there is a lot of interest in that area and that new knowledge is created (Figure 3).

Figure 3 – Scientific fields of doctoral dissertations in Dytiki Ellada


Specifically, taking into account the performance of the regional scientific research institutions in the field of “Engineering and Technology” in terms of publications, citations and relevant impact indicator, we observe that almost all of them possess an

36.1%

29.5%

28.6%

4.8% 0.6% 0.4%Natural!Sciences

Engineering!&!Technology

Medical!&!Health!Sciences

Social!Sciences

Humanities


expertise in the field and have a wide impact on knowledge development (Figure 4). Figure 5 illustrates the specific scientific areas of excellence of these institutions.

Figure 4 - Publications, citations and relevant impact indicator of the regional

scientific institutions Source: National Documentation Centre

1.27 1.28

0.83

1.43

1.02

0.8

0.9

1

1.1

1.2

1.3

1.4

1.5

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

University!of!Patras

Hellenic!Open!University

TEI!of!Mesolonghi

TEI!of!Patras Diophantus

Publications Citations Relevant!impact!indicator


Figure 5 - Scientific areas of excellence of the regional institutions


An issue of great importance regarding the development of skills for the future is the creation and/or enhancement of mechanisms and methods that improve and support communication and collaboration between the regional enterprises and the regional scientific institutions, in order to ensure that regional enterprises are aware of the knowledge produced but also “affect its direction”. That means that there must be an intimate and continuous communication between these parties, so that the produced research, knowledge and skills respond and satisfy the current market needs.

1.6!Major investment projects The major projects in the field were performed by the University of Patras. It is evident that the University and especially the Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems and Automation has an international character and a collaboration capacity that allow it to be a European leader in high-level R&D. From the table below we can conclude that the main areas of involvement are the following:

•! Robotics

•! Automation

•! Control systems

•! Mechatronics

•! 3-D printing.

The majority of the projects mentioned below are collaborations at European level with very limited impact on the local economy. However, University personnel have


declared the strong intention to initiate collaboration with the limited number of local enterprises in the field, especially in the areas of automation and control systems.

Many of the projects mentioned in the table can be characterised as pilot applications at European level with a strong potential for demonstration effect. However, this cannot be applied at regional level.

Some indicative EC projects that the LMS – University of Patras participates in, and are currently implemented, are shown below.

Smart System Projects

1 APPS4SME – Engineering Apps for Advanced Manufacturing Engineering 2 CAPPS4AME – Collaborative & Adaptive Process Planning for Sustainable

Manufacturing Environments 3 DIVERSITY – Cloud manufacturing and social software based context

sensitive product service engineering environment for globally distributed enterprise

4 ICP4Life – An Integrated Collaborative Platform for Managing the Product-Service Engineering Lifecycle

5 IVISION – Immersive Semantics-based Virtual Environments for the Design and Validation of Human-centred Aircraft Cockpits

6 KNOW4CAR – An Internet-based Collaborative Platform for Managing Manufacturing Knowledge

7 LIAA – Lean Intelligent Assembly Automation 8 PROREGIO – Customer-driven design of product-services and production

networks to adapt to regional market requirements 9 ROBOPARTNER – Seamless Human-Robot Cooperation for Intelligent,

Flexible and Safe Operations in the Assembly Factories of the Future 10 SENSE-REACT – The context-aware and user-centric information

distribution system for manufacturing 11 SYMBIOTIC – Symbiotic Human-Robot Collaborative Assembly: Technologies

Innovations and Competitiveness 12 X-ACT – Expert cooperative robots for highly skilled operations for the factory

of the future

1.7!International cooperation As mentioned in the previous sections, international collaboration is performed mainly by two actors in the region, the University of Patras, through the laboratory LMS with an outstanding performance of multinational R&D collaboration and leadership in European projects, and Corallia. However, only four (Citrix, Meazon S.A., Noesis Technologies L.P., Yodiwo S.A.) out of the 131 companies belonging to mi-cluster of Corallia are located in the region of Dytiki Ellada. These four companies are active internationally, benefiting from the international activity of Corallia Cluster.


1.8!Policy support and delivery mechanisms The Regional Smart Specialisation Strategy of Dytiki Ellada defines three priority areas, including the following:

•! Agricultural Production – Aquaculture & Food

•! Tourism – Culture

•! Materials – Microelectronics.

In addition, two horizontal priorities have been identified in order to support the above priority areas:

•! Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

•! Energy Applications.

Industry 4.0 and smart systems comprise subcategories of the areas of “Materials – Microelectronics” and “ICT”.

In particular, the estimated funding for the area of Materials – Microelectronics accounts for €157.9m and will be delivered through the Strategic Priorities 1, 2 and 3, as shown in the table below.


Table 2 - Estimated resources / funding per action type and funding source for the sector “Materials – Microelectronics”

Strategic Priorities Action Types

ROP 2014-2020

OP for Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation 2014-2020

HORIZON 2020

Other EU programmes

Private contribution Total

Strategic Priority 1

Enhancement of research and innovation institutions 1m 5m 5m 1.5m 1.5m 14m

Enhancement of research and innovation infrastructure in enterprises and clusters 0.3m 1m 1.5m 1m 1.3m 5.1m

Actions for enhancing research potential 0.7m 0.2m 1m 1m 2.9m

Enhancement of plans of research development and innovation in the RIS3 priority areas 1.3m 5m 4m 2m 8m 20.3m

Promotion of international research projects for SMEs 0.8m 1m 2m 3.8m

Support of Horizon 2020 actions 1.5m 1.5m


Utilisation and expansion of metropolitan optical fibre networks and promotion of broadband services in remote areas

Utilisation of ICT to promote products and services to dynamic production sectors of the regional economy focusing on the principles of Open Source Software

0.8m 1.5m 3.5m 5.8m

Development of electronic infrastructure and services 0.3m 1m 2.5m 3.8m


Support of businesses (existing and new ones) and of special forms of entrepreneurship 5m 15m 2.5m 35m 57.5m

Support of existing and new business clusters 2.5m 5m 0.5m 7m 15m

Internationalisation and export actions of businesses 0.35m 2.5m 4.5m 7.35m

Enhancement of biological agriculture

Support of Producers Groups


Strategic Priorities Action Types

ROP 2014-2020

OP for Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation 2014-2020

HORIZON 2020

Other EU programmes

Private contribution Total

Adoption of quality assurance and control systems

Establishment of marketing and promotion structures of agri-food products

Improvement of skills of unemployed and job creation 0.35m 2m 2.35m

Support of unemployed to create new and innovative businesses in regional priority areas 0.7m 4m 0.5m 5m 10.2m

Support of employees and entrepreneurs in regional priority areas 0.8m 3m 4m 8.3m


Investments in companies for energy upgrade and use of sources of renewable energy

Investments in public institutions for energy upgrade and use of sources of renewable energy

Promotion of alternative forms of urban transport that are environment friendly

Investments for the diversification of the local economies by protecting and enhancing the cultural heritage and the natural landscapes

Urban development interventions

Investments for the protection of biodiversity in or near urban complexes

Total 14.2m 45.2m 10.7m 10.5m 77.3m 157.9m


1.9!Good practice case As mentioned above, the University of Patras, and the LMS in particular, is one of the key players in the region in the field of Advanced Manufacturing, Industry 4.0 and Smart Systems, leading and forming in many cases the regional research direction in the field. In that context, the LMS laboratory is involved in many projects that take place both at national and European level.

One of these projects is the i-VISION project (Immersive Semantics-based Virtual Environments for the Design and Validation of Human-centred Aircraft Cockpits), performed under the funding scheme CP-FP, a Small or medium-scale focused research project of FP7. The total cost of the project amounts to €2.9m, with the EU contribution accounting for 69.5%.

The project is coordinated in Greece by the University of Patras, LMS, while other participants are Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Airbus Group SAS, OPTIS, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, University of Southampton and EASN Technology Innovation Services BVBA.

The project concept, objectives, work performed and results are described below in more detail1.

Project concept and objectives

The aerospace industry aims at reducing product development times and costs but faces a major obstacle, the need to build several physical prototypes for verifying various factors during design. Human factor considerations in the design process of aeronautic products play a crucial role for the reliability and resilience of the systems involved, from an operational and error tolerant point of view. For system design purposes, there is significant utility in applying human task and cognitive workload analysis, however in existing systems the analysis and the analysed artefacts are decoupled and implemented as separate entities. Such separation leads to high manual effort for integration, while missing chances for automation and thus cost-reduction. Semantic representation of scene content and application entities is necessary for several kinds of intelligent virtual engineering tasks. Existing systems fail to implement a closed loop between semantics and 3D geometries and generally suffer from scalability and real-time performance issues. i-VISION will progress the current status of cognitive-human analysis of operations in aircraft cockpits using virtual reality (VR) technologies, by advancing the methodologies with requirements from modern operating conditions. It will offer the ability to publish, access and query on-demand geometric shapes and their metadata with scalability. The i-VISION project has three distinct and complementary scientific and technological objectives:

•! Human-cockpit operations analysis – Advanced human factor methods for analysing the human procedures and tasks during various phases and operating conditions in a VR-based aircraft cockpit.

•! Semantic Virtual cockpit – Semantic technologies will be used so as to enable engineers and human factor experts to assess a virtual aircraft cockpit in a timely and cost-effective way.

•! Virtual cockpit design environments – A VR environment will serve as a reusable and low-cost simulation test bed for experimenting with various configurations allowing the human-centred assessment of future cockpit architectures.

1 LMS (2015), Publishable Summary - First Reporting Period: Immersive Semantics-based Virtual Environments for the Design and Validation of Human-centred Aircraft Cockpits


Work performed and intermediate results

By the 18th month of the i-VISION project, the following activities were performed:

•! Compilation of requirements list, developments lists, use-cases and scenarios definition

•! Cockpit model for experimentation and test of the i-VISION tool

•! Selection of human factors analysis methods suitable for human – cockpit interactions

•! Design and definition of every component of the i-VISION tool.

At the same time, two separate use cases have been defined in i-VISION in an early stage so as to enhance the applicability of the developments in real-life scenarios:

•! The first use-case is human-centred cockpit design; it includes semi-automated work analysis, immersive human factor analysis and evaluation of design changes through virtual flight simulation.

•! The second use-case of applications relates to recurrent training of professional pilots, more specifically, individual low-cost training with virtual co-pilot, remote collaborative training and analysis, and supervision of trainees dealing with unexpected events.

Expected scientific, economic and societal impact and results

The knowledge-based technologies of i-VISION will accelerate the design process through the systematic reuse of knowledge while allowing for faster and more flexible creation of aircraft cockpit prototypes. In addition, the analysis of human operations will result in highly competitive cockpits from the end-user’s perspective and will increase the utilisation of future aircraft by allowing human pilots to operate in extreme weather conditions.

Figure 6 - Expected Impact of i-VISION


The project achievements are realised through five distinct working packages:

•! Work Package 1 – Requirements Analysis and Specifications

•! Work Package 2-4 – Design and development of the modules that use and integrate the three technology concepts mentioned earlier in a unique tool

•! Work Package 5 – Definition and setup of the industrial use cases and validation of the i-VISION tool.

The main results for the i-VISION developments are:

•! a common platform for VR & cockpit-related projects;

•! reduced authoring costs for the preparation of virtual cockpit experimentations; and

•! a set of public APIs for further developments.

1.10!Leveraging the existing potential •! Challenge 1: Increasing collaboration between the business sector and

the educational and scientific research institutions

As shown above, beside the fact that the region possesses various well-performing educational and research institutions that operate in the field of Industry 4.0 and smart systems, and a broad spectrum of supportive mechanisms, no strong synergies have been established between the above institutions and the business sector. The institutions are either introverted or seek collaborations with foreign businesses and institutions, thus hindering technology transfer among regional parties and the promotion of innovation. As a result the region is not able to take full advantage of its capacity to attract more companies, retain them, and exploit economies of scale and scope. In order to reverse this phenomenon, several actions should take place.

•! Challenge 2: International networking of the sector

The competitive advantage of the region depends on the international performance of both R&D institutions and specialised SMEs operating in the area. The use of the existing extrovert activities of the local companies and the potential facilitation of clustering activities like that of Corallia is a challenge for the development of more internationally competitive products and international distribution channels.

•! Challenge 3: The linkages between advanced manufacturing systems and the agrifood industry

The region, as do many others in Greece, performs strongly in relation to the production of agricultural products (primary agricultural sector and food industry). Both sectors are in deep need of technological advancements, creation of new specialised products and technology transfer. In addition, aquaculture is a promising industry for Greece and the region, which urgently needs technological upgrading and R&D especially in the area of production of new species.

•! Linking smart advanced manufacturing systems with the agrifood (including aquaculture) sector

There is a series of technological interventions that can take place in the field. The levels of potential financing from the structural funds are high and specific results are demanded from R&D institutions, such as new methods of feeding, and the development of new species that can enrich Greek exports. Machinery equipment (customised) plays an important role and collaboration with other regions is important.


•! Bringing advanced European knowledge on smart manufacturing systems to the local industry

There is an initial collaboration between the university and local enterprises. Academics have started to recognise the importance to find ways of collaboration with local firms since this will create new income for their institutions. Structural funds design favours this approach and regional innovation policy measures will focus towards this direction.

•! Embracing clustering activities

The region is a pioneer in developing clustering activities, although the local potential was not enough to keep activities in the region. Regional authorities must benefit from the knowledge of the past and support both existing clustering efforts as well as new ones relating to smart specialisation priorities.


2.!Regional Innovation Performance Trends, Governance and Instruments

2.1!Recent trends in innovation performance and identified challenges According to the European Regional Innovation Scoreboard 2014, Dytiki Ellada is a moderate innovator, as are all other Greek regions. Indeed, despite its potential, the region’s research and innovation performance is weak compared with the EU average.

Although the investments in research and development (R&D) in the region increased by 20.3% during the period 2005-2013 (2005: €66.2m, 2013: €79.7m) and although the regional GERD as a percentage of the regional GDP (0.92%) is constantly above the national average, Dytiki Ellada continues to account for only a small share of the national GERD (5.4%).

The business sector and private non-profit investment accounts for 15.6% of GERD. Public funding, which accounts for 16.16% of GERD, managed to mobilise additional private R&D investment during the previous programming period, as its share in the regional GDP increased from 0.05% to 0.19% during the whole period 2005-2013. Since the region of Dytiki Ellada hosts a wide spectrum of research organisations, its funding accounts for 64.1% of GERD. The region’s performance in HERD remained above the national average. As it can be seen in Figure 8, the expenditures in terms of euro per inhabitant remain above the national average but still below EU average.

Figure 7 - Total intramural R&D expenditure (GERD) by sectors of performance

Source: Eurostat

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Dytiki1Ellada

Greece

EU28

BES/PNP GOV HES


Figure 8 - Total intramural R&D expenditure (GERD) of higher education sector

Source: Eurostat

Given the relative level of business investment in R&D, the regional patenting activity (6.66 patents registered at the European Patent Office (EPO) per million inhabitants in 2011) is above the national level (6.07) but is still far below the EU28 average (112.73). However, this performance is not constant and presents several fluctuations, highlighting the absence of solid technology development system in the region. Technological upgrade in regions’ companies is mainly achieved through purchases of established technologies and therefore protection through patenting is of low importance. The majority of the innovative SMEs are non-technological innovators while they tend to innovate in-house without collaborating with other companies or research organisations.

Since 2000, the regional education level has been improved with 22.6% of the population aged 25-64 with tertiary education in 2014 (2000: 12.4%) but is still below both the national (28.1%) and the EU28 (29.3%) averages. Lifelong learning rates are also low, with only 2.2% of adults aged 25-64 participating in training. Moreover, the Human Resources in Science and Technology (HRST) accounts for 28.1% of the regional workforce in 2014, while the country average is higher at 34.2%. The Core Human Resources of Science and Technology (HRSTC) accounts for 12.3% of the region’s workforce, a share below the national (16.2%) and the EU28 averages. These trends indicate that the absorptive capacity of the business sector is low compared with both EU28 and Greece, directly affecting its ability to adapt to technological changes and to innovate.

Given the low capacity of companies to absorb new knowledge, further expansion of the public research capacity in the region is not going to increase spillovers or improve the performance of the private sector.

Based on the aforementioned performance, and as described in the Smart Specialisation Strategy (RIS3) of Dytiki Ellada, the region has formulated an “innovative” vision to become a regional research and innovation pole for young scientists, researchers and firms – leveraging its geographical position and its capacity, especially in terms of educational and research facilities, which constantly promote new scientists and researchers. In order to achieve this vision, it is crucial for the region to maintain and to enhance its human capital, to create critical masses and to link research and business sectors. In that framework, the region will promote high potential entrepreneurship, support SMEs that face expansion problems and facilitate the development of clusters or business categories that present positive perspectives and potential, focusing on areas where innovation can be turned into competitive advantage. The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) will allow

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the modernisation and the increase of businesses’ productivity in the region’s priority fields and will contribute to the reduction of transaction costs among businesses and public services. The use of Key Enabling Technologies (KETs), clean green technologies and energy saving, and alternative forms of energy production are also very important.

In order to meet its vision and to overcome the identified challenges the region, a specific strategic plan with four strategic priorities is proposed in the regional RIS3:

•! Strategic Priority 1 – Support of innovation, technological development and innovation in the technological, sectoral and intersectoral priority areas of the RIS3

•! Strategic Priority 2 – Improvement of the access to ICT, of their use and quality and of their utilisation in the technological, sectoral and intersectoral priority areas of the RIS3

•! Strategic Priority 3 – Enhancement of businesses’ competitiveness through restructuring, modernisation and economic diversification of the regional economy towards the technological, sectoral and intersectoral priority areas of the RIS3

•! Strategic Priority 4 – Improvement of the region’s attractiveness through the exploitation of its natural and cultural resources, its energy upgrade and the protection of the environment

These strategic priorities will be implemented through interventions in the RIS3 thematic priorities, and specifically in the areas of ‘Agricultural Production – Aquaculture and Food’, ‘Tourism – Culture’ and ‘Materials – Microelectronics’ which constitute dynamic sectors for the region as well as in the areas of ICT and Energy Applications which constitute horizontal thematic priorities.

•! Challenge 1: Adapting the governance system of the region to the needs of innovation policy

The new governance system created by the Kaliratis reform allows regions to design their own development policy, although no special provisions have been made for innovation policy. Given that the design and implementation of RIS3 is under the responsibility of the Regional Government of Dytiki Ellada, the governance structure should be adapted accordingly. Despite the involvement of Intermediate Managing Authority (IMA) in the design of RIS3, in the new programming period IMA will retain a purely administrative role limited to the ROP. Therefore, the design and implementation of innovation policy, and therefore of RIS3, which is broader than the ROP, should be assigned to specific units within the structure of region’s administration. The Regional Innovation Council and its working groups should retain their advisory role during and beyond the implementation of RIS3.

•! Challenge 2: Focusing policy instruments on mobilising and engaging local actors

The successful design and implementation of regional policy presuppose the engagement, commitment and determination of the local actors. Such mobilisation can be achieved only on the base of a broad and transparent public dialog during the design and implementation of policy. Currently, the Regional Innovation Council has mobilised local actors in order to participate in the design of the Smart Specialisation Strategy of Dytiki Ellada. These efforts should be continued during the implementation by incorporating new instruments and tools into the policy mix, encouraging the undertaking of local initiatives and bottom-up design, and implementation of activities within the broader policy framework. Clusters, user-producer networks and innovation platforms are some of the potential tools that could dynamically engage actors across the value chains of the selected priority areas.


•! Challenge 3: Increasing connectivity of research with the productive web

Particular attention should be given to the poor regional performance in research and innovation associated with the insignificant collaboration between research and innovation actors with businesses. This requires greater cooperation with a view to adopting and implementing innovative methods, products and applications and increasing the competitiveness of local enterprises. Actions in this direction will involve the creation of partnerships for cooperation between research and innovation actors and business organisations, support for research and technology infrastructures of enterprises, promotion of specialised advisory services and adoption of innovative solutions and services by businesses, as well as demonstration of successful examples.

2.2!Institutional framework and set-up The key policy-makers in the region, as well as in decision-making, are the Prefect (who is assisted in his work by the Deputy Head) and the Regional Council.

Governing bodies of the Region of Dytiki Ellada include the following committees:

•! Executive committee

•! District Council Committees

•! Development and Social Policy

•! Environment and Natural Resources

•! Financial Committee

•! Regional Consultation Committee

•! Regional Commission for Gender Equality

•! Regional Supporter of the Citizen and Business.

In addition, the following advisory bodies have been established in the region:

•! Council for Research and Innovation

•! Advisory body under the name ‘Council Western Greece Road Safety’

•! Regional Institution Career Universities, TEI and Academic Research Institutes in innovation, research and local development

•! Council of Agricultural Policy and Food of Dytiki Ellada.

Additionally, it is noted that the process of creating the Regional Scientific Research and Innovation Council has started, according to the prescriptions of n. 4310/2014. This will replace the Council for Research and Innovation. It consists of decision makers, academics, social partners, chambers, entrepreneurs, and citizens. This is through participation in either the Regional Committees or the consultation process.

Finally, with regard to the Regional Innovation System, key players that play an important role in its formation are the following:

•! the elected Region (Region, Regional Scientific Research and Innovation Council)

•! academic and research institutions

•! businesses operating in related sectors.

The Table 3 below give an overview of main innovation policy governance issues during the period 2007-2013.


Table 3 – Performance Innovation Policy Governance (2007-2013)

Description

Degree of general regional autonomy

The head of the region is elected. The region has the autonomy to design and implement their development policy e.g. in the primary sector, tourism, primary sector trade etc. within the boundaries and provisions of the national law.

Degree of autonomy with regard to innovation policy

No explicit reference on innovation policy has been made in the Kalikratis law. However the general provision that the region has the authority to design and implement its development policy apply also for RTDI policy. De facto all regions assumed the responsibility to apply their own RIS3 and to launch calls for tender under the new law for Research, Technology and innovation

Set-up of regional governance system (centralised/de-centralised/fragmented)

The governance system for innovation was rather fragmented due to the ambiguities existing in the previous laws and the existence of different layers. However, a more independent structure will be applied now by the regions

Nature of the process of strategy development (top-down/bottom-up/participatory

It is a mixture of top down and bottom-up based on consultation and use of working groups.

Intra- and inter-regional co-operation

It is weak. Needs serious enhancement.

2.3!Regional innovation policy mix To achieve the shared vision of smart specialisation in the region of Dytiki Ellada and to address the identified challenges a Strategic Plan, which encompasses the four strategic priorities that are directly linked with the cohesion policy of the 2020 period and with the technological, sectoral and cross-sectoral priority areas of the regional smart specialisation, is proposed. Regarding the cohesion policy, it lies in the fact that the thematic objectives E2020 are exploited relating to R&I, ICT and entrepreneurship, while regarding the areas of smart specialisation priorities the cohesion lies in the fact that the proposed Action Types relate to these priorities.

Specifically, the smart specialisation strategy includes four Strategic Priorities (SP), which are:

•! Strategic Priority 1: Support of innovation, technological development and innovation in the technological, sectoral and intersectoral priority areas of the RIS3

The SP 1 is directly linked with the challenge to increase and improve investment in knowledge and excellence, to enhance research and innovation of enterprises and to increase the research connectivity with the region's productive organisations and with the challenge to halt the migratory flow principally of the new regional scientific potential. Also in terms of community policy (thematic objectives for the European Structural and Investment Funds - ESIF) it is linked with the Thematic Objective 1 ‘Strengthening research, technological development and innovation’.


•! Strategic Priority 2: Improvement of the access to ICT, of their use and quality and of their utilisation in the technological, sectoral and intersectoral priority areas of the RIS3

The SP 2 is linked directly with the challenge to transform the region into a model of an intelligent and digital region and indirectly with the challenge to restructure, modernise and economically diversify the regional economy. Also in terms of community policy it is linked to the Thematic Objective 2 ‘Strengthening access to ICT and their use and quality’.

•! Strategic Priority 3: Enhancement of businesses’ competitiveness through restructuring, modernisation and economic diversification of the regional economy towards the technological, sectoral and intersectoral priority areas of the RIS3

The SP3 is linked directly to the challenge to restructure, modernise and economically diversify the regional economy and indirectly with the challenge to halt the migratory flow principally of the new regional scientific potential. Also in terms of community policy it is linked with the Thematic Objective 3 ‘Strengthening the competitiveness of SMEs’ and with the Thematic Objective 8 ‘Promotion of sustainable and of high quality employment and supporting of labour mobility’.

•! Strategic Priority 4: Improvement of the region’s attractiveness through the exploitation of its natural and cultural resources, its energy upgrade and the protection of the environment

The SP 4 is linked directly with the challenge to proceed to an environment friendly economy (improvement of the energy efficiency of businesses included in the RIS3 priority areas), and to exploit the natural and cultural environment in order to enhance the local economy (mainly the tourism sector). In terms of community policy it is linked to the Thematic Objectives 4 ‘Supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy in all sectors’ and 6 ‘Preserving and protecting the environment and promoting resource efficiency’. Basically under this SP several interventions that support the priority areas of RIS 3 are to be implemented.

These strategic priorities will be achieved through interventions in the thematic priorities of RIS3 in the region of Dytiki Ellada and specifically in ‘Agricultural Production – Aquaculture and Food’, in ‘Tourism – Culture’ and ‘Materials – Microelectronics’, which constitute the dynamic sectors of the region and in the horizontal thematic priorities of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and Energy Applications. Interventions in these smart specialisation thematic priorities will contribute to the development of smart cities in the region of Dytiki Ellada. Smart cities are based on smart technology, smart governance, smart energy, etc. The results of the interventions in RIS priority areas are expected to contribute to the above aspects of a smart city. For example:

The promotion of research and innovation in the fields of RIS (such as materials and microelectronics, ICT, energy applications), the promotion of broadband services and the use of ICT to promote products and services in areas such as ‘Tourism – Culture’, ‘Agricultural Production – Aquaculture and Food’, etc., contribute to the "smart technology" dimension.

The creation of electronic infrastructure and services in priority areas of RIS (such as Agricultural Production – Aquaculture and Food, Tourism – Culture, Materials and Microelectronics, etc.) that aim to increase the offered ICT services to businesses and citizens, contribute to the dimension ‘smart governance’ as well as to the transformation of Dytiki Ellada into a ‘smart’ region.

Investments in companies operating in the RIS sectors for their energy upgrade and the use of renewable energy contribute to the ‘intelligent energy’ dimension


Table 4.-Regional innovation support measures (2014-2020) Title Duration Policy priorities Budget Organisation

responsible More

information

TT1: Support of R%D and innovation infrastructures

2014-2020

1.1. Institutional R&D funding 2,000,000

Region of Western Greece

Under design

TT1: Support of RTD and innovation clusters

2014-2020

5.1. Cluster development

1,000,000 Region of Western Greece

Under design

TT1: Support of R&D & Innovation Projects in RIS3 priorities

2014-2020

1.2. Competitive funding of research

5,735,000


Under design

TT2: Exploitation of ICT technologies - Open Software

2014-2020

6.5. Support to final private demand of novel products


Under design

TT2: Electronic infrastructures and Services

2014-2020

7.1. Public sector innovation initiatives


Under design

TT3: Support of new entrepreneurial activities

2014-2020


45,000,000


Under design

TT3: Support of new and exiting clusters of enterprises

2014-2020

5.1. Cluster development 6,000,000


Under design

TT3: Internationalisation of enterprises

2014-2020

5.3. Innovation awareness-raising

1,500,000


Under design

TT3: Skills development and support

2014-2020

3.2. Training and life-long learning of researchers and any other personnel involved in innovation

1,600,000


Under design

TT4: Investments in the use of renewable energy sources

2014-2020


2,000,000


Under design

TT4: Alternative public transport services

2014-2020

7.1. Public sector innovation initiatives

350,000 Region of Western Greece

Under design

Source: RIS3 Western Greece 2014-2020


2.4!Appraisal of regional innovation policies The Region of Dytiki Ellada is the second poorest region of Greece with further strong downward trends, higher than those of the whole country because of the crisis. The economic decline of the region can be seen as a result of limited competitiveness. As mentioned, the European Regional Observatory characterises the region of Dytiki Ellada in terms of innovativeness as a moderate innovator (the lowest of the four performance classes). Similarly, in 2011, the Centre for Regional Innovation (RIM) in the annual report ranks the region in the knowledge group of regions with innovation absorption capacity. From one positive perspective, this group has a high score on ‘innovative entrepreneurship’ (based on the percentage of SMEs that have introduced Innovations in Community Innovation Survey), but the lowest performance in ‘technological innovation’. That is, R&D and patents are very low, while expenses excluding R&D and innovation (as percentage of turnover) are higher than any other group. This means that the innovation is primarily through absorption of ready technologies by purchasing equipment. The level of research in companies is also low, both in relation with the country and Europe. It also means that relevant policies until now have not succeeded to support innovation and technological development of local enterprises.

The Region's innovation performance is largely associated with the ability of enterprises to recognise the importance and value of new external intelligence, to absorb and to apply them in order to develop innovations (organisational, technological, etc.). This “absorptive capacity” depends largely on the level (educational level, skills, experience) of the human resources. Based on performance in the educational level, the businesses’ ability to absorb is very low compared with the national and European average. The region’s population is aging, with employees of higher education representing only 28.9% of all employees when the corresponding rate in the country is 40.8%. This lag is particularly noticeable among workers of the most productive working age (30-34 years). Given the high concentration of educational institutions in the region, these rates indicate a significant leak of graduates, which, through a vicious cycle, is reinforced by the constant production shrinkage of the region.

In parallel, several productive activities whose impact on the regional economy is limited are developed. These activities can form the cores of dynamic development and exports. Among them, the area of microelectronics and materials stands out consisting of companies’ members of unique cluster in the region, the mi-cluster, whose centre is in Athens. The sector collects the largest expenditure in research in the area and attracts foreign direct investment. Also in the field of power equipment production (photovoltaic cells and hydrogen) two companies are active on the cutting edge in their field. Although for the two markets significant competition is expected (already the photovoltaics are commodity resulting in competitiveness depending on economies of scale and low cost) there are significant complementarities in the technological level (materials technology) with the sector of ‘microelectronics-materials’. The IT sector is important, maintains research activity and presents significant synergies with other sectors. Finally, in the pharmaceuticals sector there are two companies with significant research presence.

The existence of significant research and educational institutes is a major infrastructure of knowledge and research, specialising in research in agriculture, chemistry and materials, nanotechnology, environmental technologies and fuels, life sciences and biotechnology. Especially in the materials sector, there are already important scientific achievements based on graphene with potential commercial applications within the next five years.

As already mentioned, private businesses of Dytiki Ellada are characterised by low competitiveness of products and services, low level of education and specialisation of human capital, low usage of ICT, and low labour productivity. Only 46.1% of 15-64 years olds are in employment, the 25-64 years long-life learning rate is only 2.2% (3.0% for Greece and 10.7% for the EU28), the level of education of the workforce is


relatively low with 22.6% of the population aged 25-64 with tertiary education attainment (28.1% in Greece, 29.3% in the EU28).

However, in terms of innovation potential, Dytiki Ellada ranks fourth out of 13 regions nationally, even if ranks lowly in comparison to the European average. One of the factors contributing to the relatively better ‘innovation potential’ ranking, compared to economic performance, is that the region has an above average (but still very low) share of GDP allocated to R&D (0.92%, 2013). However, this is almost exclusively in higher education institutes (HEI, which account for 64.1% of GERD) and public re-search institutes/centres. In contrast, business expenditure on R&D (BERD) only amounts to 15.6% of the regional GERD. One consequence of the limited investment in technological innovation is the almost non-existent, from a European perspective, patenting, with 6.66 patents registered to EPO per million habitants in 2011.

There is no evaluation relating to innovation policy in the region. Data from DG REGIO on expenditure during the 2000-2006 period and allocations for 2007-2013 provides an estimate of regionalised budgets. During the 2000-2006 period, the per capita investment in RTDI policies through the Structural Funds in Dytiki Ellada was amongst the lowest in Greece and a majority was focused on innovation and technology transfer. A relatively small amount was spent on RTDI infrastructure. The per capita allocation for RTDI policies has increased in 2007-13 with a large absolute expenditure on research infrastructure and human potential for science and technology.

Past failures of the regional innovation policy were mainly due to a focus on creating technology intermediary organisations and not enough attention to leveraging capabilities in the private sector to absorb knowledge and undertake product and service innovation. Indeed, most of the innovation networks or projects funded did not survive in the long run and the capacity to design and deliver innovation policy at the regional level remains weak.

2.5!Policy good practice The Corallia Cluster Initiative – or in short Corallia – is the first organisation established in Greece (initiated in Dytiki Ellada) for the management and development of innovation clusters, in specific sectors and regions of the country, within which actors operate in a coordinated manner. In those clusters, Corallia acts as Cluster Facilitator implementing specific support actions, which involve all innovation ecosystem actors, including industry, universities, research centres, financial institutions, regional and national authorities, infrastructure providers, suppliers and buyers, media, etc.

Corallia has supported, up to date, the development of highly-specialised clusters in knowledge-intensive thematic sectors with a strong exports-orientation:

•! The ‘mi-Cluster’ is the first innovation cluster in Greece; since 2006, it has shown significant development in a number of performance measures. Today, the mi-Cluster consists of the Industrial Association (HSIA), the Cluster Facilitator (Corallia), and more than 50 industrial members (large enterprises, SMEs, international design centres and start-ups). In addition to its industrial basis, over 100 members promote complementarity within the innovation ecosystem.

•! The ‘si-Cluster’ aiming to develop Greece as a leading region for space technologies and applications with a high international visibility, capable of developing and attracting high impact research, innovation and business activities, brings together private and public actors in the field of space technologies and applications in Greece and provides an efficient framework around themes of common interest to reinforce the competitive advantage of its members.

•! The ‘gi-Cluster’ is a recently formed innovation cluster in Greece, with its core concentration in the region of Attica, which displays a state-of-the-art technology edge coupled with an extrovert, global-reaching entrepreneurial spirit. To date, gi-


Cluster has attracted a critical mass – including large businesses, SMEs and academic and research institutions – yet the in-depth, national-wide sector mapping already performed indicates great potential for substantial development, based on the existent pool of talent and activities in this field.

More so, Corallia pushes forward the hyper-concentration of industrial members of clusters in thematic business and innovation centres in order to accelerate synergies, the bonding of cluster members and establish reference points for the thematic sectors it supports. Corallia operates three thematic InnoHubs:

•! The α1•innohub has been established in 2007, as the innovation and cutting-edge technology «node» in the Greek capital, Athens (Maroussi suburb). It is housed in modern facilities occupying 2,800 m², close to Kiffissias Avenue. It offers fully equipped offices and meeting rooms, able to host workgroups from 10 to 65 persons, complemented by areas for further interaction and waiting halls.

•! The π1•innohub has been in full operation since 2011, as the innovation, research and high-tech «bridge» in Patras, the third largest urban area and regional capital of Dytiki Ellada. It dedicates its resources primarily to start-up and early-stage companies. It is housed in modern facilities occupying 2,400 m², offers fully equipped offices and meeting rooms, able to host workgroups from 10 to 70 persons, with videoconferencing facilities for presentations addressed to a local or a distant audience.

•! The α2•innohub opened its doors in 2014, as the innovation, networking and high-tech «ring», strategically located in the business district of Athens (Maroussi suburb). It is housed in the most prominent business centre in the Greek capital occupying 2,500 m² and, apart from Corallia's headquarters, it already hosts seven gi-Cluster and five si-Cluster industrial members.

Corallia implements also a series of initiatives to stimulate and promote Youth Entrepreneurship with partners and donors in Greece and abroad, some of which are the following:

•! Corallia organises the programme ‘Educational Trip’ in cooperation with the Student Association of Stanford (Hell.A.S.), Berkeley (Hestia), MIT (HSA of MIΤ), Georgia Tech (Georgia Tech Hellenic Society) and UC San Diego (HSAUCSD). The programme provides each year 24 students from Greece with the opportunity to live student daily life in five of the world's most prestigious universities and it unfolds over a whole week of a life-changing experience.

•! The ‘egg-enter•grow•go’ is an integrated incubation, acceleration and co-working programme as a corporate social responsibility initiative by Eurobank designed and implemented in cooperation with Corallia. In short, the programme can engage young aspiring entrepreneur from all over Greece who have creative and innovative ideas in any sector of the economy and who have the passion to put their 'idea' into 'action'.

•! The educational workshops, entitled ‘Carpe Diem’, are especially addressed to students in secondary education in order to indulge them in entrepreneurship and technology-related issues, expose them to new horizons and career perspectives, change their mindset to think out of the box and unveil the joy of creation.

Corallia has established strong strategic international collaborations in order to accelerate the international exchange of ideas, expertise and best practices in the fields of clusters, innovation, competitiveness, entrepreneurship, regional development policies and smart specialisation strategies, through:

Projects: Aiming at achieving transnational and interregional cooperation while seeking to exchange expertise and best practices with other cluster organisations and clusters in Europe, Corallia participates in several EU projects, such as ClusterPoliSEE, SEENECO, INCOMERA, etc.


Partnerships: Collaborations and international business relationships have been initiated on a bilateral basis with a variety of international and regional bodies related to cluster policies, other clusters and cluster initiatives, such as ESCP, INVIO etc.

Policy making: Corallia has been working continuously towards raising the level of cluster excellence and management as well as in transferring its operating model both within Greece and Europe via its participation in several policy bodies, such as the European Secretariat for Cluster Analysis, the European Cluster Observatory etc.

Last but not least, Corallia facilitates access to finance. In this vein, it actively contributes to the smooth and efficient flow of work and the proper management of public and community resources. In the period 2006-2008, the pilot cluster program implemented by Corallia within the Operational Programme Competitiveness (3rd Community Support Framework), yielded very positive results through the establishment and expansion of the mi-Cluster and the milestones achieved by its cluster members, such as the double-digit growth rates in turnover (+59%), exports (+109%), employment (+92%) and patent applications (+137%). In the period 2008-2013, Corallia implemented one of the most important interventions for the development of clusters in Greece, the ‘Phase-2 Microelectronics’ programme, again utilising ERDF structural funds within the Operational Programme Competitiveness-Entrepreneurship under the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) of approximately €38m, targeting again both Infrastructures and a dedicated Aid Measure sub-programme to support enterprises. The assessment of the programme in 2013 certified that the members of the cluster exhibited, in the reference period, even higher growth rate of turnover +145%, employment +70%, exports +108% and investments +269%. Respectively, patent applications exhibited an estimated growth rate of 177%, while joint Industry-Academia diploma and doctorate thesis’ exhibited an estimated growth rate of 106%.

Corallia is a Unit of the Athena Research and Innovation Centre in Information, Communication and Knowledge Technologies. Corallia’s activities are financed by the private sector, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and National funds under the NSRF, the Operational Programme Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship, the Regional Operational Programmes, the Hellenic Public Investments Programme, the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development, the South East Europe Transnational Cooperation Programme and donations from the private sector, foundations and other benefactors.

2.6!Possible future orientations and opportunities The general priorities of Smart Specialisation Strategy of the region recognise the need to further support research and innovation in the selected priority areas. The region has set as a future orientation to connect the strong R&D potential of the local institutions with the companies in the area. In addition, such orientation aspires to to retaining the local scientific and R&D personnel to the region and reducing “brain drain”.

Advanced manufacturing is very much connected to ICT diffusion and exploitation. This is also one of the strategic priorities of Dytiki Ellada in order to differentiate its local economy and develop smart systems for both manufacturing and applications in the cities.

Both of the two priorities above are linked with efforts to support entrepreneurship, create new firms based on technological advancements and create new ideas through the applications of new technologies in various sectors.

As have all Greek regions, the region of Dytiki Ellada has very much depended on the national strategy and measures relating to R&D and innovation policy. During both of the periods of 2000-2006 and 2007-2013, innovation and R&D policy in Greece was very much centralised. All calls for tender were launched by the General Secretariat for Research and Technology (GSRT).


Until today regions do not have the authority to launch calls for tenders relating to R&D. Through the implementation of the Smart Specialisation Strategy ‘conditionality’, and the future implementation of the under revision ‘law for R&D and innovation 4310/2014’, regions will manage their own funds and will be obliged to focus their calls for tender on their “smart” priorities.

ICT, microelectronics and advanced manufacturing are priority areas for Dytiki Ellada, and a series of measures are directed towards these areas. At the same time, regions will benefit from the national programmes, like the Operational Programme (OP) for Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation 2014-2020, only if they create competitive collaborative projects that are directly linked to their regional priorities.

A series of opportunities arise from this new structure. To those above we should add the reorganisation of the management, monitoring and evaluation system both at national and regional level. This includes regional councils on R&D and innovation, working groups and application of continuous methodology to support entrepreneurial discovery.

Entrepreneurial discovery is the key policy feature that should affect any future orientations and opportunities. Based on that, and through the validation of the existing initial proposals, we can identify the following opportunities:

•! Take advantage of the rich R&D potential

Despite the fact that the vast majority of the scientific institutions in in Dytiki Ellada are non-related with the local business structure, there are a lot of spillover effects that could take place if policy planning is focused and careful. For example, companies can benefit from technology advancements in manufacturing, spin-off firms can be created from scientific results and traditional sectors can benefit from regional and national scientific excellence.

•! Demonstrate the added value from international initiatives

Clustering activities and other R&D international activities have affected small segments of the regional economy. This applies mainly to the microelectronics industry and R&D collaborations through EU projects in the regional areas of excellence. Such expertise should be used by the region to influence the economy segments to be mobilised internationally.

•! Collaboration with other regions with the same economic patterns

The region of Dytiki Ellada has initiated one of the most successful examples of clustering activities in Europe. In addition, these activities have been expanded all over Greece and have created collaborations and exports abroad. Such activities have mobilised significant resources in major regions such as Attica. The region should do more to benefit from those interrelations, no longer keeping them at an informal level but making them more political and influencing also other sectors of the regional economy.


Appendix A!Bibliography

1.! Komninaki, D. (2015) Regional innovation systems in peripheral regions: insights from western Greece, Regional Studies, Regional Science, 2:1, 332-340. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21681376.2015.1039568

2.! LMS (2015) Publishable Summary - First Reporting Period: Immersive Semantics-based Virtual Environments for the Design and Validation of Human-centred Aircraft Cockpits. Available at: http://cordis.europa.eu/docs/results/605/605550/periodic1-i-vision-publishable-summary-pr1-m18.pdf

3.! National Documentation Centre (2014) «Η συµµετοχή της Ελλάδας στο Πρόγραµµα Information and Communication Technologies, 7ο Πρόγραµµα Πλαίσιο 2007-2013». Available at: http://metrics.ekt.gr/sites/metrics/files/EKT_ICT_Report_2014_el.pdf

4.! National Documentation Centre (2015) «Ελληνική συµµετοχή στο 7ο Πρόγραµµα Πλαίσιο της ΕΕ – Συνοπτική ανάλυση κοινοτικής χρηµατοδότησης ανά Πρόγραµµα και Κατηγορία φορέων». Available at: http://metrics.ekt.gr/sites/metrics/files/%CE%95%CE%9A%CE%A4_FP7_ShortAnalysis_report_el.pdf

5.! National Documentation Centre (2015) «Έρευνα, Ανάπτυξη και Καινοτοµία στις Ελληνικές Περιφέρειες – Έκδοση 2015». Available at: http://metrics.ekt.gr/sites/metrics/files/RDIGreekRegions_2015_el.pdf

6.! Patras Science Park () Smart Europe: Final Peer Review Report – Western Greece. Available at: http://www.psp.org.gr/en/content/reports

7.! Region of Dytiki Ellada (2015) Στρατηγική Έξυπνης Εξειδίκευσης για την Περιφέρεια Δυτικής Ελλάδας. Available at: https://www.espa.gr/elibrary/RIS3_DytEllada_201502.pdf

8.! Reid, A., Komninos, N., Sanchez-P., J., Tsanakas, P. (2012) RIS3 Regional Assessment: Western Greece - A report to the European Commission, Directorate General for Regional Policy, Unit I3 - Greece & Cyprus. Available at: http://www.urenio.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/RIS3-review-report-Western-Greece-final-edited-2012.pdf

Appendix B!Stakeholders consulted

1.! Nikos Thomopoulos, Head of Monitoring and Management of Acts, Intermediate Managing Authority of Dytiki Ellada (9 December 2015).

2.! George Chryssolouris, Professor, University of Patras (9 December 2015).

3.! Nikos Vogiatzis, co-founder and Chief Development & Operations Officer, Corallia Cluster Initiative (14 January 2016).

4.! Demetris Papailiou, Cluster Manager, mi-cluster (22 January 2016).

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