SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, March 29 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Smart Specialization Strategy of the Canary Islands 2021-2027 (Extended RIS3) has among its impact objectives for this period to increase the participation of the Canary Islands in the European program Horizon Europe, from the 0.93% with which the previous strategy ended at 1 1% of its total amount.
This Framework Program for Research and Innovation of the European Commission, with a budget of more than 95,000 million euros for seven years (2021-2027), constitutes the main European program in terms of R+D+i and achieves the objective set in the Extended RIS3 would mean an injection of 1,045 million euros for the islands in this period.
“This is just one of the impact indicators that we have set ourselves in the Expanded RIS3”, pointed out the Minister of Economy, Knowledge and Employment of the Government of the Canary Islands, Elena Máñez, who added that with the Strategy they want to increase the weight of the I +D and innovation in the Canarian economy in order to transform it towards a more competitive model.
In this regard, Máñez stressed in particular the need to incorporate the private sector “with the aim that its contribution to R&D in the Canary Islands go from the current 22% to 30% in 2027, since in the Spanish average the contribution private sector is more than 56% of the investment for Research and Development”.
As a novelty, the counselor highlighted the new island specialization and competitiveness initiatives, “which will allow us, for the first time, to detect and promote the best R+D+i opportunities in each of the islands, to enhance what it can specifically contribute each of our territories to this powerful tool for economic transformation”.
Thus, the new Smart Specialization Strategy incorporates for the first time the guideline of carrying out a diagnosis by islands of the situation of research, development and innovation, in order to deepen its potential and know the starting point in each territory. so that the R+D+i policies implemented by the regional government have the greatest possible impact on each island, in order to mitigate territorial gaps in this area, supporting the development of R+D+i plans digitization, taking into account the unique circumstances in a territory made up of 8 very different islands.
The Strategy, prepared by the Canarian Agency for Research, Innovation and the Information Society of the Government of the Canary Islands (ACIISI), has emphasized that the quadruple helix of science and innovation (administration, business fabric, academic and research centers and social entities) was involved in its drafting and subsequent monitoring and evaluation.
The director of the ACIISI, Carlos Navarro, pointed out that the monitoring and promotion of the expanded RIS3 “will be constant, thanks to the RIS3 CAN communities, where all the agents have a place, from each of the lines of work and priority objectives that we have set until 2027”.
FIVE SECTORAL PRIORITIES AND TWO TRANSVERSAL PRIORITIES
The strategic formulation of the expanded RIS3 prioritizes its actions towards the economic areas that constitute a hallmark of the region and its industrial transitions, such as digital and sustainable tourism; Health & Wellness; the blue economy; astrophysics; space and aeronautics; and emerging industries. In addition, the agri-food and industrial sectors are expressly reflected in some of the priorities already described.
In addition to the sectoral priorities, the expanded RIS3 defines two transversal priorities, referring to digitization and sustainability, which will require contributions from all areas, and which will promote interdisciplinarity and the combination of themes and technologies.
To achieve its objectives, the expanded RIS3 defines five strategic levers, to mobilize all the potential of the Canary Islands in the priority sectors detected, such as: the generation and valorization of knowledge; the training, attraction and retention of talent; internationalization; specialization and adaptation to the circumstances of each territory.
The Smart Specialization Strategy of the Canary Islands 2021-2027 (Extended RIS3) can be consulted at: https://www.gobiernodecanarias.org/conocimiento/temas/innova…
