This paper examines the interdependency of European Policy and governance of innovation. The authors elaborate on the policy implementation context of Slovenia, a small and less advanced European member state in a transition process. The literature on innovation policy, governance and existing innovation concepts aiming to accelerate economic development, European integration and growth is reviewed and integrated. Within this framework, the authors then review the capability and capacity of the Slovenian national government to channel European funding and organize complex projects, such as the enabling, advancement and integration of regional innovation systems as a key concept of regional innovation strategy and smart specialization (RISS). They discuss the governance of innovation in the research tradition of neo-institutionalism and policy impact analysis related to problems of national and regional innovation systems. The paper outlines the importance of organizational readiness at the national level for the translation of high-level concepts, effective policies and efficient strategy implementation.
AralicaZ. (2011), ‘Researching national innovation infrastructure in the western Balkan region’, Posebna Izdanja Akademije Nauka i Umjetnosti BiH, No 2, pp 169–179.
2.
QuerejetaAranguren M.J.AranceguiM.N.MonteroE.M. (2012), ‘Smart specialization strategies: A territorial strategy for regions’, Cuadernos De Gestión, Vol 12, pp 27–49.
3.
AtkinsonR.PelfreyP. (2010), ‘Science and the entrepreneurial university’, Issues in Science and Technology, Vol 26, No 4, pp 39–48.
4.
AudretschD.B. (2015). Everything in its Place: Entrepreneurship and the Strategic Management of Cities, Regions, and States, Oxford University Press, New York.
5.
BarnettR. (2005), ‘Convergence in higher education: The strange case of entrepreneurialism’, Higher Education Management and Policy, Vol 17, No 3, p 51.
6.
BarsonyJ. (2003), ‘Towards the entrepreneurial university’, SEFI Conference – Global Engineer: Education and Training for Mobility, SEFI (European Society for Engineering Education), http://www.sefi.be/.
7.
BečićE.ŠvarcJ. (2015), ‘Smart specialisation in Croatia: Between the cluster and technological specialisation’, Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Vol 6, No 2, pp 270–295.
8.
BenzA. (2008), Entwicklung von Governance im Mehrebenensystem der EU, Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden, pp 36–57.
9.
BenzA. (2010), Politik im Mehrebenensystem, Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden.
10.
BercovitzJ.FeldmanM. (2006), ‘Entrepreneurial universities and technology transfer: A conceptual framework for understanding knowledge-based economic development’, Journal of Technology Transfer, Vol 31, No 1, pp 175–188.
11.
BöhmeK.S.ZillmerM.ToptsidouF.HolsteinC.LüerC.GløersenE. (2014), Europe 2020 Strategy – Contribution to European Public Consultation Process, Spatial Foresight GmbH, Luxembourg.
12.
BučarM. (2011a), ‘Is knowledge society a vision or illusion? The case of Slovenia [in Croatian]’, Društvena Istraživanja – Časopis Za Opća Društvena Pitanja, Vol 20, No 4, pp 967–990.
BučarM.RojecM. (2014), ‘Science–industry cooperation in Slovenia: Determinants of success’, Economic and Business Review for Central and SouthEastern Europe, Vol 16, No 3, p 315.
15.
BučarM.MetkaS.JaklicA. (2006), ‘e-Strategy and ICT investment in Slovenia’, BLED 2006 Proceedings, Paper 19, http://aisel.aisnet.org/bled2006/19.
16.
CarayannisE.G.CampbellD.F.J. (2012), ‘“Mode 3” and “QuadrupleHelix”: Toward a 21st century fractal innovation ecosystem’, International Journal of Technology Management, Vol 46, No 3/4, pp 201–234.
17.
CarayannisE.G.RakhmatullinR. (2014), ‘The quadruple/quintuple innovation helixes and smart specialisation strategies for sustainable and inclusive growth in Europe and beyond’, Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Vol 5, No 2, pp 212–239.
18.
CasperS. (2013), ‘The spill-over theory reversed: The impact of regional economies on the commercialization of university science’, Research Policy, Vol 42, No 8, pp 1313–1324.
19.
CohenW.M.LevinthalD.A. (1990), ‘Absorptive capacity: A new perspective on learning and innovation’, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol 35, No 1, pp 128–152.
20.
CookeP.LeydesdorffL. (2006), ‘Regional development in the knowledge-based economy: The construction of advantage’, Journal of Technology Transfer, Vol 31, No 1, pp 5–15.
21.
CookeP.MorganK. (1998), The Associational Economy: Firms, Regions, and Innovation, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
22.
DabicM.SvarcJ. (2011), ‘About the concept of the entrepreneurial university: Is there an alternative?’, Drustvena Istrazivanja, Vol 20, No 4, pp 991–1013.
23.
DelgadoM.C.PorterM.E.SternS. (2012), ‘The determinants of national competitiveness’, NBER Working Paper No 18249, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA, http://www.nber.org/.
24.
EtzkowitzH. (2002) ‘Networks of innovation: Science, technology and development in the Triple Helix era’, International Journal of Technology Management and Sustainable Development, Vol 1, No 1, pp 7–20.
25.
EtzkowitzH.LeydesdorffL. (2000), ‘The dynamics of innovation: From national systems and “Mode 2” to a Triple Helix of university–industry–government relations’, Research Policy, Vol 29, No 2, pp 109–123.
26.
EtzkowitzH.WebsterA.GebhardtC.TerraB.R.C. (2000), ‘The future of the university and the university of the future: Evolution of ivory tower to entrepreneurial paradigm’, Research Policy, Vol 29, No 2, pp 313–330.
27.
European Commission (2008), Entrepreneurship in Higher Education, Especially Within Non-business Studies: Final Report of the Expert Group, European Commission, Brussels.
28.
FerfilaB.PhillipsP.A. (2010), Slovenia's Transition: From Medieval Roots to the European Union, Lexington Books, Lanham, MD.
29.
FloresM.BoërC.HuberC.PlüssA.SchochR.PoulyM. (2009), ‘Universities as key enablers to develop new collaborative environments for innovation: Successful experiences from Switzerland and India’, International Journal of Production Research, Vol 47, No 17, pp 4935–4953.
30.
ForayD. (2014), ‘From smart specialisation to smart specialisation policy’, European Journal of Innovation Management, Vol 17, No 4, pp 492–507.
31.
ForayD.LissoniF. (2009), ‘University research and public–private interaction’, in HallB.H.RosenbergN., eds, Handbook of Economics of Technical Change, North-Holland, Amsterdam.
32.
GálZ.PtačekP. (2011), ‘The role of mid-range universities in knowledge transfer in non-metropolitan regions in Central Eastern Europe’, European Planning Studies, Vol 19, No 9, pp 1669–1690.
33.
GebhardtC. (2012), ‘The entrepreneurial state: The German Entrepreneurial Regions Program as an attenuator for the financial crisis’, European Planning Journal, Vol 20, No 9, pp 1–14.
34.
GebhardtC. (2013), ‘The Island of Bliss? University technology commercialization practices in the Swiss innovation system’, in BreznitzS.M.EtzkowitzH., eds, University Technology Transfer: The Globalization of Academic Innovation, Routledge, London.
35.
GobbleM.M. (2014), ‘Charting the innovation ecosystem’, Research Technology Management, Vol 57, No 4, pp 55–59.
36.
HoferA.R.PotterJ. (2010), ‘Universities, innovation and entrepreneurship: Criteria and examples of good practice’, OECD Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Working Paper, OECD, Paris.
37.
IBRD (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development) (2012), ‘Slovenia: Economic transformation and EU accession’, World Bank, Washington, DC.
38.
KaufmannA.ToedtlingF. (2001), ‘Science–industry interaction in the process of innovation: The importance of boundary-crossing between systems’, Research Policy, Vol 30, pp 791–804.
39.
KetelsC.H.M. (2013), ‘Recent research on competitiveness and clusters: What are the implications for regional policy?’, Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Vol 6, No 2, pp 269–284.
40.
KetelsC.H.M.SölvellÖ. (2006), ‘Clusters in the EU-10 new member countries’, European Commission, Enterprise and Industry Directorate-General, EC, Brussels.
Kohler-KochB. (2003), Linking EU and National Governance. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
43.
KuhlmannS. (2001), ‘Future governance of innovation policy in Europe: Three scenarios’, Research Policy, Vol 30, No 6, pp 953–976.
44.
LandabasoM. (2014), ‘Research and innovation strategies for smart specialization in Europe: Theory and practice of new innovation policy approaches [guest editorial]’, European Journal of Innovation Management, Vol 17, No 4, pp 378–389.
45.
LandabasoM.ReidA. (2002), ‘Developing regional innovation strategies: The European Commission as an animateur’, in MorganK.NauwelaersC., eds, Regional Innovation Strategies: The Challenge for Less-Favoured Regions, Routledge, London.
46.
LesterR.K.PioreM.J. (2006), Innovation: The Missing Dimension, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
47.
LeydesdorffL.AhrweilerP. (2014), ‘In search of a network theory of innovations: Relations, positions and perspectives’, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Vol 65, No 11, pp 2359–2374.
48.
LundvallB.-A., ed (1995), National Systems of Innovation: Towards a Theory of Innovation and Interactive Learning, Pinter, London.
49.
MorganK.NauwelaersC. (2002), Regional Innovation Strategies: The Challenge for Less-Favoured Regions, Routledge, London.
50.
OberthürS.GehringT. (2009), ‘The causal mechanisms of interaction between international institutions’, European Journal of International Relations, Vol 15, No 1, pp 125–156.
51.
OECD (2012), ‘A guiding framework for entrepreneurial universities’, OECD, Paris.
PontikakisD.KyriakouD.van BavelR., eds (2009), ‘The question of R&D specialization: Perspectives and policy implications’, European Commission, Seville.
56.
RangaM.EtzkowitzH. (2013), ‘Triple Helix systems: An analytical framework for innovation policy and practice in the knowledge society’, Industry and Higher Education, Vol 27, No 4, pp 231–235.
57.
ReidA.StanovnikP. (2013), ‘The development of a Smart Specialisation Strategy for Slovenia: Report to the European Commission’, EC, Directorate General Research and Innovation, Brussels.
58.
SassenS. (2006), Territory, Authority, Rights: From Medieval to Global Assemblages, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, p 493.
59.
SingerS.Oberman-PeterkaS. (2010), ‘From ignoring to leading changes: What role do universities play in developing countries? (the case of Croatia)’, Ekonomski vjesnik, Vol 23, No 2, pp 307–331.
60.
StanovnikP. (2014), ‘Innovation policies beyond economic crisis: A case of Slovenia’, Working Paper No 16, Institute for Economic Research, Ljubljana.
61.
SturgeonT.J.Van BiesebroeckJ.GereffiG. (2008), ‘Value chains, networks and clusters: Reframing the global automotive industry’, Journal of Economic Geography, Vol 8, No 3, pp 297–321.
62.
TiitsM.KalvetT.MürkI. (2015), ‘Smart specialisation in cohesion economies’, Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Vol 6, No 2, pp 296–319.
63.
TodevaE. (2013), ‘Governance of innovation and intermediation in the Triple Helix interactions’, Industry and Higher Education, Vol 27, No 4, pp 263–278.
