Tomislav Pinter, from DG Regional and Urban Policy, took advantage of his participation at the technical meeting to present the two main initiatives from the European Commission devoted to S3 Thematic Partnerships: the S3 Community of Practice and the call Interregional Innovation Investment (I3).

This Community will advise on the development and implementation of smart specialisation to national and regional authorities and stakeholders.

Tomislav Pinter detailed the main novelties that the S3 Community of Practice will incorporate such as a Practice Secretariat to be responsible for the management and the overall coordination of all activities; a one-stop digital portal for knowledge, information management and communication activities; and an expert database for providing ad-hoc support to individual Member States and regions with S3 development and implementation.

Furthermore, three S3 Working Groups and an Expert Group will be created. The Working Groups will be dedicated to innovation diffusion, industrial transition and interregional cooperation. The Expert Group will join S3 and innovation policy experts and academics to discuss and advance the S3 concept.

On the other hand, the representative from DG REGIO explained I3, an initiative within the European Regional and Development Fund (ERDF) which aims at promoting innovation through Smart Specialisation and interregional collaboration. The I3 supports stronger interregional cooperation in investments and makes sustainable connections by linking regional ecosystems in shared smart specialisation areas vital to accelerate market uptake of research results and stimulate innovation.

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