Daniela Tchonkova

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RIS BRIDGE South-West Region of Bulgaria

3rd RIS Methodological WorkshopSofia, February
22 23rd 2007

• Daniela Tchonkova
• Program Coordinator
• Applied Research and Communications Fund

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Consortium

• (BG EU)
• Applied Research and Communications Fund (ARC
  Fund)
• Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD)
• Aristotle University of Thessaloniki - Urban and
  Regional Innovation Research Unit (AUTH-URENIO),
  Greece
• Coventry University Enterprises Ltd. (CUE), UK
• Steinbeis Europa Zentrum (SEZ) Foundation,
  Germany

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• Regional Innovation Strategy for the South West
  Region of Bulgaria Bridging the Innovation
  Disparities between the Capital Sofia and the
  Rest of the Region

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Specifics of theRIS BRIDGE concept

• Individual approach for Sofia and for the Rest of
  the Region
• 1 RIS 2 Action Plans
• FOR-RIS approach - RIS and Foresight
• Regional Innovation Observatory
• National Network of RIS Regions

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RIS BRIDGE South-West Region of Bulgaria3rd RIS
Methodological WorkshopSofia, February 22 23rd
2007
Ruslan StefanovCoordinator, Economic
Program ruslan.stefanov_at_online.bg
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South-West Planning Region of Bulgaria main
characteristics

• Economically largest Planning Region, 38 of
  national GDP
• Densest research and development infrastructure
• Highest entrepreneurial activity
• Highest level of foreign direct investment.

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Inter-regional disparities widening
GDP per capita
Source NSI
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Inter-regional disparities also in RD expenditure
Source NSI
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But also the highest economic and social
inter-regional disparities
Bulgarian Regions - Economic Size
Preliminary data for 2003 The 2003 GDP
distribution among Sofia and the rest of SW
region is calculated using the 2001 actual GDP
ratios Source National Statistical Institute,
Ministry of Economy, own calculations.
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Driving Sectors

• Metal production - 26.3
• Electrical and optical devices - 8.7
• Textile and apparel - 6.6
• Paper and printing - 6.4
• Chemicals and pharmaceuticals - 7.7
• Food and tobacco processing - 20.6
• Innovative sectors business services, financial
  services, information technology

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Innovation index of the Bulgarian companies
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Research and Innovation Infrastructure in Sofia

• Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and the Centre for
  Agrarian Sciences
• More than 50 of the universities
• Most of the applied research institutes and
  development units of the bigger enterprises and
  branch ministries
• The focal point for small private innovative
  enterprises, all banks, financial institutions,
  venture capital funds, guarantee funds and
  programmes.

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Asymmetry in RD and innovation
Higher Education Infrastructure and Human
Resources
Source National Statistical Institute
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SW - European regional perspective
Source MERIT
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SW Bulgarian and cluster perspectives
Source MERIT
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Challenges

• Spending on RD - 0.5 of GDP, mainly
  government
• Significant reduction of the number of personnel
  in RD activities
• Deterioration of the role of the universities in
  research and innovation activities
• Weak clustering between enterprises, universities
  and RD centres/institutes
• Lack of a coherent national and regional system
  and policy for integrating Bulgarian RD and
  innovation activities into EU structures.

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Towards main objectives and action lines of RIS

• Streamline the regional innovation system
  outline partners, pinpoint roles, assess
  capacities
• Action national RIS network
• Bi-annual regional innovation performance
  analysis (Regional innovation observatory)
• Visibility and information access points actions
• Encourage private sector investment in RD
• Improving business environment
• Ensuring matching for business and financial
  services innovation
• Link private business and universities

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Facing choices/issues

• Hard data vs. expert opinion metrics finding
  the right balance
• Which sectors most innovative vs. most
  important
• What actions well do it anyway vs. rigorous
  targeting
• Which peers aim for the best vs. be the first
  among similar

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Thank you!

• daniela.tchonkova_at_online.bg
• ruslan.stefanov_at_online.bg