On May 10, Giovanni Zazzerini, Secretary General of INSME, participated in the final event of PASSPARTOOL, an Interreg Europe project, aimed at studying and defining new tools and indicators to interpret and evaluate the dynamics of soft innovation. The difficulties that SMEs face in the process of adjusting to digitalisation bare testimony to the fact that the availability of a technology is not sufficient for a successful adoption. At the same time, the fact that the debate on soft innovation is at its early stages, with blurred concepts and overlapping definitions, makes drawing general policy conclusions extremely difficult. To support soft innovation means to engage deeply with the specificities of a territory and sector, to develop targeted policies. At the same time, soft innovation relies on a strong eco-system, that can valorise relationships and human capital.
The event was organized in three sessions. The first has been dedicated to the limitations, opportunities, experiences and new perspectives for monitoring and evaluating policies on innovation and included talks by Chiara Pancotti (CSIL-Centre for Industrial Studies), Paulius Kamaitis (Lithuanian Ministry of Economy and Innovation), and Jennifer Grisorio (project manager PASSPARTOOL ARTI–Puglia Regional Agency for Technology and Innovation). The second session, on the other hand, was focused on the results of the project and includes a panel discussion where the partners presented the action plans implemented as part of Passpartool. Finally, the concluding session, thanks to the speeches of experts of the calibre of INSME’s Secretary General, Giovanni Zazzerini, Iraklis Stamos (European Commission-JRC) and Elisabetta Marinelli (Technopolis Group) focused on future perspectives on policy monitoring of smart specialization strategies.
Interreg Europe project has also released the “Passpartool’s policy recommendation paper” which summarises the findings and lessons of Phase 1 of PASSPARTOOL intending to diffuse the knowledge developed beyond the project boundaries and advance the policy debate.
To access the report, please click here.
Source: INSME Secretariat
