COVID-19 and the smart specialisation strategy

This report aims to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected implementing the smart specialisation strategies in the last part of 2014-2020. The report focuses on the organisational policy capacities and governance processes required to deal with COVID-19 consequences. To explore these elements a survey was launched in 2020 to collect information about how the health crisis had affected implementing the smart specialisation strategies and how the entities in charge had managed the situation. The main results show the contrast between the adequacy of smart specialisation strategies portfolio contents and administrative challenges in managing and implementing the strategies in times of crisis and and the Recovery period. Almost all entities consider priorities included in their smart specialisation strategies portfolio are adequate to cope with COVID19 consequences. However, most of them highlight actions needed to enhance their organisational structures and processes to increase actors' coordination, especially governmental ones. In sum, the entities in charge of the smart specialisation strategies need to improve their operational and political capacities more than smart specialisation policy contents.