Smart specialisation as a lever towards innovation: the example of Malopolska region in Poland

The paper presents the process of devising the methodology for selecting smart specialisations in the course of preparation of 2013-2020 Regional Innovation Strategy for Malopolska Region in Poland (orig.RSIWM 2013-20). The article stresses the need for a new approach and methodology to stimulate effort to cooperation between universities and commercial entities for the development of innovation. So far, the European attempts to implement ambitious growth models based on research and innovation (the Lisbon Strategy) have been unsuccessful. Hence, the sudden European Union shift towards the real and the search for new possibilities to create innovative industry via implementing regional innovation strategies utilising the smart specialisation concept (RIS3) as a precondition to qualify for European Union funds allocated to research and innovation, which should ultimately produce structural changes satisfying the knowledge-based economy requirements.