OECD Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development - OECD Reviews of Regional Innovation: Basque Country, Spain 2011

BASQUE COUNTRY, SPAIN 2011

This work is published on the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Organisation or of the governments of its member countries.

Please cite this publication as:

OECD (2011), OECD Reviews of Regional Innovation: Basque Country, Spain 2011 , OECD Reviews of Regional Innovation ,OECD Publishing.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264097377-en

ISBN 978-92-64-09736-0 (print ) ISBN 978-92-64-09737-7 (PDF )

Series: OECD Reviews of Regional Innovatio n ISSN 1997-6577 (print ) ISSN 1997-6585 (online )

Corrigenda to OECD publications may be found on line at: www.oecd.org/publishing/corrigenda. OECD 2011

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FOREWORD

Strong dynamics of innovation generation in regions are crucial for achieving national innovation policy objectives. In addition, innovation performance can contribute to improving the overall economic competitiveness of individual regions. Policy recommendations are therefore being sought by national science and technology and regional policy actors, as well as by the regions themselves.

OECD member countries and regions are nevertheless struggling with how to best promote regional innovation. How should national innovation policies take into account this regional dimension (i.e. the importance of place)? How can regional actors support innovation that is relevant for their specific regional context? This role-sharing in a multi-level governance context for innovation is a new area for OECD member countries.

In 2007, the OECD launched the series OECD Reviews of Regional Innovation to address this demand by national and regional governments for greater clarity on how to strengthen the innovation capacity of regions. These reviews are part of a wider project on competitive and innovative regions through the OECD Territorial Development Policy Committee. This work also supports the OECD Innovation Strategy. The series includes both thematic reports and reviews of specific regions.

Numerous national and regional stakeholders provided valuable insights during missions and in the form of comments. The OECD would like to thank in particular the lead co-ordinators and other active local counterparts for this review: Guillermo Ulacia (Chairperson), Jos Mara Villate (Director General), Paul Ortega (Programme Manager, Internationalisation), and Carlos Pea (Progamme Manager, Business Transformation) of Innobasque; Mikel Navarro, Senior Researcher, Orkestra-Basque Institute of Competitiveness; Joseba Jauregizar, Director General, Tecnalia; Guillermo Dorronsoro, Executive Vice President, IK4 Research Alliance; Juan Castro (Director of Innovation and Information Society) and Cristina Oyn (Head of Strategic Initiatives) of SPRI (Society for the Promotion of Industry); Juan Goicolea (Deputy Minister of Innovation and Technology) and Xabier Sabalza (Director of Innovation and Information Society) of the Basque Government Department of Industry, Innovation, Trade and Tourism; Manu Salinero, Secretary General of Presidency of the Basque Government; and Juan Toms Hernani, Secretary General of Innovation of the Spanish Government.

This publication was drafted by Karen Maguire (OECD) and Daniel Malkin (Consultant to the OECD), with additional written contributions from Annalisa Primi and Claire Nauwelaers of the OECD. Daniel Sanchez-Serra and Giulia Ajmone Marsan provided statistical support. Peer reviewers from France and Germany participated in the review process: Gnter Clar (Director for Regional Strategies & Innovation, Steinbeis-Europa-Zentrum) in Baden-Wrttemberg, Germany and Mickael Vaillant (Project Manager for the EU National Strategic Reference Framework and Regional Innovation Strategies, DATAR Delegation for Spatial Planning and the Attractiveness of Regions), France. The review was co-ordinated by Karen Maguire. Erin Byrne supervised the publication process.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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.................................................................. 1

Review context................................................................................................ 1 Diagnosing the innovation system .................................................................. 1 STI policy trends ............................................................................................. 1 Basque Country STI policy in a multi-level governance context .................... 2

....................................................................................................... 3

The dynam ics of innovation are evolving ................................................... 3 implying several policy challenges ........................................................ 3 including the context of the current crisis .................................................. 3 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 3 Notes ............................................................................................................... 3 Bibliography .................................................................................................... 4

Chapter 1 ............................................ 4

Introduction ..................................................................................................... 4 Basque Country: overall economic and demographic trends .......................... 4 Industrial structure and international linkages ................................................ 5 Innovation system and performance................................................................ 6 Basque innovation system actors .................................................................... 7 Notes ............................................................................................................... 9 Bibliography .................................................................................................... 9

Annex 1.A1 ......................................................................................................... 9

Chapter 2 .......................................................... 10

Introduction ................................................................................................... 10 The first stages of the Basque Country STI policy........................................ 10 The PCTI 2010: towards a comprehensive approach to STI policy.............. 11 Basque STI policy mix .................................................................................. 12 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 16