Arvamuse teabeleht 

To recommend measures that would be conducive to the creation of high-tech start-up ecosystems, ideally based on empirical evidence and/or on the experience of people who have managed to launch successful initiatives.

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS points out that:



- Factors can be identified that facilitate entrepreneurship, namely: better access to credit, efficient regulation and taxation, promotion of a culture of entrepreneurship and greater risk-taking.

- It would be useful to set up a dedicated database, within which local and regional authorities could share best practice. This might also pave the way for a benchmarking system, which would be very useful, particularly for regions that are lagging further behind in terms of legislation.

- Regional regulations should be simplified and harmonised so as to avoid adding unnecessarily to national legislation.

- Training is needed for regional and local authority staff. The people whose task it is to map out the future of the economy must be as well prepared as possible and fully au fait with the cutting edge of innovation.

- All regions should establish at least a limited number of quantitative targets when it comes to smart growth and the creation of high-tech start-up ecosystems; alternatively, they should adopt a qualitative approach involving a positive "path to change" contributing to the targets.

- Each region should publish a regular (at least yearly) report on achievements in implementing the targets set. This report should above all examine the implementation of the region's RIS3 smart specialisation strategy with particular reference to progress made in developing the innovation ecosystem.

- Support should be given to education programmes run in cooperation with the business world: programmes with an international outlook for start-up and high-growth companies, combining the latest technology, business and design developments with entrepreneurial discovery. Ideally, these programmes would bring together people from companies operating in different regions and sectors and generate partnership with the educational and research establishments.

- It is essential that synergies be generated between the various European projects supporting entrepreneurship, particularly Horizon 2020, the COSME programme for the competitiveness of Enterprises and SMEs and the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF).

- The Smart Specialisation platform (S3Platform) needs to give more support to local and regional level activities, with particular emphasis on the less-developed regions.