Technology transfer models and for Smart Specialization Strategies (S3)

The development of cutting-edge technologies, the new industrial revolution and the evolving consumer’s needs, ask firms for new business models able to get the competitive advantage in the international market. In a such changing world, Cohesion Policy is the EU’s investment policy aimed at responding to economic and societal challenges, reducing differences between regions and ensuring growth across Europe. In this context, the Smart Specialization Strategy (S3) promotes the activation of innovation strategies for local development. Through the S3 implementation, the EU adopted the Quadruple Helix Innovation System Model, for the fastest flow of knowledge in the European innovative ecosystem. This approach requires an open and inclusive governance system to support the participation of all innovation actors. Despite in this open innovation context (both in firms and research areas) the policy makers investing huge amount of European Funds on the development of the technology transfer process (on the regional national, international levels), most of innovation stakeholders are not aware of the value added that the implementation of the S3 can offer to the innovation system. Hence, our research question can be formulated as follow: Which model of technology transfer can better support local stakeholders and policy makers within the S3’s framework?