Cooperation of Regions for Innovation
The operation “Corinna - Cooperation of Regions for Innovation” focuses on intensifying cross-border co-operation in the field of technology and innovation along the borders of Italy, Slovenia, Austria and Hungary. Recent studies of these regions show strong potential for capitalizing on development opportunities through cross-border cooperation in particular in the field or research, development and innovation. Yet these studies also testify barriers for finding the "right partners" on administrative and policy levels and on company level. The project aims to remove barriers to cooperation through 1) establishing cross-border networks 2) increasing the mutual knowledge of the partner regions' innovation systems, policies and strategies, 3) identifying best practices to promote regional innovation capabilities and 4) developing specific co-operation projects with common focus areas. The operation helps improving the partner regions' capacities and policies for technology development and regional innovation. As a prerequisite for stronger cross-border co-operations, the operation provides easily accessible information on the strengths, competencies and innovation systems of the participating regions to companies and the wider public. Activities include the joint development of a guide book on innovation policy practices and the elaboration of joint policy recommendations based on a series of workshops and seminars. Workshops cover issues such as innovation policy, strategy development and policy benchmarking. Partners also implement a number of instruments to address barriers to interregional cooperation of technology-oriented firms and research institutions, such as an interregional database of RTD organizations.