The future of regions in Europe hinges on Smart Specialisation?

How can regions be helped in recognizing their advantages and in putting forward their own strategies? Researchers from EPFL have developed a tool that will help them to develop a different kind of economy. In 1796, Pierre-Hyacinthe Caseaux, a nail-maker living in Morez in the Jura region of France, had the idea of using wire to make a frame for a pair of spectacles. This was a rapidly expanding market: he built a workshop, and other artisans followed him in this activity. Then the state authorities built a school. Soon, Morez became the world capital for the manufacture of spectacles. "That which the master nail-maker and his region had applied intuitively was already an example of 'smart specialisation'" explains Dominique Foray, who holds the Chair of Economics and Management of Innovation (CEMI) at EPFL. "Today, the Lake Geneva region is an excellent example of what a region can achieve in terms of research and development, in particular in the areas of medical devices and the life sciences.