The Least Innovative Regions in Poland in the Process of Smart Specialisation

Smart specialisation constitutes an important framework for regional innovation policy making in the EU. According to the EU documents, the process of smart specialisation can be applied in all types of regions: the most developed ones as well as the least innovative ones. It is thus of great importance for regions with a low level of innovation performance due to numerous innovation challenges faced by these regions (such a situation can be observed in the case of four least innovative regions in Poland). The main objective of the paper is to assess the advancement of the least innovative Polish regions in the process of smart specialisation. In order to achieve this objective, the following detailed objectives are expected to be met: 1. presentation of innovation challenges for the least developed regions in Europe; 2. selection of the least innovative Polish regions on the basis of four indicators; 3. assessment of the advancement in the smart specialisation process in selected regions with reference to their economic, social and innovation potential. As research methods, the authors used descriptive analysis, analysis of strategic documents, case studies analysis and statistical analysis. As results from the analysis, the approach to the identification process of smart specialisations in the least innovative Polish regions was diverse. Depending on the maturity level of work on updating Regional Innovation Strategies, awareness of competitive advantages at the sectoral and technological level, used methods, different concepts of their identification have been adopted.