The Centrality of Entrepreneurial Discovery in Building and Implementing a Smart Specialisation Strategy

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to clarify the essence of a smart specialisation strategy as a policy process. It aims in particular to explain why entrepreneurial discovery is an important design principle in this policy process. Finally, it presents the policy framework in which various tools and instruments need to be mobilized to maximize the likelihood of entrepreneurial discovery and facilitate the local concentration of resources in, and the early growth of the new activities generated by these discoveries.