Tartu Regional Innovation Strategy

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• Tartu Regional Innovation Strategy

Rene Tõnnisson Institute of Baltic Studies
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Tartu and South Estonia
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• Population - 350 000 inhabitants
• Area 15 000 sq Km
• Main sectors Forrest-Wood,
  Metalworks-Machinery, Food, Textile

Tartu
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Regional Innovation Strategy Tartu and South
Estonia

• Project period 01.01.2002 31.12.2004
• Project Partners Tartu City, Uppsala County and
  Shannon Development
• Total Budget 485 000 Euros

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Consensus Building

• Simple questions
• - What do we mean by Innovation
• - What is the aim of the Regional Innovation
  Strategy

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WHAT ARE INNOVATIONS AND HOW DO THEY WORK?

• INNOVATIONS ARE NOT INVENTIONS
• innovation is an economic term
• innovation is lucrative

AND WHAT PROPELS INNOVATION?

• because at least for a time, the novelty that
  marks the innovation makes it impossible for
  competitors to get into the action

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But this is just half of the story...
There are innovations that are only good for the
entrepreneur, and there are innovations that are
also good for state, society, and economy. And
while entrepreneurship is nice as such, the
interest for the state side and regions lies in
promoting it in precisely those areas that have a
snowball effect to produce a general increase
in production and wealth.
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The aim of Regional Innovation Strategy

• ... is thus to promote and support development of
  such an innovation system in region which would
  help the region to increase its competitiviness
  and thus welfare in large
• For that there are different strategic
  components...

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Tartu Regional Innovation System
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Analysis Phase

• Analysis Paralysis
• Qualitative versus Quantitative approach
• Loosing the interest of companies

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Some of the questions to be asked
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Strong University as a dominant stakeholder
Population of Tartu 100 000 inhabitants 25 000
University Students University of Tartu founded
in 1632 and the only classical university in
Estonia with 11 faculties from Theology to
Medicine
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Tartu Model for Strengthening Tartu Regional
Innovation System
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Concrete Outcomes of TRIS Project

• Strategy with 4 key components
• Action plan with 20 identified action lines
• Required investment 40 million Euros
• Implementation period 2005-2008

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Big challenge How to move from fashionable
rhetorics on Innovation
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... to understanding that it can really be matter
of life and death
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Only then the result, as depicted in Lorenzettis
Fresco in the Siena City Hall, may be an
enlightened public policy that, through the
promotion of the right economics, provides
welfare and happiness for all in the region, so
that the people can dance in the streets ?
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THANK YOU!

• Contact Information
• Rene Tõnnisson
• Institute of Baltic Studies
• Email rene_at_ibs.ee
• Tel [phone]