From May 16^th –to 20^th, a study visit to Austria was conducted in the scope of support provided by HERAS Plus for the Smart Specialization Strategy (S3). The delegation consisted of members of the National Team in charge of developing the S3 and HERAS Plus project team (including consortium partners).

The primary objective of the study visit was to inform Kosovo’s Smart Specialization development process on how academia and especially the universities can be best addressed with S3 policy mixes to leverage the investments and achieve S3 objectives. The study visit was designed to enable learning for the Kosovo delegation from Austrian institutions’ best practices, particularly the universities, agencies, and government actors.

Site visits and presentations were attended at: University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna – BOKU: BASE; Christian Doppler Forschungsgesellschaft; Austrian Research Promotion Agency, FFG (Basisprograms, Program BRIDGE, Innovation voucher, Competence program COMET); University Wiener Neustadt and the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research.

The visit enabled the delegation to explore what type of institutional capacities can be further strengthened to facilitate the active role of HEIs within the quadruple helix, considering the increasingly important interplay of government, academia, business, and civil society. New policy delivery approaches, and the streamlining of evidence-based policy approaches, were considered needed to meet this demand must, and further insights on how to trace and understand the results (or impact) of strategic approaches are needed.

Insights and lessons learned will be utilized inform further actions, and activities.

We are happy to have supported the development of the e-platform for Smart Specialization Strategy (S3) for the Government of Kosova, accessible at the following link: https://smartkosova.rks-gov.net/

The development of a platform for the S3 results from the close cooperation between the Strategic Planning Office (SPO) of the Prime Minister Office of Government of Kosova and our project. The S3 e-platform is designed to serve as an information and consultation tool for all stakeholders and beneficiaries that are involved in the process.

SPO officials and HERAS Plus representatives discussed and defined the S3’s relevance for Higher Education, Research, and Innovation during several consultative meetings. The development process of the S3 e-platform consisted of four milestone events and countless coordination meetings.

In the coming period, HERAS Plus and SPO officials will work together in designing joint activities that will support the implementation of the S3, including a study visit in another country to learn from their best practices.

On 7 July 2021, the Smart Specialization Strategy (S3) e-platform which will facilitate awareness-raising about the smart specializations and growth potentials, consultations, and stakeholder involvement in the Smart Specialization Strategy Development, and Implementation, was launched during the Promotional Event of S3. The consultation platform for the Smart Specialization Strategy process, will be embedded in the website of the Prime Ministry of the Republic of Kosovo

The promotional event was organized by the Strategic Planning Office (SPO) of the Office of the Prime Minister in cooperation with HERAS Plus project and was attended by honorable panelists: Ms. Rozeta Hajdari, Minister of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade, and Mr. Dukagjin Pupovci, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation.

Ms. Fitore Fazliu, Thematic Coordinator for Research and Innovation, HERAS Plus, presented the developmental process, the main features of the e-platform and elaborated that that the e-platform was envisioned to be: a reflection of the ongoing process of S3 development; a repository of key policy documents, reports, other related publications to Research and Development; a communication in a blended format of ten users from respective departments/units and the general public; and a foundation for further advancement of features as functions (as the S3 process progresses).

Furthermore, the Strategic Planning Office presented the interim report on quantitative mapping of the economic potential of Kosovo, inform participations about the role and benefits of Higher Education Institutions regarding matters of education, research, innovation, and economic development.

HERAS Plus Project is thankful to the Strategic Planning Office for the great communication and cooperation in general, especially during the development of the e-platform and delivery of the event.

The beta version of the Smart Specialization Strategy (S3) e-platform was tested on 2nd April, 2021.

The e-platform is one of supporting activities for The Strategic Planning Office of the Prime Minister and it will serve as a communication platform between different stakeholders during the S3 development and implementation process.

The process of Smart Specialization Strategy development requires consultations and aligning of central institutions, academia, businesses and civil society in developing and implementing the strategy for sustainable development (supported by EU funds). Thus, this e-platform is crucial in all phases of S3 and it will soon be promoted to all stakeholders during the Smart Specialization Strategy main promotional event.

HERAS Plus supports the development of the Smart Specialization Strategy e-platform

The policy level intervention of HERAS Plus for the support of the development of e-Platform for Smart Specialization Strategy (S3) in cooperation with Strategic Planning Office (SPO) was widely discussed, specified, and the work dynamic was agreed on today among the representatives of the key stakeholders in the S3 development process.

The Team Leader, Mr Aqim Emurli, thanked Mr Adnan Ahmeti (Strategic Planning Senior Officer) for excellent cooperation. The Thematic Coordinator for Research and Innovation, Ms Fitore Fazliu, kicked off the group work with predefined topics and ensured substantial involvement of all relevant stakeholders present (Ministry of Economic and Environment, Agency for Information Society and IT experts) and acknowledged their valued contribution in this process.

The e-Platform will serve as a consultation tool and connect general public and relevant stakeholders with SPO and the S3 processes. The e-platform will timely display the S3 development process and open relevant documents and outputs for the public. Noteworthy, HERAS Plus supports the development and pilot implementation of an S3 for Kosovo concerning higher education, science and research. The initial schemes and optimization indicators for designing a dynamic work plan for the platform development were defined according to the government and beneficiaries’ needs and requirements to ensure utilization for the process at hand.     .