Policslab: Insights for supporting innovation policies

© 2019 by SCITEPRESS - Science and Technology Publications, Lda. When defining and updating the Smart Specialisation Strategy, regional policy-makers are called upon to identify territorial avant-gardes and its growth potential through a continuous technological foresight exercise, which takes into account the entire panorama of local research and innovation. Data from official statistics based on international classifications, although very useful, is not sufficient to keep pace with sudden changes affecting local territories as well as external factors that may influence a given territorial policy. Furthermore, the use of new data sources, far from being a simple solution to the need of fresh and granular data, implies tackling numerous methodological challenges. The paper presents the rationality of an information system able to support policy-makers in technological foresight. The model is based on the valorisation of data available from traditional and non-traditional sources as well as the construction of simple and intuitive interpretative tools to measure and predict territorial changes and transformations, which are related to the innovation system of Italian regions.