The Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3) is a policy tool that has been used in the European Union since the 2014-2020 period. In the EU financial programming cycle 2021-2027, smart specialisation strategies are expected to contribute in their implementation to the EU’s “Smarter Europe” policy objective, as well as to the development of regional economies and the strengthening of structural adjustment to industrial transformation and digitalisation.

In the European Union, Hungary currently ranks among the emerging innovators according to the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS), produced annually by the European Commission. The Government’s goal is to become one of Europe’s significant innovators by 2030 through boosting the value creation capacity of the innovation ecosystem and the productivity of the business sector.

Achieving this ambitious goal requires a complex approach to economic development. In addition to a continuous increase in resources, success will also need a more results-oriented and efficient planning and use of EU and national funding.

In the seven years starting in 2021, S3 will contribute to this government goal by identifying our national strengths and setting out the so-called smart specialisation priorities.

The development of the National Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3) for 2021-2027 was launched in late 2019 under the professional supervision of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology and coordinated by the NRDI Office. A change compared to the previous strategy is that the new S3 was designed with the active involvement of the government departments responsible for ICT and enterprise development and that account for innovation. The three sectoral deputy state secretariats of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology will continue to work together throughout the strategy implementation.

The selection of the S3 priorities started with applying the so-called “entrepreneurial discovery process” (EDP), in line with EU methodological recommendations, and with the involvement of a wide range of stakeholders.

• One of the national EDP instruments was a national questionnaire survey. The NRDI Office assessed the experiences, suggestions, and needs of smart specialisation among the participants of the innovation ecosystem at the national level.
• Another essential step in the entrepreneurial discovery process was the setting up the Territorial Innovation Platforms (TIP) network building on university centres and initiated by the Ministry for Innovation and Technology. The platforms will also play a significant role in monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the strategy.

The Government adopted the National Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3) with Government Decision 1428/2021 (VII. 2.).

In S3, eight national economic priorities identify smart specialisation pathways where the concentration of resources and the promotion of RDI development can provide a significant competitive edge for Hungary.

S3 also includes two horizontal priorities on skills development and modernising the business environment, which supports the effective delivery of the national economic priorities. The objectives of the priorities must be contributed to by the proposals receiving funding in the 2021-2027 programming cycle.

The Minister for Innovation and Technology has entrusted the National Research Development and Innovation Office to manage the implementation and monitoring of S3 during the implementation period of the strategy.

The English version of the Hungarian S3 can be downloaded under this link.

S3 is one of the conditions for accessing EU funds in the 2021-2027 period, and, for this reason, the plan document will be sent to the European Commission.