What is Smart Specialization?
Smart specialization is a way of working to identify and prioritize areas with the greatest potential for innovation, development and growth. Within the EU's regional policy, smart specialization is a tool to strengthen regions to develop smartly and in the long term. It is about investing in the right things – things that can contribute to development in Norrbotten.
Smart specialization is an area focus in the Norrbotten Strategy 2040 and deepens the prioritized area of Innovative and Competitiveness.
No region in the EU can be the best at everything. That is why we need to make conscious priorities and focus on areas where we have particular strengths, competences and good opportunities for development. By developing our areas of strength, we can complement each other and cooperate.
How can we in Norrbotten use development funds in the best way so that the EU becomes stronger and can compete in the world? All regions should contribute in their own way through research, business development, skills development, digital technologies and so on. By developing different areas of strength, we can complement each other and cooperate.
In Norrbotten, this means that we start from our own conditions. We build on what is already strong in the county and at the same time develop new areas to meet the needs of the future.
Our priority areas
In the current Smart Specialization Strategy for Norrbotten, we have prioritized smart specialization and diversification areas. The priorities are based on an analysis of the county's conditions and strengths.
Areas of specialization:
Mineral resources
Steel industry
Forest resources
Hydropower
Diversification areas:
Smart society
Arctic testbeds
Energy technology
Space technology
Cultural and creative industries
Tourism industry
The areas of specialization have been identified based on the fact that there is a broad foundation to build on. Within these areas there is research, leading companies that contribute to development, and small, medium-sized and micro enterprises that contribute to innovation and renewal.
Diversification areas meet some, but not all, of these criteria. These are areas where there is potential to grow and strengthen over time, for example through increased collaboration, more actors, and more developed knowledge and innovation.