Smart Spesialisation to Accelerate Transition

Regionale Forskingsfond has awarded 3. mill NOK to a project that will investigate how universities and colleges can play a stronger role in reconfiguring the regional innovation system towards sustainable smart specialisation in Western Norway.

Vestland County Municipality and GCE Ocean Technology are partners in this project where the goal is to find out what role the higher education institutions; Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL), University of Bergen and Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) can play in influencing the regional innovation system in a sustainable direction, through educational, research and innovation work.

The funding is provided by the Regional Research Fund Vestland (RFF).

Why Smart Spesialisation

Vestland County has set the ambitious goal for itself to become the world’s first zero-emission region by 2030. Thus, regional development strategies need to focus on green industrial diversification pathways and strengthening the ability of other key industries in the region to adapt and develop competitive advantage in to a zero-carbon transition.

Central to this project is the development of strategies for sustainable smart specialisation for Western Norway, which will strengthen collaboration between researchers, regional political authorities, industry and business.

Sustainable smart specialisation is about finding new areas where industry and business have special prerequisites for renewal and restructuring and developing the potential for these areas. The project will support such a strategy development.

Our Cluster’s Role

GCE Ocean Technology develops and supplies innovative ocean technology within a wide range of applications, including: subsea oil and gas production, marine renewable energy production, marine food production and exploration of marine mineral resources.

Our partners and members are central in the work of green restructuring in the region, and we believe these strategies for green restructuring is strengthened by a close collaboration between the public sector, academia, capital and investors, entrepreneurs and industry.

– Our cluster has been active in renewal and restructuring of our cluster to secure new business opportunities and sustainable growth. This project will strengthen the work with reconfiguring the regional innovation system to support our cluster, says Jon O. Hellevang, R&D Manager of GCE Ocean Technology.

GCE Ocean Technology foresee to take an active role in activities and tasks in the work package concerning policy development and co-creation of sustainable smart specialisation strategies together with academic, and industrial partners.