Experiences of the Baltic countries in innovation activities: lesson for South East European countries

Abstract

Development of a public innovation support system and innovation policy are receiving interest recently at European Union(EU) and national levels. A strongly structured and coordinated innovation policy can enforce better performance of EU actors and develop their competitiveness in a globalized world. This paper examines innovation policy and governance capability in the Baltic countries (BC) to present some lessons for the South Eastern European (SEE) countries. For the BC, innovation policy has not been only a field of specific attention during the period of accession to the EU, but also the process of accession has had a significant impact on raising awareness about the necessity of innovation. This paper aims to create awareness of the needs of innovation for the SEE countries. Through analysis of the statistics from the Innovation Scoreboard and Innovation Trend Chart Country Reports, the paper tries to assess innovation capacity and innovation governance of the BC.