3.4 Added value The regional programmes of innovative actions have succeeded in acting as catalysts giving the regions a chance to experiment with new, often adventurous actions to promote innovation. These have often been actions that otherwise might have been postponed or ignored by the mainstream programmes of the Structural Funds although they have a potentially strong impact by promoting innovation and sustainability which are crucial factors for the longterm competitiveness of EU regions. For the least-developed regions it is particularly important that they should have a chance to experiment in difficult and challenging fields outside the norm of their Structural Fund programmes. Often, these solutions have been developed in close co-operation and networking with other more developed regions. A further value of the Innovative Actions lies in the way these programmes have been designed and implemented directly by regional stakeholders working together in partnership. Each region has been encouraged to find its own solutions, based on regional needs and to incorporate innovation better in its regional development planning.
3.5 The challenges of the future The experience so far leads the Commission to believe that the Regional Programmes of Innovative Actions have responded to the needs of the regions and have provided them with important tools for promoting innovation on the regional agenda. One indication of the success of the new approach offered under these programmes is the fact that many of their features have been incorporated into the future objective of Regional Competitiveness and Employment for the period 2007-2013. The challenge for the regions now is to capitalise on the emerging experiences in order to stimulate innovation in the region. It is also expected that lessons learned will be incorporated into the future Structural Funds programmes, especially in the new Member States, and to the extent possible, the current Objective 1 and Objective 2 programmes. In the future, there will still be a need for strengthening innovation policies in the regions and improving regional development tools and practices for innovation. This is the case, for example, in financing for innovation, facilitating the creation of successful new firms, strengthening the co-operation between SMEs and research institutions, or ways to attract talents and knowledge to less developed regions which do not yet have those capacities. Specific attention will be given to regions from new Member States to facilitate their participation in networking activities as a means of diffusing good practice and to help them with the preparation of the next generation of Structural Fund programmes.
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