Policy recommendations Progress report on public funding by Xavier GREFFE As we reach the end of this analysis, what lessons can be drawn about the effectiveness of public funding? An initial general comment should be made: irrespective of the various situations, the relevance of public funding has never been called into question. There is a structural reason for this: we are dealing with creative activities, with an inevitable element of risk, and, at best, a certain number of goods and services will eventually receive recognition from the market. The slow speed of achieving economic sustainability means that growth levers are required, one of them being public funding. It goes without saying that public funding does not mean a lack of accountability, hence public authorities often request that applications are prepared by specialized organizations, such as financial institutions, and that the dayto-day running of initiatives should be accompanied by professional structures which are already active in these markets. This point leads to a second comment. Funding and services provided to initiatives will only be effective if said initiatives demonstrate a high level of professionalization. The situation where a single operator provides a full range of different services simultaneously is becoming a thing of the past, since it is difficult to offer comprehensive professionalization in every domain and the requirements of those creating new activities also change very quickly. General service providers can only offer guidance, redirecting stakeholders towards highly professionalized service offers. The third point relates to the form of this public assistance. For the fundamental reason outlined above, this is naturally offered in the form of funding; However, other forms of public assistance can prove extremely useful, such as the recognition and protection offered by collective brand labels, certifications, etc. In a domain where intellectual property plays a key role and where new technologies increase the potential for copying in certain cases, this type of intervention is crucial. The conclusion that can be drawn from the above analysis is that new forms of incubation or business service structures need to combine the provision of public funds and existing professional skills to define the eligibility of projects, their accompaniment and the moment at which assistance should cease, so that it can be redeployed to new projects elsewhere.
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