As part of the WiderAdvance Facility, our partner Ruizia recently brought together ten Smart Specialisation (S3) experts to explore how the WiderAdvance Regional Self-Assessment Tool can support regions in strengthening their Dissemination and Exploitation (D&E) practices.

Developed under WiderAdvance Work Package 3 – “Synergies on D&E”, led by Ian Gauci Borda (Xjenza Malta), the tool embodies WP3’s ambition to demonstrate how strategic synergies can underpin effective policy mixes and support regions in advancing research impacts.

Hosted during the first NESS* Smart Specialisation Practice Lab, the session provided a unique opportunity to test the tool with practitioners deeply involved in regional innovation strategies.

The discussion confirmed a shared challenge across many ecosystems: while Widening countries and regions have significantly progressed in research participation, they still face difficulties transforming project results into tangible economic and societal value. Experts pointed to limited SME absorptive capacity, fragmented policy-mixes, and the lack of structured valorisation strategies within research organisations.

Philippe Holstein, Ruizia’s director and lead developer of the tool, presented how the framework—built from 140+ sources, expert interviews, 20 quantitative indicators and 88 qualitative questions—helps regions identify bottlenecks, benchmark their maturity and design targeted, context-specific interventions. The tool’s typology of six regional categories sparked lively exchanges on how policymakers can adopt more tailored approaches to knowledge valorisation.

This workshop marks an important step in refining the tool with real user insights and building a community of S3 practitioners that can contribute to the development of tailor-made policy recommendations.

Curious to know more or explore how the tool could support your region? Connect with us.

* NESS is an informal network for senior experts working with S3 at the regional level. https://www.linkedin.com/company/ness-networkforexpertsins3/