Guide to Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation

Key enabling technologies
Why should Key Enabling Technologies be part of smart specialisation?
The Commission defined micro/nanoelectronics, photonics, nanotechnology, industrial
biotechnology, advanced materials and advanced manufacturing systems as the six key
enabling technologies of Europe. KETs are knowledge-intensive and associated with high
R&D intensity, rapid innovation cycles, high capital expenditure and highly-skilled
employment. They enable process, goods and service innovation throughout the economy and
are of systemic relevance. They are multidisciplinary, cutting across many technology areas
with a trend towards convergence and integration. KETs can assist technology leaders in other
fields to capitalise on their research efforts. 93
Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) have been singled out by the European Commission in
the proposal for the new Cohesion Policy as one of the investment priorities of the European
Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as a relevant investment for the smart growth of
regions 94 .
KETs are seen as the route to new and better products and processes, capable of generating
economic growth and employment and strengthening the competitiveness of the EU economy.
They bear enormous market potentials. In the coming four years, the growth rates of each of
these technologies range between 6% - 15%. The overall global market volume will most
likely increase from 840 Bio. USD to 1300 Bio. USD. Even more important are their spillover
effects on industry users from various industrial value chains, including suppliers and
downstream sectors. KETs can spur innovation, increase productivity, give rise to new
applications and help tackle societal challenges.
The particularity of a KETs-related innovation policy is that it engages actors along different
industrial value chains across the EU – including technology developers (universities,
research and technology organisations), start-ups, SMEs and manufacturers. Consequently, a
KETs-focused innovation policy allows most industrial sectors and any region to become
involved and benefit from the EU's overall KETs approach, whatever its specialisation and
focus areas. The Commission is in the process of aligning and coordinating EU policies in
favour of a coherent strategy on KETs, which will open up great opportunities for regions.
Regions should indeed analyse those opportunities, either as an emerging sector, or as a
means to modernise traditional sectors.
Barriers and Challenges
The key challenge for regions will be to identify their respective economic niches and
competitive advantages in KETs development and deployment activities. Regions should be
aware of key guiding principles, such as: what are the industrial needs with regard to
technologies? Who are the main actors and potential customers of these activities? Is there a
business case in terms of market exploitation?
93 (COM(2009) 512)
94 See Article 5 (1) (c) ERDF: 'supporting technological and applied research, pilot lines, early product
validation actions, advanced manufacturing capabilities and first production in Key Enabling Technologies and
diffusion of general purpose technologies'.
86