Translating in practice: On the role of translation in entrepreneurial discovery processes in Norway

The article examines a key component of regional smart specialisation strategy, namely the entrepreneurial discovery process (EDP) and how it unfolds in three regions in Norway. The authors seek to understand the interpretation and operationalisation of the EDP by conducting a constructivist thematic analysis of regional strategy documents and associated material in Rogaland, Vestland, and Nordland. They find that while similarities exist in the use of the EDP, the regions differ markedly across several key dimensions, most notably the interpretation of the EDP and its implementation across the regions. To have a better understanding of these differences in a region’s EDP, they propose the integration of translation theory with more conventional theoretical approaches on understanding regional policy differences. The authors shed light on the diffuse understandings of the EDP in practice across regions, thereby providing richer evidence of how the interpretations can differ considerably even within one country, and they conclude that this indicates the relevance of translation theory for future regional comparative studies of smart specialisation.publishedVersio

The entrepreneurial discovery process outside the EU A case study approach using 3 Norwegian regions

Smart specialisation has attracted increasing attention from policy makers in Europe after its conception in 2014, while having also been made an ex-ante conditionality for EU funding through the European Regional Development Fund. Norway, a non-EU country has however been lagging behind in terms of getting involved with smart specialization as an approach to regional innovation policy. The paper compares three Norwegian regions observed and planned efforts to the theoretical framework of entrepreneurial discovery process (EDP), a key element considered the heart of smart specialization. The comparative study makes use of the principles and fundamental components accompanying the process, specifically engagement from triple and four helix stakeholders and their roles, governance and bottom-up characteristics, and instruments and activities used to carry out an EDP. All regions are found to adhere to the guidelines and principles of an entrepreneurial discovery process, set by the European Commission, while differences are displaying in terms of their conceptualization of the process, level of engagement by stakeholders and concrete activities used to accomplish it