O&O en innovatie in België Studiereeks, 2005, 6: Business R&D activity at the provincial level in Belgium: a statistical compendium

The impact of R&D and innovation on economic growth is well recognised by most policy makers. The ‘3% Barcelona target’, which stipulates for reaching a ratio of 3% of R&D expenditures on gross domestic product by 2010 for the European Union, is translated by most member states into a national target.
During the past decade, in many countries, regions have gained an important role in science policy, and it is not surprising that these regions are also interested in having insights in the …

The impact of R&D and innovation on economic growth is well recognised by most policy makers. The ‘3% Barcelona target’, which stipulates for reaching a ratio of 3% of R&D expenditures on gross domestic product by 2010 for the European Union, is translated by most member states into a national target.
During the past decade, in many countries, regions have gained an important role in science policy, and it is not surprising that these regions are also interested in having insights in the evolution of R&D activities on their territory. And Belgium is no exception to this. Since the beginning of the nineties, the Flemish Region, the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region have gained more and more autonomy to set out their R&D and innovation policies. More recently, policy makers also show an increased interest in R&D and innovation statistics at the provincial level.
These interests are fostered by the idea that small geographical areas often possess particularities in strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats in terms of R&D and innovation. Often, the situation in these smaller areas is pathdependent on the economic history of the region. Furthermore,
the specialisation in certain activities is not reflected in overall R&D budgets which often are heavily dominated by a few local champions active in a limited number of high-tech sectors.
It is not only local politicians, but also the European Commission that is highly interested in R&D performance at the provincial level since the Commission provides important amounts in their ‘Objective 1’ programme that strives for equity at this level. Also the Seventh Framework Programme will explicitly take R&D budgets into account to enhance this equity principle.
Unfortunately, up to now hardly any R&D statistics exist at the provincial level for Belgium. This study intends to fill the gap. It is composed of two rather distinct parts. In the first part – chapters 1 to 4 – a brief benchmark exercise between the R&D characteristics of the provinces is carried out. The second
part – chapter 5 – provides a statistical compendium on R&D activities in the Belgian provinces.