Ministry of Economy commissioned BGI Consulting to carried out the Evaluation of the progress of measures of the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Lithuania aimed at promoting innovation and providing innovation advisory and support services. The objective of the evaluation is to improve the implementation of the „Inogeb LT“ measure aimed at providing  high-quality innovation advisory and support services to companies in the field of research, experimental development and innovation RTDI according to the direction of smart specialization by analysing the results of the measures „Inogeb LT-1“ and „Inogeb LT-3“ implemented in the similar programming period in 2007-2013.

 

In order to implement the study, the analysis of primary and secondary sources of literature, data, comparative and statistical analysis is carried out. The service provider also applies interviews with experts and policy makers, implements a survey of beneficiaries and uses a conterfactual analysis method. At the end of the study, Estonia and Sweden are presented as good practice case studies.

 

Despite strategies and ambitious goals, the progress of RTDI policy in Lithuania continues to face challenges at the level of implementation and achievements of RTDI policy. The total funding for research and experimental development in recent years (2016) has fallen to 0.74 percent of GDP. This is well below the 3 per cent recommended by the EC to invest in RTDI in order to achieve one of the priorities of the Europe 2020 strategy - smart growth: developing an economy based on knowledge and innovation. In addition to long-term and more complex problems such as aging populations or the preparation / attraction of skilled human resources, the problem of governance of innovation policy arising from institutional fragmentation is also highlighted. Inter-ministerial coordination of RTDI policies remains inadequate, leading to conditional policy fragmentation and duplication. This situation is determined by the specifics of institutional governance, institutional particularism, and the failure of the RTDI Council to perform interinstitutional coordination functions in full.

 

When assessing the rationality and compliance with the economic situation of that time, of the „Inogeb LT-1“ and „Inogeb LT-3“ services for the target groups for the period 2007-2013, was determined that the services provided by these activities met the economic situation of the time and the existing need of enterprises. The Inogeb LT-1 service target groups were made up of regular customers, and initial consultation could be obtained by all requesting companies. The services provided by the "Inogeb LT-3" supported activities were available to all requesting companies, and the duration of the consultations provided was unlimited. According to a survey conducted by direct beneficiaries, innovation advisory services for both the 2007-2013 and the 2014-2020 financing periods were very important for small businesses (annual turnover up to 2 million Euros).

 

Assessing the suitability and quality of Innovation Advice and Innovation Support Services packages for “Inogeb LT-1“ and “Inogeb LT-3“ for the period 2007-2013, it has been established that the consultation topics have not been pre-assigned to specific target groups - the services were provided individually, adapting the needs of each company. The fact that the number of counselling companies exceeded expectations allows drawing conclusions on the high relevance of topics for the target groups selected by the project executors and partners. The evaluation of the “Inogeb LT“ measure revealed that the experience of the measures for the period 2007-2013 was taken into account in the development of the service themes of the measure, which allowed ensuring the quality of the topics and meeting the changing needs of the users.