DRIVING EXCELLENCE IN INNOVATION

APPLIED RESEARCH AND COMMUNICATIONS FUND

ARC FUND
ARC FUND
ARC FUND / Innovation.bg

Innovation.bg

Innovation.bg

Knowledge and its transformation into new products, services and processes is a key component for economic growth and social well-being. That is why, in recent decades, innovation and scientific research have been among the priorities on the agenda of governments, science and businesses in developed countries. The manifestation of global challenges in the recent years has been testing the resilience of national economies and the existing business models to deal with the crisis, which calls for a change in the focus of the innovation process and integration of the principles of digital and sustainable development in the EU policies. The European Recovery Plan, the EU budget and NextGenerationEU provide the largest package of incentives to date to build a greener, more digital, more sustainable and more competitive Europe on the Globe. The European economy is showing that it needs a new impulse, a new technological and social push to affirm the Union’s core values, becoming the first climate-neutral continent, according to the ambitious goals set in the EU Green Deal. Bulgaria faces the challenge, but also the opportunity, to actively participate in the formation of these complex political, socio-economic and cultural processes. Bulgaria has the possibility to better position itself and to define its new national innovation policy agenda by participating actively in the creation of the EU innovation policy and determining the programs and priorities for the EU financial support for the next decade.

Innovations are a priority area in which the Applied Research and Communications Fund has developed profound expertise and know-how for policy development and impact assessment.

ARC Fund is a pioneer in the development and implementation of Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS) in Bulgaria, which proved to be a useful tool for policy making in research and innovation at the regional level. Through the pilot RIS initiatives in the South Central and South-West Regions, strategic frameworks for development of innovations at the sectoral and regional levels were elaborated based on in-depth innovation audits of the regional innovation systems and regional innovation performance. The RIS pilot implemented in the South Central Region of Bulgaria was inspirational and provided the grounds for the successful implementation of RIS initiatives in the other five regions of Bulgaria.

In 2004 ARC Fund initiated the National Innovation Forum (NIF), a high-level annual event for Bulgaria, which brings together all relevant stakeholders to discuss the drivers for and barriers to the national innovation performance. The event is organized with the participation of high-level Bulgarian politicians, under the auspices of the President or the Prime Minister of Bulgaria. Throughout the years, NIF has established itself as a consultative forum for policy decision-making focused on enhancing the national innovation policy.

The annual report Innovation.bg of ARC Fund is the only comprehensive assessment of the national innovation system and the innovation performance of the national economy. The report further delivers recommendations for improving the national innovation policy based on most recent empirical data.

In 2004, ARC Fund published the first collection of research on innovation and economic development: Innovation: policy and practice, followed by a second collection in 2008 – Innovation: European, national and regional policies. Renown Bulgarian and foreign researchers contributed to both publications, which attracted the attention of the professional community and established themselves as mandatory in all university courses on innovation management.