Smart specialization strategies: a territorial strategy for regions

There is clear acknowledgment in the literature of the importance of developing regional innovation strategies to build to build competitiveness advantages. However the concept remains fuzzy in terms of its limits and contents applied to the territorial field. This paper aims to shed light on the contents a territorial strategy should include as well as on the main characteristics characteristics that present the development process of territorial strategies. Moreover, this paper analyses one concrete type of territorial strategy, which is currently being disseminated by the European Commission for regional development: the smart specialization strategy. In consequence, this paper analyses the aspects that remain under discussion and opened to a greater development and precision under the smart specialization concept.