Through the specific objective “Promotion of products and services innovation”, the Region supports existing and new SMEs (operating in RIS3 sectors) to increase skills, improve products, introduce innovative and differentiated products and enhance competitiveness. The recession has highlighted the Region’s structural weaknesses and the economy has changed in terms of production base, employment, investments intensity and entrepreneurship. The policy should enhance regional investment attractiveness, assist SMEs in reaching new competitive markets and internationalising.

Support for SMEs include: supporting technological development and modernisation of SMEs in RIS3 domains; promoting qualitative enhancement, certification and standardisation of products; supporting new or upgraded products/services and differentiated production base; hosting production sites and facilities.

Equal opportunities and non-discrimination are horizontal principles of the POR. Instrument 3c addresses equal gender participation in the labour market from a “basic civil rights and opportunities for women” perspective. It leaves the competitiveness objective unaddressed. As such, its fails to establish the link between gender and competitiveness and to reflect the potential impact of female entrepreneurship on the economy. Thus, it is vital to explore the gender dimensions of increased high-tech SME competitiveness and to leverage female entrepreneurship as a driver of enhanced regional development.

ROP includes as Thematic Objective “Improving competitiveness of SMEs, agricultural sector, fishery and aquaculture”. Investment Priority 3a states “Entrepreneurship encouragement mainly by facilitating economic exploitation of new ideas and stimulating creation of new businesses, including business incubators”. Specific objective 2.1 should “Strengthen the market position of SMEs in the competitive domains identified by the National Research Strategy and the Regional Development Plan”.

The economic crisis marked the onset of the decline of the SME sector. The downward trend has intensified so that increases in the number of SMEs achieved in the period before the economic crisis was almost totally cancelled. Within this framework the ROP finances activities such as (i) construction/expansion of the production/services space of micro-enterprises, including endowment with tangible and intangible assets, and (ii) creating/expanding business incubators/accelerators, including the development of related services.

ROP includes as horizontal principle Gender Equality. However there is no direct connection between this principle and its potential to promote competitiveness in high tech sectors. This has not been recognised and issues such as female entrepreneurship, female access to employment and career progression or gender dimension of innovation are not directly addressed. Partner 6 believes that improving the policy in this respect would contribute to regional development.

The ERDF programme focuses investments on key priority areas: innovation and research; digital agenda; support for SMEs; low-carbon economy; promotion of social inclusion and fight against poverty.

FEMINA particularly addresses thematic objective (TO) 3, improving competitiveness of SMEs. In particular, it seeks to improve action lines 3d - support capacity of SMEs to grow at regional, national and international level and to engage in innovation - 030d1 - Promote growth and consolidation of SMEs (improving financing, technology, access to advanced support services) and 030d2 Promoting innovation and cooperation for innovation, in particular eco-innovation, social innovation. Within the specific line to promote female entrepreneurship, the ROP supports female job creation under a technological perspective (e.g. within digital sectors).

FEMINA partners in Cantabria consider female entrepreneurship as one of the most important drivers of job creation and economic growth. It is crucial for the development of a vibrant SME business sector. It enhances productivity growth and can help find practical solutions to social and environmental challenges. However, while the ROP considers equality between men and women through mainstreaming and specific positive actions, it does not currently reflect the link to competitiveness. It is important to clarify how female entrepreneurship can contribute to regional development objectives and where the ROP can intervene to achieve this.

The thematic objective of the OP is strengthening research, technological development and innovation and the specific objective is increased number of innovative SMEs.

Within the thematic objective the programme funds preliminary studies, exchange of experiences and operations promoting a functioning innovation system; the development of innovative capacity of enterprises; interaction between enterprises, clusters, research and higher education; internationalisation.

The overall objective is to promote business investment in R&I and develop links and synergies between enterprises, research and development centres and the higher education sector. It promotes investment in product and service development, technology transfer, social innovation, eco-innovation, public service applications, demand stimulation, networking, clusters and open innovation through smart specialisation, and supporting technological and applied research, pilot lines, early product validation actions, advanced manufacturing capabilities and first production, in particular in key enabling technologies and diffusion of general purpose technologies.

The OP states that strengthened work on gender issues is important for the success of the instrument. However, this statement has not yet had significant impact. Moreover, the direct link between gender and the high-tech sector is not currently explicit. FEMINA is the chance to establish the link between priority and practice within the innovation priority.

The main objectives of the OP ERDF North are to promote business investment in Research and Investment (R&I); develop synergies between enterprises, R&D centres, knowledge institutions and higher education; and encourage innovation through smart specialisation. ERDF funds, in combination with public and private co-financing, should strengthen the R&I intensity in SMEs and improve their uptake of innovation. By fostering investments in these objectives, the region contributes to the overarching EU2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.

The region recognises the need for targeted investments, taking into account its socio-economic profile, as well as the European Council’s country-specific recommendations, overarching European and national strategies and, in particular, the Regional Innovation Strategy of Northern-Netherlands. Public funding support to a target of 575 SMEs is expected to trigger an additional EUR 57 million in private investments for innovation in the selected regional clusters linked to societal challenges.

There is room for improvement in this policy instrument. The instrument insufficiently addresses female participation in high tech jobs and the way in which they can contribute to innovation and sustainable growth. Through FEMINA, the partner and Managing Authority wish to investigate how a more active role for work in entrepreneurship, existing SMEs and the content of SMEs’ innovations can contribute to the overall goal of the programme.