IASP Position Paper: Scaling European Innovation Science Parks as Engines of European Competitiveness – Why Regions, Science Parks and SMEs Must Drive Europe’s Industrial Future
Europe faces a defining paradox: producing world-class scientific knowledge while failing to industrialise ideas at scale. This Position Paper, based on the 2nd Potsdam International Forum, argues that Science Parks are strategic components of Europe’s competitiveness architecture. By anchoring regional ecosystems, these territorial infrastructures connect researchers, entrepreneurs, and investors to overcome the ‘valley of death’. The document highlights six central themes, including the scaling gap and the vital role of SMEs, which represent 99% of businesses but are often sidelined in industrial policy.
Position Paper: Science Parks as Strategic Components of Europe’s Competitiveness
IASP calls on the European Commission to formally recognise this regional hubs and design coherent funding frameworks to retain talent and ensure scientific breakthroughs translate into global market leadership.
Europe faces a defining paradox: it produces world-class scientific knowledge, yet repeatedly fails to industrialize its own ideas at scale. While European researchers publish more scientific papers than any other region, the technologies that emerge from those breakthroughs are routinely commercialized in other parts of the world. The missing link is not research funding – it is the architecture of ecosystems, the governance of scaling, and the systemic exclusion of the actors best placed to deliver impact: Science Parks as strategic components of Europe’s competitiveness.
Context
The International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation (IASP) is the world’s leading network of innovation spaces such as Science and Technology Parks and innovation districts. IASP member Potsdam Science Park Standortmanagement Golm GmbH currently holds the presidency of the IASP European Division, one of IASP’s strongest regional divisions representing over 150 parks and areas that support thousands of startups, scale-ups, research institutes, and corporations.
In April 2026, Potsdam Science Park hosted the 2ndPotsdam International Forum “Science Parks and Competitiveness: Bridging Regional Growth with European Innovation and Research Policy”, bringing together experts from 19 countries alongside European Commission and European Innovation Council officials, regional policymakers, and innovation ecosystem practitioners from 26 European Science Parks from the IASP network. The forum took place at a moment of rare strategic openness: the design decisions for the EU’s next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2028–2034, the proposed European Competitiveness Fund (ECF), and the 10th Framework Program for Research and Innovation (FP10; Horizon Europe) are still being shaped. The proposal for the European Innovation Act—originally planned for March 2026 as the cross-sectoral legal framework at the centre of the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy – has been further delayed due to the complexity of the discussion.
IASP and the European Science Park community submit this paper as a contribution to the current debates on European cohesion and funding policy and the competitiveness of Europe’s regions. It is based on the discussions of 100 policy makers, practitioners and intermediaries who gathered at the 2nd Potsdam International Forum.
Download the IASP Position Paper now via the button below!
Further Information
International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation (IASP)
Image credit: © Christian Lue on Unsplash
Contact – President of the IASP European Division
Agnes von Matuschka
Managing Director
agnes.matuschka@potsdam-sciencepark.de +49 331 237 351 135