Exploiting International Partnerships to Promote Innovative Investments

International cooperation becomes more valuable when it helps partners build something they could not deliver separately. That is the theme behind the chapter “Exploiting International Partnerships to Promote Innovative Investments”, co-authored by Anita Tregner-Mlinaric, Alessia Melasecche Germini and Andrea Di Anselmo. Published by Springer in 2023, it appears in volume 500 of Studies in Systems, Decision and Control.

The publisher's overview connects smart specialisation partnerships with the development of joint investment projects. Drawing on that broad theme, this article offers our practical perspective on preparing an international partnership for decisions about investment, delivery and continued cooperation.

Give the partnership a shared investment question

A network can bring together organisations with interesting expertise without immediately producing a shared project. The first preparation task is to identify a decision that genuinely requires collaboration. What will the partners invest in, which problem will it address and why is a joint approach appropriate? A clear answer gives future discussions a common reference point.

The answer should be specific enough to test. Instead of beginning with a large programme of possible activities, describe one intended result and the capabilities needed to deliver it. This makes it easier to assess who belongs in the partnership, what each organisation must contribute and which questions should be resolved before further resources are committed.

Identify complementarity along the value chain

A partnership becomes easier to explain when the relationship between its members is concrete. One organisation might supply a specialised component, another provide a testing environment and another integrate the result into a production process. The value of cooperation comes from how those contributions fit together around the same opportunity.

A useful preparation exercise is to map the proposed result from development through production, use and support. Identify the capabilities already available and the gaps that need to be filled. Then examine whether a prospective partner contributes a missing capability or a necessary route to deployment. This creates a more purposeful basis for collaboration than selecting members primarily because they are already known to the coordinator.

Agree how decisions will be made

Partners can share an objective while working with different investment timetables, approval processes and expectations. Those differences should be discussed while the project is being shaped. Identify which decisions the partnership must make collectively and which remain the responsibility of individual organisations. Agree how information will be shared and how a decision will be recorded.

A simple governance arrangement is often a useful starting point. Name the people who can make commitments, define the matters that require escalation and establish how changes will be assessed. Clear governance also supports trust: partners understand how their interests will be considered and what happens when a technical result or market assumption changes the original plan.

Address ownership and access before they become urgent

Shared work can produce results that different partners want to use in different ways. The preparation process should therefore identify the background knowledge each organisation brings, the results the collaboration may create and the access needed to continue the work. The relevant agreements should be developed with suitable specialist advice.

At the project-design stage, the important task is to make the questions visible and assign responsibility for answering them. For example, a testing partner may need access to technical information while an industrial partner needs certainty about commercial use. Understanding those needs early helps the team plan tasks and negotiations around a realistic operating model.

A partnership becomes investable through the decisions its members can make together.

Use evidence to move through preparation stages

A joint investment rarely becomes fully defined in one meeting. It develops as the partners test technical possibilities, understand demand and examine practical constraints. A staged preparation process makes that development easier to manage. At each stage, define what needs to be learned and the decision that the new evidence will support.

The evidence should be proportionate to the commitment ahead. An initial concept may need a concise description of the customer problem and the partners' capabilities. A more developed proposal may need validated costs, implementation responsibilities and a credible route to operation. Moving in stages allows partners to refine or stop an idea before it absorbs resources that should be directed elsewhere.

Make technical assistance decision-oriented

An external adviser can add value by helping partners turn a broad ambition into a set of manageable choices. That might involve testing the project logic, identifying missing information or helping different organisations agree a common preparation sequence. The useful output is something the partnership can apply in its own decisions.

Before commissioning support, specify the question it should help answer. Is the collaboration ready to develop a joint application? Does the proposed investment have a sufficiently clear user? Are the partners' responsibilities workable? A defined question helps keep technical assistance focused and allows the partnership to assess whether the assignment has moved the project forward.

Build relationships that remain useful

The longer-term value of a partnership depends partly on the capabilities and working relationships that remain after a particular assignment. Partners should be able to reuse what they have learned about their market, their technology and one another. A practical record of decisions and evidence helps preserve that value when teams or funding opportunities change.

The original chapter is linked below for readers interested in its academic discussion. For organisations developing their own collaboration, the immediate task is to define a shared investment question and a realistic preparation process. VECTORA Europe combines regional innovation knowledge with partnership and project development. Discuss your partnership with us if you are working to turn an international connection into a concrete investment opportunity.