Specific Support to Slovakia

In recent years, a small but fully fledged startup ecosystem has started to emerge in Slovakia; this entrepreneurial sector can contribute significantly to the modernisation of the country’s economy, becoming more competitive and innovation-driven; but it must be nurtured by supporting investors and reforming the business environment: these are the findings of the PSF expert panel the Slovak government asked for specific advice. This article summarises their findings, including an overview of their 21 detailed recommendations, grouped into six principal ‘policy messages’.

A ‘Policy Support Facility’ (PSF) has been set up by the Directorate-General for Research & Innovation (DG RTD) of the European Commission under the European Framework Programme for Research & Innovation ‘Horizon 2020’, in order to support Member States and associated countries in reforming their national science, technology and innovation systems.

In this report, the team of experts presents the changes made to the Slovak start-up ecosystem since the presentation of their recommendations in their first report at the end of 2016. As most of the measures are still ‘in the making’, their final materialisation remains somewhat open. Nonetheless, the planned moves suggest substantial efforts on the part of the Slovak government to implement the recommendations.