National Development Strategy Croatia 2030: Roadmap for a Better Future

SMEs’ performance in innovation is low in comparison to the EU average. 
This is in part due to 
the lack of R&D funding opportunities for SMEs. Even though the situation has somewhat improved, 
mainly due to the availability of EU-funded programs, lengthy procedures for launching of public calls and 
evaluating proposals reduce the positive effects of increased funding. 
46.
The capacity of the public sector to support creation of a knowledge-intensive economy is low. 
Allocation of public funding for R&D in the public sector is not sufficiently linked to the potential of the 
research conducted to produce new products and services. This is also due to the still insufficient collabo-
ration between the public and private sectors in R&D. Even though some indicators show fast improvement 
– for instance the number of scientific publications with at least one co-author based abroad, an indicator 
of international cooperation - a more tangible impact of scientific research on the economy is still lacking. 
47.
The low contribution of the public research sector to Croatia’s innovation performance is con-
nected to the weak incentives of public organizations to seek and protect intellectual property.
This 
is partially due to the poorly defined legal framework to own and manage intellectual property (e.g. 
regarding the applicability of public procurement regulations in cases of spin-off companies). 
48.
The lack of effective mechanisms for horizontal coordination
among different organizations in-
volved in the planning and implementation of science, technology and innovation policies makes the 
achievement of more strategic approaches to the overall activities in the public sector difficult. A smart 
specialization strategy framework has only recently been established and it remains to be seen how much 
it will improve the current situation. Also, lack of permanent evaluation practices prevents an assessment 
of the effectiveness and efficiency of public financing of R&D. 
49.