Implementing smart specialisation roadmaps in Lithuania: Lost in translation?

• Discusses the methodological approach for smart specialisation roadmaps
• Discusses obstacles to translating bottom up FTA results into policy decisions
• Presents the ‘stairway of competences’ model

The study of Future-Oriented Technology Analysis (FTA) and how they translate into policy decisions and practice has gained pace in the last decade. In this paper, we present a case study on the application of FTA methods for entrepreneurial discovery and the design of S3 policy mixes in Lithuania, where a three-staged FTA process was adopted for defining the country's smart specialisation (S3) priorities and their implementation strategies. We unpack the methodological assumptions underpinning the process and show how the design of the policy mixes in the roadmaps moved away from proposed guidelines. Focusing on the last stage which involved the development of roadmaps for the implementation of selected S3 priorities, our study suggests that the participatory FTA approach encouraged joint ownership of the selected priorities, fostered trans-sectoral dialogue, and entrepreneurial learning. Through the reflective gaze of three alternative scenarios and the broad outlooks of the implementation of the S3 roadmaps, evaluation and key learnings from the project are presented.