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POLICY ANSWERS strengthened research and innovation policy capacity in North Macedonia, focusing on agile coordination to drive innovation into action. The programme, implemented jointly by UMIR Foundation for Industrial Research and INOVA, took a mission-oriented approach — anchoring capacity building in the country’s Smart Specialisation Strategy and the digital and green transitions.
The programme supported capacity building across the full policy cycle, strengthening policy design, coordination, monitoring and evaluation through study visits and broad stakeholder dissemination. Two major technology transfer conferences, TwinTech Connect 2025 and TwinTech Talk 2025, connected national and international expertise. Targeted capacity building on smart specialisation engaged over 150 participants, helping policymakers, businesses and researchers work together to identify priorities and turn them into concrete actions.
Gabriella Costska Bogeska, from the UMIR Foundation for Industrial Research, put it plainly:
«We all talk about funding envelopes, but when we go into the real world we see that we lack skills, in all sectors, not only academia but also companies.»
«For us, capacity building is not about training people only. It’s also about increasing trust and cooperation between the stakeholders.»
«Policy Answers became a brand. And the Western Balkans Info Hub as well, because it goes together. You cannot separate those two things.»
Watch the video presenting the achievements of the capacity building activities in North Macedonia.