Applied research which responds to real market needs, will be prioritized. Business opportunities in the cooperation space will arise through developing innovative solutions that are adapted to the challenges that exist in the territories involved, and the n transferred to the market.

The Macaronesia region and the Third Countries suffer from a significant deficit in terms of research and innovation, especially evident in African countries.

The cooperation area is located far from the so-called regional innovation leaders, with the outermost European regions and the Third Countries considered to be moderate innovators. According to the pillars of competitiveness established by the World Economic Forum, these territories are, in general terms and setting aside differences between them, at a basic level of competitiveness centred on factor-driven economies. As yet, few steps have been taken towards an efficiency-driven model, which is a very necessary condition to achieving an innovation-driven model. In this sense, it becomes especially important to focus on policies that are based on the efficiency-innovation binomial.

It follows from this that there exists not only a shared weakness in relation to research (particularly applied research), and innovation, but also a lack of stable mechanisms that support the transfer of knowledge to the private sector. In fact, the low level of cooperation between research centres and universities and the business world constitute one of the most serious problems faced by innovation systems in the territory. The limited participation of companies in research initiatives and groups means that business is distanced from the effective needs of the market. This leads to suboptimal use of R&D&i capacities by companies, which thus in turn see their potential for innovation reduced.

In this context, cooperation efforts must go in two main directions:

In the first place, it is essential to consolidate a common technological “ecosystem” that facilitates interaction between university and research centres and industry. This is the only way forward when it comes to improving the performance of R&D for regional economic networks and, therefore, increasing the performance of innovation systems.

Secondly, it is vital to increase the broad promotion of the appraisal and transfer of research outcomes, so that, through joint work, outcomes reach the market and provide solutions to the needs of the business system in the Cooperation Space. In fact, improving the transfer of scientific and technological knowledge to the business sector, as a result of joint work, will promote greater efficiency in regional innovation systems and value creation, thus promoting the interface between knowledge and the innovation that the market needs.

Public-private cooperation makes it possible, in this framework, to overcome difficulties faced by the productive system, particularly for smaller companies, by bringing together the research capabilities of the territory and the effective needs of the productive system, in this way reaching critical mass and minimizing the dispersion of efforts in the cooperation area. This will make it possible to consolidate an innovative culture that guarantees the competitiveness of companies in international markets.

As such, there is an imperative need to support R&D&i aimed at responding to the demands of companies and the broader community as a whole, as well as the transfer of knowledge in order to support the development of technological solutions for applying research outcomes.

To this end, the following types of actions are proposed, among others:

Actions must prioritize key sectors, including, in addition to those specifically detailed in the smart specialisation strategies in the MAC area, sustainable tourism, the aerospace sector, the green economy and the blue economy. Capitalizing on the results obtained in the projects developed within the framework of MAC 2007-2013 and 2014-2020 Programs constitute a priority and transversal objective of MAC 2021-2027 and will be especially valued in the projects that fall within this specific objective. Projects under this objective are expected to contribute to the Atlantic 2.0 Action Plan for a sustainable, resilient and competitive blue economy. Specifically, they are expected to contribute to the second pillar of the Action Plan: improving the blue professional skills of the future and the knowledge of the oceans.

The target groups include both the beneficiaries themselves, as well as the productive sectors and society as a whole that may benefit from the development of projects.