Global competition is today a reality and making smart regions smarter through smart specialization
is currently on the political and economic agenda of territories. This study aims to contribute to
clarifying the framework for the regional innovation ecosystems as well as identifying new research
paths. Through extensive research using the Web of Science database with resource to a bibliometric
analysis on smart specialization, six clusters were identified: cluster 1 – innovation networks and
triple helix; cluster 2 - regional innovation systems; cluster 3 – regional innovation network; cluster
4 - smart innovation policies; cluster 5 – smart specialization; and cluster 6 - Asian innovation
systems. Several future lines of research recently published in literature distributed by the six
clusters were identified. This study also contributes to open new research horizons in these areas of
knowledge, allowing the emergence of new streams of thought on the part of scholars, policymakers,
economic agents and society in general. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
