Abstract. The paper examines governmental strategies, main actors and instruments of innovation policies shaping innovation-driven economy in Finland, with particular attention to the regional scale. The analysis focuses on how the regional innovation systems approach became a framework for the design of innovation policies. An innovation system involves cooperation between firms and knowledge creating and diffusing organizations, – such as universities, colleges, training organizations, R&D-institutes, technology transfer agencies. Innovations are considered as interactive learning process. Cooperation and interaction between regional/local and national/international actors is necessary to combine both local and non-local knowledge, skills and competences. The key elements of the policy environment, as well as implementation of the main regional innovation policy instruments – the Centers of Expertise Programme and Regional Centre Programme – are described.