VINNOVA, the main funding agency for EUREKA projects companies and research organizations wishing to participate in EUREKA projects, welcomes and supports the efforts to discuss and further develop Community innovation policies. VINNOVA also agrees with the general description of the importance of innovation for long term sustainable growth and [...]

The world is heading into troubled waters. Every feeling person senses it. Yet the Commission’s paper curiously called EUROPE 2020 A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth seems to be living in a world of its own. Its authors live in a see-no-evil, hear-no-evil world. They sense no dangers.
It just wants to get over [...]

The Commissioners for Innovation and Industry have been saying the kindest of things about one another (through gritted teeth)
Was it just me or were Commissioner Maire Geogeghan-Quinn and Antonio Tajani overdoing the mutual appreciation at their joint press conference on Wednesday?
They each seemed at great pains to say how well they get on and how [...]

Sir,
Regarding ‘Small firms slam ‘deceptive’ EU accounting plans‘:
I am British and wanted to come and start a business in Belgium as my daughter is at university there studying law. But when I looked into it all, it is so expensive to set up as heavy capital is required. Lawyers and accountants fees are also very [...]

Last week, the Lisbon  Council hosted one of my favourite events ever, The 2010 Innovation Summit. It was what an event on innovation should be: open to new ideas, collaborative and, well, simply different. Intellectually, the discussions were underpinned by a new e-brief we launched at the occasion, entitled Wikinomics and the Era of Openness: [...]

I was invited to have a contribution – sounds like make a donation, but it isn’t the case - and comment some topics in the agenda of this European investment forum. Well, I’m not very sure of attending the event, but took the opportunity to express some thoughts, partially reproduce below. Somehow it seemed [...]

Sir,
Many researchers across Europe are unhappy with the administrative burden of European research funding. The Framework Programme, as the biggest part of this funding, is far from easy to use despite many efforts at simplification.
Many stakeholders, including the European Commission, are working on simplifying the participation rules. That’s certainly promising. However, what is missing so [...]

At her speech to the Lisbon Council’s 2010 Innovation Summit last week, the EU’s highly charismatic and enthusiastic Chief Innovation Officer, Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn laid out her vision of transforming Europe into an “I-conomy”, connecting and speeding up innovation all along the whole policy chain from research to retail, building a functional single market for [...]

The ERRIN innovation event, The Hospital of the Future, 2 March 2010, explored the future of the hospital as a recipient of financially and environmentally sustainable investment.
The key outcome for me, as one of the moderators of the event, was the emerging view of the hospital as a major innovator within their local/regional economies.
Hospitals are [...]

This story about Europe as an Innovation Union was published by EurActiv on 2nd March 2010.
The EU’s new growth strategy, due to be rubber-stamped by the new Barroso Commission on Wednesday (3 March), includes a blueprint for transforming Europe into an ‘Innovation Union’ by 2020.
A leaked draft of the ‘Europe 2020′ strategy ties together research, [...]

I had the distinct honour of speaking at and participating in a panel discussion at the European Foundation for Management Development conference at Advancia, in Paris recently. An informed group assembled to hear from entrepreneurs and academics.
I was impressed with the work of Advancia and the support it gets from the Paris Chamber of Commerce. [...]

Article published in EDRi-gram 8.3
On January 28 and 29, the Council of Europe held a consultation meeting on the launch of work on a new international instrument that would create neighbouring rights for broadcasting organisations. The purpose of this initiative is to take up the work of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) which, following [...]

A troubling thought: are the pro-innovation policy wonks talking to the cost-containment pencil pushers?
Doing the rounds of innovation conferences in Brussels, it’s clear that a huge section of the EU’s political and industry machinery is convinced we need to be more innovative.
The logic will be familiar to most: we can’t compete with Asia’s low [...]

This week we had a kick-off meeting in Brussels for Ecolink+, an eco-innovation project supported by DG Enterprise under the umbrella of Europe INNOVA and the CIP programme. In this project ERRIN is partnering, among others, with Eurada, EBN and two expert consultancies in the area of innovation management and early stage investment, Meta-Group and [...]

Joint Programming involves Member States engaging voluntarily in the definition, development and implementation of common strategic research agendas. It may involve strategic collaboration between existing national programmes or jointly planning and setting up entirely new ones. In both cases, it entails putting resources together, selecting or developing the most appropriate instrument(s), implementing, and collectively monitoring [...]

Plans to publish a European Innovation Act ahead of the spring meeting of EU leaders are on hold.
The new innovation strategy is now more likely to be published this summer.
In the meantime, the new European Commissioners - particularly those responsible for industry and innovation - are trying to redraw lines of responsibility which have [...]

This article about European innovation strategy was published by EurActiv on 29th January 2010.
Plans to unveil an Innovation Act in time for the spring meeting of EU leaders have been stalled while the new European Commission beds down and looks at broadening the scope of the strategy.
The document is now expected to be published [...]

BioGenetics Capital’s decision to invest in the CRO appears to be a shrewd one especially considering the global CRO market is estimated to be at $10 billion (€8.4 billion) and growing at an annual rate of 14 to 16 per cent.
BioGenetics Capital announced that it has closed a $5.5 million financing round with Contract Research [...]

Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, the new Commissioner responsible for research, innovation and science, was not prominently mentioned in the media reports on the European Parliament hearings (except perhaps in her home country Ireland). However, she did leave a positive “can do” impression and did not face any difficulties in passing the European Parliament’s assessment of the Barroso [...]

I apologise for my long absence from this blog. Recently I have, of course, followed the Commission hearings, at least for those of the new Commissioners that are most interesting from a regional research and innovation viewpoint.
Clearly, this was a great moment for the European Parliament and for European democracy. One MEP quoted by [...]