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A peer review service tailor-made for regions

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The Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform offers a free on-demand peer review service, where a two-day knowledge-exchange experience can be designed to advise on a region’s policy frameworks. This service will be presented in detail on 25 March at the webinar “Ambitious Skills and Innovation Strategies: A territorial Approach” as one of the opportunities regions can use to implement bold regional development strategies.

Peer feedback & insights for regional policymaking

Policymakers and practitioners of regional development policies can face a number of challenges related to the design, implementation, and monitoring of the regional policies that they oversee. When faced with such challenges, one of the best solutions is to reach out for help to those who have relevant experience to share. This is why the Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform’s peer review service offers policymakers to meet and exchange with peers from other parts of Europe. Sharing about challenges and enablers of other policy initiatives is deemed to bring new insights to their work.

What is a peer review?

The Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform can organise 2-day meetings in the region of the beneficiary organisation or online. Going deep into the issues and challenges of a specific territory, this peer review service allows its beneficiary to exchange, learn and brainstorm with a carefully selected group of practitioners from other European regions.

The below 3 minutes video shows how the peer reviews work in practice.

Topics addressed are the following:

  • Research and Innovation
  • Low-carbon Economy
  • Environment and Resource Efficiency
  • SME competitiveness

3 reasons to apply

  1. Find the best solution for your regional challenge through exchanging with peers
  2. Meet in person or online; the format will be adapted to your needs
  3. Easy application process, online, no supporting documents

What do regional representatives think about it?

The peer review allows you to show that new ideas and approaches work elsewhere, a powerful tool.

Jan Nylander, host of a peer review for Region Gävleborg, Sweden

It is nice that we can use quick and efficient instruments [like the peer review] because, very often, the framework programmes are impressive and important instruments but sometimes they can’t provide quick or practical solutions to what one is looking for. I was very impressed that the selected peers provided advice relevant to the Bulgarian environment. And this is, of course, very important because we can’t accept any solutions, they have to be adapted to our regional/national context.

Karina Angelieva, host of a peer review in Sofia, Bulgaria

For more information on the peer review service of the Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform, and have the opportunity to ask questions, join the webinar on 25 March at 10:00 CET!

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Call for Proposals: Research & Innovation Projects in response to COVID-19

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If you are an organisations interested in submitting research and innovation proposals in response to short to medium-term COVID-19 specific needs in Austria, Canada, Denmark, France, The Netherlands, Spain and Turkey, this call for proposals is for you. The Assembly of European Regions is happy to present this call launched by the Eureka Network. The Eureka Network is an intergovernmental organisation for market-driven industrial Research, Development and Innovation.

The call for project proposals may include but not limited to: 

  • Infection prevention and protection
  • Sanitation technology
  • Diagnostics and testing
  • Therapeutics, vaccines and medicines
  • Disease-tracking technology, analytical solutions for health systems
  • Smart technology for COVID-19 patients
  • Smart technologies and support systems for critical production and supply chains under lockdown
  • Safe mobility: migration data and trends, regional risk monitoring, protection of isolated and risk groups, safe use of public transports
  • Education technologies and digital workplace.

This call for solutions for the COVID-19 Echo Period only concern organisations in the following countries (based on mutual consent between participating national funding bodies (NFB):

  • Austria (Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft – FFG)
  • Canada (National Research Council Industrial Research Assistance Program – NRC IRAP)
  • Denmark (Innovation Fund Denmark – IFD)
  • France (Bpifrance)
  • The Netherlands (Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland – RVO)
  • Spain (Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnologico Industrial – CDTI)
  • Turkey (Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştırma Kurumu – TÜBİTAK)

Application deadline: 15 May 2020.

You can apply here.The form must be completed in English.

Eligibility criteria  

In order to apply to the present call, the partners must meet the following qualifications:

  • The consortium should include at least two organisations independent of each other from at least two of the participating countries.
  • Funding assistance follows each national funding body’s (NFB) funding regulations.
  • The project partners must express their willingness to cooperate, on a win-win/fair basis in the development of a new product, industrial process or service.
  • The product, process or service must be innovative and there must be a technological risk involved.
  • The project must have a civilian purpose.
  • The project should benefit all involved partners in a well-balanced consortium.
  • The project should have an obvious advantage and added value resulting from the technologic cooperation between the participants (e.g. increased knowledge base, commercial leads, access to R&D infrastructure, etc.).
  • The duration of the project may not exceed 12 months.
  • Projects are expected to start by August 3 2020. Participants must discuss with their NFB about the expected start date of their activities. NFB regulations may apply.
  • Product, service or process implementation or market launch should happen no later than 6 months after project completion.

 Important to note: Each participating NFB may apply additional eligibility criteria based on their national regulations. Applicants are strongly advised, prior to submitting the application, to contact their NFB to discuss their project idea, and verify their and their project’s eligibility.

Partners from other Eureka countries or countries outside of the Eureka network can also participate, but funding must be secured within the deadlines of the call.

 More information here.

 If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the AER Secretariat. 

Photo by Ousa Chea on Unsplash

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New project on connecting local governments & research communities: do you wish to join it?

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AER Secretariat wish to share with the entire network an interesting project proposal that HESAM University in cooperation with the Burgundy-Franche-Comté region is developing within the 4th call for proposals of the Interreg Europe, one of the main funding programme that European regions can access.

Lear more about the project proposal

This project proposal, entitled  “COnnecting LOcal government and the REsearch community to address REsource efficiency and environmental opportunities” aims to improve regional policies, in particular these policies supported by ERDF / ESF operational programs, in the field of ecological transition and natural and cultural heritage protection (Priority Axis 4 – Environment and Resource Efficiency).

The project relates more specifically to the cooperation practices between research universities/centers and mainly rural communities, that can support local authorities in the design and implementation of innovative solutions.

Regional policies on ecological transition and the protection and valorization of natural and cultural heritage should make a stronger link between structural funds and smart support to rural communities. They would thus facilitate: 1. linking local authorities and researchers to develop innovative solutions adapted to local issues; 2. the emergence and maturation of these solutions, and the support of partnerships between communities and researchers (“facilitation”).

 Lear more about the Lead Partner 

HESAM University is a federal university bringing together fifteen research and higher education organisations, with 54 campuses all over France. Its members have developed long-term cooperation with local communities (regional and local councils, industry). HESAM is promoting partnerships between research and local government with the project “1000 PhD students for territories” (winner of the call for expression of interest of the Ministry of Higher Education on the professional integration of graduates in SSH). Its purpose is to connect communities (town halls, councils, departments, etc.) or local NGOs with PhD students under a national research scheme, known as “thèses CIFRE”. The application of the CIFRE scheme – initially developed for research and industry partnerships – to local government / research partnerships gained speed with several experiments in the Burgundy-Franche-Comté region, and is one of the good practices the Lead Partner would propose to share along this new project, and confront to other regional initiatives.

Lear more about the partner searched to complete the consortium

The new partners should be European Regions that are managing authorities in terms of European funds, and which have a strong rural component and varied experiences (both in terms of volume and type of experience) on communities and researchers’ cooperation.

If you are interested to learn more about this project opportunity or to join the consortium, please come back to us before 26ht April.

Contact

European Projects

Agnese Pantaloni

Phone: +32 2 400 10 52
E-mail: a.pantaloni(at)aer.eu
Skype ID: agnesepanta
Languages: it, en, pt

Articles by Agnese


  • EU funding
  • Calls for projects and tenders
  • Partner search

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Policy learning event on research and innovation and SME competitiveness

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Don’t miss the #policylearning event in Milan organised by the Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform. The two day networking conference will be a unique opportunity to learn about the latest developments concerning the use of R&D results and open innovation, to share on how to better contribute to the competitiveness of SMEs and regional growth and to find out what the platform has in store for you.

19-20 October 2017 in Milan – Research & innovation and SME competitiveness

During the two-day events you will:

  • Meet colleagues working with similar topics
  • Hear about the latest EU-wide developments in your field
  • Have opportunity to share experiences, learn from each other and collaborate with each other
  • Test the services of the Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform

The events welcome Interreg Europe project partners, representatives of the managing authorities of the Structural Funds programmes and other policy actors working with any of the event topics.

Participation is free of charge. Places are however limited and allocated on a ‘first-come, first-served’ basis, so register now and start preparing for a new kind of #policylearning experience!

Go to the Policy Learning Platform event page for more information and for registration.

About the Policy Learning Platform

The Policy Learning Platform is the second principal activity besides the projects funded by the Interreg Europe programme. Our aim is to make the projects knowledge accessible and usable by other regions and to offer networking, knowledge sharing and policy learning opportunities to any interested region even without being partner in a project. We create a hub of information and services to facilitate continuous learning mainly among local and regional public authorities in Europe. You can learn from the experiences and solutions of your peers and benefit from the policy know-how of our experts. As our platform community grows, so will the pool of good practices and expertise in our four topics: research and innovation, competitiveness of SMEs, low-carbon economy, and the environment and resource efficiency. Join us today to exchange with the other policy makers in your field and access expert services, tools and information on how to improve the effectiveness of your regional development policies and programmes.

If you have not already done so, register now to the Policy Learning Platform community to access the services (if you already have an Interreg Europe account, you can update it in a few simple clicks to join the Policy Learning Platform community)

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Committee 1 debates artificial intelligence

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On the occasion of AER 2017 Autumn Plenaries, Committee 1 will host a debate on Artificial Intelligence. Proposed by Jean-Luc Vanraes, President of the AER Committee on Regional Developpement and Economy, the debate will aim to capture needs, challenges and remarquable practices from the regions. This will help to prepare the “Artificial intelligence: are regions up to the challenge?” event hosted by Brussels capital on 30 November.

After e-everything comes #AI

The AER Committee on Economy and Regional Development is a space for exchange of experiences where members discuss policy innovation and engage in interregional cooperation. The cooperation with the AER Committee on Social Policy and Public health, which has been working on e-health for over 10 years led to a joint stakeholder mapping for the development of health innovation ecosystems and in december 2015 the organisation of a multistakeholder event “E-health: let’s find a common language“. This event brought together regional policy makers, SMEs, universities, NGOs to explore challenges and share experience about barriers and enablers for the deployment of e-health.

Topics discussed ranged from innovation procurement to stakeholder engagement and the connection between universities and the industry. But innovation goes fast and discussing e-health and the digitalisation of most policy areas without looking at artificial intelligence would simply not be fair.

#AI, why all this fuzz?

The 2016 OECD Technology Foresight report on AI reveals that “a number of leading artificial intelligence experts warn that the likely impact of artificial intelligence in the years ahead is still underappreciated by policymakers and the public at large”.

This is why AER is organising the “Artificial intelligence: are regions up to the challenge?” event on 30 November. The event will bring together experts from all fields, we’ll hear about state of the art technologies, new perspectives. But here’s the deal: AER is not just organising nice events, we care about mutual learning. AER is all about experience exchange, policy learning, territorial innovation.

To prepare for this event we want to ensure discussions will actually answer regional needs. Discussions should provide valuable inputs for policy makers from across Europe. This is  why we’re organising a debate this wednesday 13 September in Nancy. We’re interested to hear about regional outstanding examples, companies that make your region thrive, the stakeholders which are true changemakers, but also the failures you wish you’d not been through. Be bold, share your experience, your worries and hopes!

 

Photo of Pepper, the first humanoid robot capable of recognising the principal human emotions and adapting his behaviour to the mood of his interlocutor, mostly used in E-health. By Alex Knight on UnsplashFollow AER!

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JPICH Digital Heritage: Looking for a research lab?

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As we approach the European Year of Cultural Heritage, AER and its members have been active and creative in engaging culture-focused projects.

Mesarch, a research laboratory dealing with the history and theory of Modern Architecture in the Eastern Mediterranean (Department of Architecture, University of Cyprus) is interested in teaming up with other research networks working on the JPICH Digital Heritage Call.

Are you interested in growing your network within the scope of the JPICH Digital Heritage Call? Are you working on projects dealing with cultural heritage?

If yes is your answer, Mesarch is interested in hearing from you.

What can Mesarch offer for your project?

At least three research teams and a maximum of five teams are allowed for each project Consortium, each from a different eligible country. As associate partners can have key roles in exploration of knowledge transfer/exchange potential and impact of the proposed research, Mesarch offers you its Lab members’ extensive research experience and expertise in Cyprus and abroad. Mesarch Lab can certainly contribute to both extending the network and also shaping a competitive and high standard research proposal.

Research programs done by Mesarch cover the following issues:

  • critical historiography and digital research tools,
  • history-theory of modern architecture and urbanism,
  • social dimensions of urban development in 20th Century,
  • politics of environmentalism and sustainability in architecture,
  • cultural heritage, memory and conflict in Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Owing to these experiences, Mesarch is ready to be a partner in your 12-36 months-length project at any stages on the following topics:

  • Topic one ‘The Critical: Engagements with Digital Heritage’,
  • Topic two ‘The Curatorial: Communities and Digital Heritage’.

The Research Lab is especially keen to discuss:

  • projects considering modern architectural heritage in areas of conflict
  • projects considering the ways digital scholarship is affecting both historiography and heritage studies.

About Digital Heritage and research

Cultural heritage is digitised or born-digital. Digital methods are used for the creation, exploration, study, understanding, interpretation, presentation and dissemination of as well as conservation and protection of tangible and intangible cultural heritage. It also includes the promotion of community engagement with, and the use of, heritage. However, this Call does not focus on only the involvement of researchers of the digital heritage field, but it also targets interdisciplinary research-based projects aiming at maximising the value and impact of research outcomes through exchanges of all stakeholders such as researchers of any field, general public and policy makers.

For those who are interested in the JPICH Digital Heritage Call

This funding opportunity of the Joint Programming Initiative in Cultural Heritage and Global Change is designed to support research-based transnational proposals in the area of Digital Heritage, and therefore, meeting societal challenges. Projects need to be focused on a main topic, but those can address more than one of the 3 research topics in order to meet these challenges affecting cultural heritage in a broader sense:

  • Topic one ‘The Critical: Engagements with Digital Heritage’: Exploring ways to engage new audiences and encourage the use of digital heritage to promote critical and reflective cultural engagements with that certain heritage.
  • Topic two ‘The Curatorial: Communities and Digital Heritage’: Exploring ways of more effectively co-curating digital cultural heritage with communities or understanding a communities’ digital heritage.
  • Topic three ‘Safeguarding Digital Heritage’: new ethical, legal and governance policies to ensure the usability and sustainability of these services, databases and practices of research.

Only beneficiaries located in the countries participating in the JPICH Digital Heritage Call and eligible for the funding organisation specified are eligible to apply, irrespective of their nationality. The Consortium have the opportunity for the proposal submission until 14:00 (CEST) on 22th June.

If you are planning to contact us, please send an e-mail to the AER Secretariat by 14th June.Follow AER!

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Call for expressions of interest for third call of Interreg Europe

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We are pleased to share with you that the next edition of the interregional cooperation forum, Europe, let’s cooperate, will be held on 22-23 March 2017 in Malta by Interreg Europe. The forum’s goal is to help prepare for the third call of Interreg Europe by facilitating the presentation and exchange of ideas, along with building new partnerships and completing existing ones. As such, it could be especially interesting for regional authorities to attend.

If you are a region in the European Union, you can apply to get co-financing from the European Regional Development Fund for working with other regions (also in the EU), learning from each other and solving common challenges under the following topics: Research & innovation, SME competitiveness, Low-carbon economy, and Environment and resource efficiency.

Research & innovation: aims to support sustainable growth that is increasingly related to the capacity of regional economies to innovate, transform and adapt to challenges. Through the Research and Innovation (R&I) theme, Interreg Europe fosters exchange of experience, capacity building and networking aimed at achieving the ‘smart growth’ envisioned in the Europe 2020 strategy and specifically in the EU Innovation Union flagship.

SME competitiveness: aims to improve policies that can boost entrepreneurship and support SMEs – in all stages of their life cycle – by helping them to grow and innovate and breaking down the barriers that prevent business growth. Through the SME Competitiveness theme, Interreg Europe fosters exchange of experience, capacity building and networking aimed at helping SMEs to grow in regional, national and international markets.

Low carbon economy: aims to reconcile the twin goals of carbon abatement and economic growth. Through the Low-carbon Economy theme, Interreg Europe fosters the exchange of experience and collection of best practices towards a low-carbon economy and how growth is achieved as a result of integrating all aspects of the economy around technologies and practices with low emissions.

Environment and resource efficiency: aims to better protect natural and cultural heritage and use Earth’s limited resources in a sustainable manner. Through the Environment and resource efficiency theme, Interreg Europe can help regions to find practices to answer regional challenges, such as preparing sustainable exploitation models for natural and cultural heritage assets, developing and integrating green infrastructure, encouraging SMEs to assess and address resource use issues, or, reducing waste volumes in SMEs and households.

If you are interested in working on Interreg Europe projects, please fill out this short survey by 20 March to help us help you network, build your consortia and develop a strong proposal.

For any additional information you might need, please feel free to get in touch with the AER Secretariat.Follow AER!

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A recognition of excellence

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The 2016 European Summit on Innovation for Active and Healthy Ageing was an opportunity to highlight the excellent initiatives from regions across Europe. The Summit brought together diverse stakeholders to boost Europe’s competitive advantage in the Silver Economy

The Silver what?

Europe is growing older and while this is a challenge because society has to adapt its strategies, products and services, it could also be an opportunity. Indeed in terms of world demographic trends, Europe will become older first. If Europe innovates first it will get a competitive advantage. If a large part of the population is getting older this means also a new market is being created, hence the reference to the Silver economy. the Silver Economy is believed to grow faster than the Green Economy, which says something about its potential.

The Silver Economy covers new market opportunities arising from public and consumer expenditure related to the rights, needs and demands of the (growing) population over 50.<br>Public spending on ageing in the EU accounts for 25% of GDP and 50% of general government expenditure and is projected to grow by 4% of GDP until 2060 (see the Commission’s 2015 Ageing report).

The European Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing

The Innovation Union strategy outlines the way the European Commission decided to support European competitiveness and tackle societal challenges. The focus is on research and innovation.

The European Commission has identified active and healthy ageing/ demographic change as a major societal challenge common to all European countries. It also presents considerable potential for Europe to lead the world in health innovation.

The Innovation Partnerships are one of the elements of the Innovation Union strategy. The Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP-AHA) brings together end users, public authorities, industry, all actors in the innovation cycle, and those engaged in standardisation and regulation.

The Partnership’s objective is to improve the framework conditions for uptake of innovation: Funding and investments in innovation need to be leveraged. But funding for research and innovation in European territories also needs to be more coherent and better coordinated.

Recognising excellent practices

Last year at the Conference of Partners of the EIP-AHA Günther Oettinger, EC Commissioner for the Digital Economy & Society announced a new Call for Reference sites. A total of 74 regional and local organisations have been awarded “Reference Site” status. The Reference Sites awards showcased the commitment of these local and regional organisations to invest over €4 billion in connected health and care for the ageing population until 2019 – an investment expected to benefit at least 4 million people across Europe.

8 AER member regions were among the winners: Catalonia (ES) ****, City of Zagreb (HR)*, East of France (FR)**, Friuli Venezia Giulia (IT)***, Ile de France (FR), Murcia (ES)**, Norrbotten (SE)***, Noord-Brabant Province (NL)***, Nouvelle-Aquitaine (FR)**.

Creating a shared vision

The European Innovation Partnership managed to engage stakeholders in the drafting of a shared vision on IT health innovation. This shared vision is known as the “Blueprint, digital transformation of health and care for the ageing society”. The Blueprint outlines how the journey of emerging digital “innovation to market” can be eased. It is also a manifesto for the alignment of innovation, economic and industrial policies with health and social care policies and with users’ and patients’ needs.  The Blueprint was handed over to Commissioner Oettinger by the Blueprint Champion and AER Member Encarna Guillen, Regional Health Minister from Murcia, ES.

This is also very much in line with the work AER carried out during its workshop on stakeholder engagement in health innovation ecosystems and the event it organised together with its partner networks “E-health: let’s find a common language”

Upcoming events

The ALEC 2017 event on 1-2 February will be an opportunity to further improve the dialogue between stakeholders. AER will, in particular, moderate a workshop on tapping into social capital and the engagement of carers and patients in integrated care systems.

 

ALEC 2017

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E-health: the future of healthcare!

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The new era of technology has opened a way to build an innovative system of healthcare, the so called e-health. It’s not only about technological improvements, the way of thinking is mainly changing. Many sectors are involved and the consequent shortcomings in communication and efficiency need to be addressed.

E-health and diversity

The healthcare system is now moving towards a new frontier. Open spaces for scientific information as online database for patients, forum for experience sharing and connections among stakeholders might be soon available. This new e-health environment is in fact bringing together stakeholders from very different sectors. Medical, business and technological companies need to work together. The diversity, however, is often generating communication problems which bring about not negligible consequences. Bad quality services, inefficiency, not rigorous scientific evaluations are outcomes which cannot be underestimated. For this reason stakeholders must gather and find a mutual understanding to overcome them.

Technology and patients

Creating digital platforms as well as data sharing need the intervention of technological companies. Dr. Bertalan Mesko, geek physician, explains on his blog The Medical Futurist, the great potentials of technological companies. They have a comparative advantage in developing new artificial intelligence. New tools for monitoring diseases, health services at your fingertips may really change people daily life. The main message however is that the creation of new products, of innovative ideas, must begin getting closer to the patients. Only understanding their needs we can think of how to make the difference. In the words of Dr. Mesko, “we need to embrace disruptive technologies, put patients in the center, shift from treatment to prevention and digitize the delivery of care“. It’s not just a matter of finding the right tech-device, but of understanding how to use it, who could benefits. The key challenge is to meet patient needs and technology, transforming the concept of healthcare.

E-health:let’s find a common language

Communication among stakeholders needs to be improved and they need opportunities to deepen cooperation. The AER’s Committee 1 & 2 are jointly organising the event “E-health:let’s find a common language” on 1 December in Brussels. The event will take place in the framework of the AER Regional Innovation Award ceremony, held on 30 November and it will give chances to boost engagements and develop a common understanding among stakeholders. Networking, sharing ideas and creating a global thinking are the commitments to change people attitudes. Let’s start from the local and regional level to build a future for digital healthcare.

 

Photo credits: Contrasto_gp @Flickr http://tinyurl.com/zffjr36Follow AER!

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Time to Make the EU’s Single Market Fit for the Digital Age

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Digitalization Transforms Our world

On 21 of April, Press Club Europe Brussels hosted the European Confederation of Directors Associations – ecoDa 2016 Annual Conference.

The theme of the conference was digitalization and the core question if “the European Directors are ready for a digitalized word?”

Existing barriers, legal, cultural, perceptional and other mean citizens miss out on goods and services, internet companies and start-ups have their horizons limited, and businesses and governments cannot fully benefit from digital tools. It’s time to make the EU’s single market fit for the digital age – tearing down regulatory walls and moving from 28 national markets to a single one. This could contribute €415 billion per year to our economy and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs,  so shares the European Commission.

The conference participants agreed that the internet and digital technologies are transforming our world and that immediate action is needed by the directors for the economy to keep the pace with these developments.

2016-04-22 13.05.35

European Association of Directors
European Association of Directors

2016-04-22 13.47.59

European Commission’s Susanne Knoefel, Deputy Head of Unit within DG Justice offered a closing speech on Digitalization in corporate governance followed by a wrap-up by Turid Elisabeth Solvang.

The conference was moderated by Peter H. Dehnen (owner and CEO of GermanBoardRoom GmbH and the President and co-founder of “Vereinigung der Aufsichtsräte in Deutschland e.V. (VARD)“ a German non-profit organization for supervisory board members) in a very welcoming and sublime manner leaving no questions unanswered, tackling every theme.

The conference banged away at impact on digital business and management, squared off the capacity of European Boards and Legislators embracing change caused by Digitalization, addressed the challenges of how we changed our way of working in a Digital Single Market and even “dared to” explore the dangers of the Dark Net by sending out the message it is not a question if a company will get hit by it, but when?

And when it happens are the companies prepared? Bashing the concept that Digitalization is something solely for IT Departments to take care, the conference succeeded to bring the role of directors in the process where it belongs: responsibility to manage the process by recognizing that digitalization steps are not strictly linear, but recursive and that only by including all in the process digitalization could be introduced properly. This also understands the ability to utilize capacities of entrepreneurs, scientists, experts and other innovators in business and to form teams that recognise that creativity and innovation are necessary to succeed and advance in a constantly changing world and marketplace.

The fast-paced technological advancement of the late 20th century and the opening of markets around the world through various trade agreements motivated companies to launch a profusion of new products and services, in many cases exploiting the advancing technology. As a consequence, digitalization became a crucial part of corporate strategy during this period as companies tried to remain competitive and not lose market shares to more innovative companies. To attain this level of competitiveness, companies require not only the sole implementation of digitalization, but also the management skills and corporate vision to implement the technologies successfully.In order to keep track of the global game, the economy and society of Europe need to make the most of digital. 47% of EU population is not properly digitally skilled, yet in the near future, 90% of jobs will require some level of digital skills.

The spread of digital is having a massive impact on the labour market and the type of skills needed in the economy and in the society.

  • It is changing the structure of employment, leading to the automation of “routine” tasks and to the creation of new and different types of jobs.
  • It is leading to the need for more skilled ICT professionals in all sectors of the economy. It is estimated that there will be 825 000 unfilled vacancies for ICT professionals by 2020.
  • It is leading to the need for digital skills for nearly all jobs where ICT complements existing tasks. In the near future 90% of jobs – in careers such as engineering, accountancy, nursing, medicine, art, architecture, and many more – will require some level of digital skills.
  • It changes the way we learn by fostering online communities, by enabling personalised learning experiences, by supporting the development of soft skills such as problem solving, collaboration and creativity, and by making learning fun.
  • It is leading to the need for every citizen to have at least basic digital skills in order to live, work, learn and participate in the modern society.

EcoDA’s Chair, Turid Elisabeth Solvang started the ball rolling by presenting the brillianlty selected panel composed of professor Robin Teigland (Stockholm School of Economics), Liselotte HaegertzEngstam (Digoshen Chair ), Liri Andersson (founder of “This Fluid World”), professor Ludo van der Hayden (professor of technology and operations management and Academic Director of INSEAD), Agnes Touraine (Chair of the French Institute of Directors – IFA), Peter Montagon (Associate Director, Institute of Business Ethics – IBE), Silvija Seres (MSC Computer Science (Oslo), MBA (INSEAD), PhD Mathematical Sciences (Oxford University), an investor and startup advisor from her company TechnoRocks, serves on several company boards), Roger Baker (Senior Consultant, Institute of Directors) and the Jean – Cristophe Gallien (the European Federation of Cyber Security Experts – EFCSE).

The full potential for improving education through ICT in Europe remains yet to be discovered and this is why we see the European Commission developing policy and supporting research to make learners fit for 21st century life and work.

 

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Mutual learning can solve the geek gap and much more

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Solutions for an age-friendly society require the collaboration of stakeholders, which are often not used to work together. IT developers and businesses may have very different ways of looking at a problem. Add to that the point of view of doctors, nurses, informal carers or patients and their sometimes unexpected ways of using technology and you will be heading for total chaos unless they all engage in a process of mutual learning.

How to do this and what types of tools to use were the main questions the over 80 attendees at the Engaged workshop discussed on 21 October in Letterkenny, after an inspiring talk on knowledge transfer and creation by Programme Manager Soo Hun from the Health and Social Care Northern Ireland.Follow AER!

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What has become of them? Former winners of AER Innovation Award!

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IMG_1005Health care in Noord-Brabant (NL), cluster policy in Lower-Austria (A), youth entrepreneurship in Wielkopolska (PL), Industrial policy in Västra Götaland (S), open innovation in Tampere (FIN), public sector modernisation in Slaskie (PL). 5 countries, 6 regions, 6 policy areas where innovation has made the difference and that the AER was the first to acknowledge as pioneers. On 5 November, representatives from these 6 regions presented what had become of their project. The good news? All the projects still run and most of them have been incorporated into the regional policy environment. All the winners praised the credibility that the prize brought to their project, within and outside of their region, and how it helped foster political backing for the project. The current call for application to the 2013 Regional Innovation edition Award runs until 6 December.Follow AER!

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European Clusters and Regions for Eco-Innovation Network Plus

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In Krakow, eco-tourism goes hand in hand with eco-innovation

Krakow, Malopolska (PL), 9 November 2011

How can eco-tourism contribute to an innovative regional development strategy? This question was at the heart of a conference held in Krakow, Malopolska region (PL), attended by around 100 participants.

Thanks to many examples of regional good practices, the experts agreed on key findings and recommendations:
• Making tourism sustainable involves the use of different territorial resources and potential as well as the adoption of a transversal approach to tourism.
• Learning and education are the main aspects of a successful eco-tourism strategy.
• To contribute to the greening of tourism stakeholders’ and visitors’ behaviour, it is crucial to establish partnerships with all related actors, in particular Small and Medium Enterprises, by assessing and improving their level of awareness regarding the environmental impact of their activities.
• Eco-innovation can help minimising the visitor-induced impact on tourism facilities and Information and Communication Technologies can allow for an efficient and innovative communication strategy.

This event was the 2nd dissemination conference of the INTERREG IVC project ECREIN+ (European Clusters and Regions for Eco-Innovation Network Plus), which aims to explore how regions can create and implement effective policies to support eco-innovation and green business in their territories. The project started in January 2010 and will end in December 2012.

The 12 ECREIN+ partners are: Rhône-Alpes (F-Lead Partner), Andalucía (E), Baden-Württemberg (D), Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce (UK), Galicia (E), Île-de-France (F), Lombardia (I), Malopolska (PL), Stara Zagora (BG), Uppsala (S), the Romanian Association of Municipalities (RO) and the Assembly of European Regions.

For more information: [email protected] AER!

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From “Subsidiarity is a word” to Cyber-subsidiarity

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Almere, Flevoland (NL), 26 August 2011

[Subsidiarity]: “Principle according to which decisions should be taken as closely to citizens as possible.” For the Assembly of European Regions (AER), the defence of the principle of subsidiarity remains a core value within the vision of a “Europe of regions”, respectful of the idea of bottom-up governance and which allows regional authorities to make decisions consistent with the citizens’ real needs. It is in this context that the AER Youth Regional Network (YRN) called on regional representatives from across Europe to further use social networks in an attempt to reduce the gap between policy makers and citizens. Today, it is precisely through these social networks that young people can actively, immediately, and dynamically participate in and provide solutions to the everyday problems of our regions. Young people have thus the means to keep track of the activities of their elected representatives, who, in turn, can make decisions in line with requests of their voters.

The democratisation of social networks

  • Social networks are decentralised, free, open to all citizens, and immediate sources of information.
  • Facebook has over 500 million users; people spend over 700 billion minutes online per month; access from mobile phones means the flow of information is constant.
  • Twitter has over 200 million users; there are more than 95 million tweets per day.
  • LinkedIn has over 100 million users and has become the main search engine for employers.
  • Every minute, 35 hours worth of video are posted on Youtube.

”In my area, all politicians use social networks. We are very aware that young people do not speak the same language as adults, and, as such it is a highly effective way of being close to our citizens.” Said Rune Fredriksen, Regional Advisor of Østfold (N). “Social networks are nevertheless a particular phenomenon: It is young people who know best about the opportunities and dangers of this new world, so it is really up to us to learn from them,” he explained.

The most emblematic example, which has been discussed throughout the various workshops, is that of the tragedy of the 22nd of July in Oslo, where it was in fact, through tweets from victims, that the Norwegian authorities learnt about the facts.

The commitment of AER and YRN

Elected officials and the members of the YRN present at the Summer School were given the opportunity to use social networks, including the AER’s Twitter profile #aerss. Many of them are now part of this network and monitor each others activities.

For AER, Cyber-subsidiarity has clearly become a new tool to encourage young Europeans to participate in the political life of their regions.

For more information: [email protected]

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A huge “Yes” to electric vehicles! The AER evaluates the framework and conditions for their roll out

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Brussels (B), 30 June 2011.

The ‘Energy and Climate Change’ working group of the Assembly of European Regions (AER) met today to discuss both the opportunities and the challenges presented by the new technology of clean vehicles. The participants were offered the chance to test-drive an electric car being marketed by the automobile designer BMW.

Clean vehicles for a Green Europe

As we need to face the challenge of global warming and oil depletion, it becomes necessary to institute clean transport alternatives to petrol. The European Commission articulated two strategies that reflect the potential offered by electrics vehicles in the fields of clean technology and energy savings. The first, “Transports 2050”, seeks to reduce the present dependence of the European Union on imported petroleum, while also cutting carbon emissions by 60% by removing most gasoline-operated vehicles from cities by 2050. The second strategy for the advancement of clean and energy-efficient vehicles involves setting up mechanisms for their promotion, such as common battery standards, or the installation of publicly available charging stations.

Challenges to be met, with great gains to be made

While making these changes will be very beneficial, establishing the infrastructure that would allow clean vehicles to function remains nevertheless complex for many regions. One example is Norrbotten (S): “In Sweden, the sun is not always shining, and our land area is greater than 400 000 km. It will prove very complicated to use a car that must be charged every 200 km, not to mention to charge the battery from clean energy sources”, said Kenneth Backgard, Chairman of the AER working group on Energy and Climate Change and member of the regional council of Norrbotten. “Replacing the present car fleet with clean vehicles involves increasing European electricity consumption by 15%. This electricity must be generated by a green energy source”, he concluded.

The region of Wallonie (B) has meanwhile identified another core problem regarding the role the State must play in order to encourage citizens and businesses to use electric cars. Here several good ideas have arisen: fiscal or economic incentives for companies and citizens, investment in research to improve lithium-based batteries (which can be very harmful to the environment) and in smart infrastructure, commercialisation of charging stations and city centre carpooling incentives.

The example of the Land of Baden-Württemberg (D) is quite emblematic, since one fourth of the regions’ jobs depends on the automotive sector. “It is essential to support the industrialisation of electric cars in order to keep our leading position on the world market. With ‘e-mobil BW’, the region created a specialised agency that brings together all relevant actors from industry, research and education paying special attention to small and medium sized companies in the supply chain.” stated Franz Loogen, CEO of e-mobil BW.

“The electric car was born in Europe, and is perfectly placed to overcome the challenges of the future. During the past 2½ years with the MiniE, we have learned much about the wishes and expectations of our clients in the field of electromobility.“, declared Andreas Sauer, BMW Group Representative. “Now it is important to draw the right conclusions and to develop our projects quickly in order to make them competitive in the industry.”

For more information: [email protected] AER!

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