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Innovation needs more than research!
Knowledge4Innovation (K4I) and its partners received
overwhelming feedback for the organisation of the third edition of the
European Innovation Summit. “Innovation needs more than research”, was the
main message of the conference that took place from 10th to 12th of October,
in Brussels under the patronage of the European Parliament, and in Warsaw as
a Ministerial Conference and one of four flagship Polish Presidency events.
In a video message (link)
the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, made
it very clear that “Innovation is the way out of the current economic
crisis.” He added: “We await the outcomes of the summit with great hope.”
The outcome of the conference sessions – which gathered more than a hundred
expert panellists from Europe and beyond– will be presented and discussed at
the Commission landmark event “Innovation Convention” in Brussels on 6th of
December.
Under the motto “Towards a European Innovation
Ecosystem”, the conference focused on issues that are of major concern to
Europe’s policy makers, businesses and citizens.
Krzysztof Gulda, Director, Department of
Strategy, Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education, pointed out during
the Summit’s opening ceremony in Warsaw that one of the main challenges for
Europe is to overcome the fragmentation of the innovation system and to
create a true single market for innovation in order to stay globally
competitive.
Roland Strauss, Managing Director of
Konwledge4Innovation explained that "Innovation is a very complex concept
ranging from education to internationalisation of markets and consequently
involves a variety of policy areas where only one of which is research.
Even though research is important for innovation there are
many other ingredients necessary to make innovations successful.
Innovation means by definition risk taking and acceptance of failure."
Lambert van Nistelrooij, Member of the
European Parliament and Chair of the K4I Forum of the European Parliament,
confirmed to the audience that innovation is one of the main drivers of the
European economy. "It is, however, important that we put in place a framework
that facilitates the path from knowledge to innovations that then ultimately
generate jobs and growth.
Carlos Oliveira, Secretary of State for
Entrepreneurship, Competitiveness and Innovation in Portugal, stated that “SMEs
are the key for European competitiveness and the engine for economic growth and
source of most innovations in the industry. The relationship between SMEs and
large corporation is the key element on the impact they can have on innovation.
Alojz Peterle,
Member of the European Parliament and K4I Forum Governor, emphasised the need of
young people for role models and raised the question, “What
do we need to do in order to stimulate young people to get interested in
innovation?“ He explained that “We need to give good examples and show best
practices.” Peterle also introduced the topic of Social Innovation which “means
to improve the functioning of society in order to achieve particular goals in a
variety of areas. If we don’t respect the social context of the problem, we
don’t get anywhere”, he added.
Deputy Chief of the US Mission to the European Union,
Thomas J. White, emphasised during the Dinner “Transatlantic Innovation
Cooperation in a Globalised World” which took place in the Presidential Salon,
that cooperation based on mutual understanding by different stakeholders of
society is one of the keys for Europe and the transatlantic market zone to
continuously prosper and grow.
Mikael Hagström, Chairman, Executive
Council, AmCham EU, President, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, SAS
Institute, highlighted that both the U.S. and the EU should invest more in
IP-related areas and emphasized on the need for skills migration in order to
stay competitive on both sides of the Atlantic.
Danuta Hübner, Member of the European
Parliament, Chairwoman of the Regional Policy Committee and K4I Forum
Governor, stated that “… we first of all need productivity gains.
Competitiveness is the motor to sustain growth and generate jobs.” For Mrs.
Hübner it is obvious “… that innovation comes as the number one topic on
Europe’s growth agenda.”
The speakers’ presentations
and the debates in Warsaw and Brussels addressed the important aspects
related to the complex concept of innovation. The outcome serves as valuable
input for the discussion on the future innovation policies and instruments
for Europe. The decisions taken between now and the end of 2012 will set the
agenda for many years to come.
The K4I Forum of the European Parliament provides a
unique platform for all stakeholders to jointly get involved and help
shaping the future of innovation in Europe. Therefore we invite you to join
us in our effort to ensure that innovation will be a top priority in the
mind of policy makers at all levels.
In the coming weeks K4I members and partners will work
on their future priorities and set-up the ‘K4I Action Plan 2012’. You are
most welcome to join.
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