Europe INNOVA - Partnerships for better innovation support

Registration
&
Welcome by

• Hans-Günter Lind, Head of Marketing & communication, Fraunhofer MOEZ (DE)
• Niels Kämpny, Niedersachsen State Representation at the Federal Government (DE)

Policy address
Wolfgang Crasemann
Head of Unit Technology and Innovation Policy, Federal Ministry of Economics & Technology (DE)

The financial crisis has raised critical questions as to whether the current economic and development models are still able to reinvigorate the competitiveness of European regions, notably those that are least performing and often characterised by a predominance of traditional manufacturing industries and low-tech services.

Regional policies need to be reviewed and refocused to better capture the transformative power of (service) innovation in order to support the restructuring of existing industries and the creation of new industrial structures in order to create wealth and to strengthen the position of European enterprises in global value chains.

This session will explore how to transform current regional industrial systems with the view to build new industrial competences in manufacturing and services through innovation:

• How can regions hit by the crisis transform their industrial structures by better exploiting their non-tangible assets?
• How to capitalise on the strengths of the existing business eco-system to support this process?
• Which new institutions and actors need to be involved in industrial and regional policies in order to better exploit all forms of knowledge and creativity?

Open round table discussion with the participation of

• Mats Williams, Assistant Director, Centre for Strategy and Competitiveness, Stockholm School of Economics & European Cluster Observatory (SE)
• Andrea Romagnioli, Project manager "EU Programmes & Initiatives" Unit FILAS & ImMediaTe (IT)
• Søren Smed, Aalborg University and InViO - Innovation Network for Knowledge Based Experience Economy (DK)
• Panagiotis Ketikidis, Vice Principal for Research, Innovation & External Relations of CITY College – International Faculty of the University of Sheffield (UK)

Large-scale demonstrators that test a range of solutions under real-life conditions in a staged process have been identified by the Expert Panel on Service Innovation in the EU as a low-risk way of supporting the European Innovation Partnerships, notably with a view to better exploiting the transformative power of service innovation to tackle specific societal challenges.

Many Europe INNOVA partnerships have been working in societal “sensitive” areas, notably in relation to resource efficiency and sustainability. This has resulted in a range of new or better tools, instruments and services in support of innovation that have been tested in a transnational environment and, as such, constitute small-scale prototypes.

This session will look at how to capitalize on the Europe INNOVA experience to establish large-scale demonstrators  as part of the implementation of European innovation Partnerships:

• How can small prototypes be scaled up to become large-scale demonstrators?
• What is the experience of Europe INNOVA partnerships on working with regional actors?
• In which areas and through which mechanisms would such an approach achieve the highest impact?

Setting the Scene
Thorsten Posselt
Head of the Fraunhofer MOEZ, Professor of Innovation Management and Innovation Economics at the University of Leipzig (DE)

&
Nizar Abdelkafi
Service Innovation Senior researcher, Fraunhofer MOEZ (DE)

Case study 3: EcoCluP efforts towards a European Eco-innovation community
Gareth Jones
UK Centre for Economic & Environmental Development (UK CEED) Eco Innovation Centre & EcoCluP coordinator (UK)

Open round table discussion with the participation of

• Thorsten Posselt, Head of the Fraunhofer MOEZ, Professor of Innovation Management and Innovation Economics at the University of Leipzig (DE) 
• Nizar Abdelkafi, Service Innovation Senior researcher, Fraunhofer MOEZ (DE)
• Sarine Barsoumian, Greenovate! Europe EEIG & GreenConServe member
• Alexander Knobloch, Corporate Research & Innovation Management director, Wincor Nixdorf International GmbH (DE)
• Gertraud Leimüller, Expert Panel member &  President, creativ wirtschaft austria and Founder and Chief Executive Director, winnovation consulting gmbh (AT)

Particularly in times of austerity and tightening of public spending do regions need to adopt more holistic and sophisticated strategies that focus on already existing strengths and assets and take full advantage of the innovation potential of the region.

The concept of “smart specialisation” promotes efficient, effective and synergetic use of public investments and supports regions in strengthening their innovation capacity, while focusing scarce human and financial resources in a few competitive areas in order to boost economic growth and prosperity.

This session will discuss how regions can best identify and support their high value-added activities that offer the best chance of strengthening their competitiveness by exploiting emerging needs and trends to better position themselves in global value chains.

• Which expertise and knowledge is needed to identify and support a region’s high value-added activities?
• In which areas still exists scope for more regional cooperation?
• Which European support mechanisms are best suited to mobilise regions to grow smart and achieve excellence that enables them to tap into emerging and international markets?

Setting the Scene
Hagen Habicht
Assistant Professor, CLIC - Center for Leading Innovation & Cooperation, HHL - Leipzig Graduate School of Management  (DE)

Case study 1: The MOBIP voucher & grant schemes
Angelos Manglis
Atlantis Consulting & MOBIP Coordinator (GR)

Case study 2: North East of England Innovation Machine: a 2025 strategy for creating high growth businesses
Jonh Rundle
Interim Director, Newcastle Science City (UK)

Case study 3: Revitalising the tourism sector in the Basque region
Aurkene Alzua-Sorzabal
Executive Director, CICtourGUNE, Cooperative Research Centre in Tourism (ES)

Case study 4: Adoption of IMP³rove by EU Member States and added value
Eva Diedrichs
A.T. Kearney GmbH & IMP³rove Core Team (DE)

Open roundtable discussion with the participation of

• Hagen Habicht, Executive Director of CLIC (Center for Leading Innovation & Cooperation), Leipzig Graduate School of Management (DE)
• Angelos Manglis, Atlantis Consulting & MOBIP Coordinator (GR)
• Jonh Rundle, Interim Director, Newcastle Science City (UK)
• Aurkene Alzua-Sorzabal, Executive Director, CICtourGUNE, Cooperative Research Centre in Tourism (ES)
• Eva Diedrichs, A.T. Kearney GmbH & IMP³rove Core Team (DE)
• Wil Janssen, Expert Panel member & Manager Networked Enterprises, Novay (NL)

Panel discussion: Reactions to & reflections on the thematic sessions

• Allan Mayo, Chairperson of the Expert Panel on Services Innovation in the EU, Head of the Services Policy Unit in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, (UK)
• Reinhard Büscher, Head of Support for Industrial Innovation Unit, DG Enterprise & Industry, European Commission
• Thorsten Posselt, Head of the Fraunhofer MOEZ, Professor of Innovation Management and Innovation Economics at the University of Leipzig (DE)
• Mats Williams, Assistant Director, Centre for Strategy and Competitiveness, Stockholm School of Economics & European Cluster Observatory (SE)
• Nizar Abdelkafi, Service Innovation senior researcher, Fraunhofer MOEZ (DE)
• Hagen Habicht, Assistant Professor, CLIC - Center for Leading Innovation & Cooperation, HHL - Leipzig Graduate School of Management  (DE)

Closing Remarks

• Thorsten Posselt, Head of the Fraunhofer MOEZ, Professor of Innovation Management and Innovation Economics at the University of Leipzig (DE)
• Lisbeth Bahl Poulsen, Support for Industrial Innovation Unit,  DG Enterprise and Industry, European Commission