Opening day at Europe INNOVA - EPISIS joint event
This Europe INNOVA Annual Partnering Event kicked-off in Copenhagen on 14 June. The three-day event is being held in conjunction with the EPISIS INNO-Net and it focuses on the theme of ‘Services innovation as a catalyst for the Europe 2020 strategy.’
The event is being hosted in the modern and welcoming buildings of the IT University of Copenhagen, which provides a suitable forum to foster exchange, and promote discussion, between participants. On this first day, several Europe INNOVA consortium meetings took place in some of university's hanging meeting rooms, including Bcreative, ImMediate and ABCEurope, as well as that of the Europe INNOVA Communications Consortium.
The second workshop of the Expert Panel on Services Innovation in the EU was also held during the whole day. At its initial workshop in March 2010, the Panel had identified the criteria for selecting the services to analyse. This time, the twenty experts reviewed a selection of 39 examples of services innovation across the areas of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. They discussed the potential of these examples, and the drivers for, and the barriers to, their implementation, with the aim of analysing the new business models emerging and the corresponding support schemes to be developed.
The end result of the Expert Panel’s work will be an evidence-based policy roadmap to support action at political level. This second workshop was the half-way point in the process and the next two workshops in September and December 2010 will enable the Expert Panel’s recommendations to be published in January 2011. What is already apparent is how close the link is between services innovation and the Europe 2020 Strategy. The cases being explored by the Panel provide convincing examples of how new innovative services in one of the three growth areas can have an effect on the others, as well as a positive impact on the economy. “Services innovation strongly link with the Europe 2020 Strategy and the recommendations emerging from the experts' work roadmap will ihelp EU policy- makers to implement it” concluded Emilie Normann who comes from the Danish Technological Institute and who manages the Expert 
Under the warm lights of June’s Scandinavian evening skies, Thomas Alslev Christensen, of the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation (DASTI) welcomed all the participants to a reception in the gardens of the Danish Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation. “Innovation and services play a vital role in the European economy” he said, in looking forward to the discussions amongst the many experts that are still to take place over the next two days. He also encouraged participants to discuss and exchange their experiences and concluded with a very appropriate quote from the Danish Nobel prize winner, Niels Bohr - “an expert is a man, or a woman, who has made all the mistakes that can be made, in a narrow field.”
The participants then had the chance to end an interesting evening with a stroll past the Queen’s Palace, and along the harbour directly opposite the Opera House.
Today, the conference will look at the new trends and developments in support of services innovation in Europe, from various national perspectives. Three Roundtables will also be dedicated to services innovation and societal challenges.
If you would like to keep up to date with what’s happening at the event, you will find a daily report on this page.
