The individual members of the Expert Panel have been selected through a Call for Experts. All experts have a deep understanding of innovation policy development, with a particular expertise on innovation in services. The Panel includes policy makers, representatives of innovation agencies and other innovation support providers, consultants, representatives of relevant labour and employee organisations, interest organisations and researchers.
The 20 selected experts are:
- Chair: Allan Mayo, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (UK)
Allan is Head of the UK’s Dept for Business Services Policy Unit. His team was responsible for the publication of the Government report on “Supporting Innovation in Services” in 2008 and, most recently in March 2010, for an interim report on “Professional and Business Services: A 2020 Vision for Growth”. He has a long standing interest in the EU and international policy arena, spending five years co-ordinating UK policy on European research and participating in the CREST senior officials committee in Brussels, negotiating Framework Programmes 3 and 4 and the Research Chapter of the Maastricht Treaty. He ran the Government’s International Technology Service, opening technology collaboration with China and Russia. He is currently engaged in European policy networks, participating in the EPISIS project, a collaboration in policy development between Finland, Germany, Sweden, Denmark and the UK.
He spent the first part of his civil service career as an economist working in competition policy agencies, such as the Office of Fair Trading and the then Monopolies and Mergers Commission. But the latter part of his career has been focused on Innovation Policy, including advising on the establishment of the UK’s Technology Strategy Board and its strategy. He has been at the forefront of thinking on how Government and its agencies can engage with the business constituency through the adoption of Web 2.0 techniques and roadmapping, and is currently focused on how Government can work with business on the move to the Semantic Web.
- Lidia Avadanei, Ministry for SMEs, Tourism and Commerce (Romania)
Lidia Avadanei is development-innovation expert consultant at Creative and Innovation Business Incubation Center from Romania. This is an NGO that supplies consultancy services to SMEs and local administration to find the best solutions for economic and social development. The beneficiaries receive the necessary knowledge and instruments to make use of the human and raw materials, to produce incomes and jobs and to increase the added value. The innovation instruments used are: studies and researches, portfolio creation and development, assistance in the projects development and implementation. Furthermore, the organization organizes training courses for the SME’s employees and the local administration responsible with applying the strategies and projects.
- Hasan Bakhshi, NESTA (UK)
Hasan Bakhshi is Director, Creative Industries at the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) in London. NESTA is the UK's single largest endowment aimed at supporting innovation. It does this in three ways; by making seedcorn investments in early-stage innovative ventures; by trialling new innovation programmes and by conducting policy-relevant research. Hasan is also Research Fellow at the ARC Centre for Excellence in Creative Industries and Innovation (CCi) at the Queensland University of Technology and Honorary Visiting Professor, City University. Prior to joining NESTA Hasan was Senior Vice President at the investment bank Lehman Brothers and held various economic and policy positions at the Bank of England. He has published widely in areas spanning macroeconomic policy, technological progress and the economics of the creative industries.
- Karen Böhme, Jülich (Germany)
As one of Germany’s leading project management organizations, Project Management Jülich (PtJ) is a partner for researchers, industry representatives and policy-makers. With capacities in research and innovation management PtJ helps its contractors at federal and federal state level and in the European Commission realizing their research targets. PtJ thus serves as an important interface between its partners – to make Germany a competitive research and innovation location in a common European Research Area. Within PtJ, Dr. Karen Böhme is responsible for strategic planning, focusing on new approaches in technology transfer and services. Biologist by training, she has sound experience in biotechnological research in SMEs. After spending two years at I.N.R.A., France, she joined PtJ’s scientific staff in 2006. Part of Dr. Böhme’s tasks is maintaining a close interaction with national policy makers. She is responsible for the European Activities within the Department Technology Transfer as well as part of the team managing German Federal Initiatives in Technology Transfer (SIGNO). Her tasks include coordination and management of the different activities within programmes, the strategic development as well as the direct guidance and support of applicants.
- Laura Dingwall, Highlands & Islands Enterprise (UK)
As part of the Regional Competitiveness group at Highlands & Islands Enterprise. Laura Dingwalls role is to increase the number and performance of high growth businesses in the Highlands & Islands of Scotland. She has been working on the development of the Scottish Highlands & Islands Innovation System for 8-10 years. This has involved building knowledge infrastructure, innovation support programmes for businesses and identifying strategic partners to accelerate the pace and growth rate of innovation. She manages a team of staff working on innovation, entrepreneurship and knowledge exchange programmes along with National Innovation Partners to develop a regional innovation system that provides businesses with access to external knowledge and international networks that will help them to innovate and grow. Nationally, Laura Dingwall works with the Scottish Government to develop new innovation policy throughout Scotland and implement new policy into the innovation system. Testament to this is that there are a good range of examples where innovation programmes that she has developed have been implemented in other regions of Scotland and across the UK. She has experience in working with other EU countries and partners to test innovation support (human networking, knowledge exchange, clustering, incubation services and others) and work internationally on a Business Growth Programme with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT www.hie.co.uk/innovation.
- Antonius Engbersen, IBM (Switzerland)
Antonius Engbersen received his master in EE in Eindhoven, Netherlands in 1978 and his PhD from the ETH-Zurich in 1983. Since 1983 he has been working at the IBM Research Laboratories in Zurich, Switzerland. He has held a series of management positions in IBM Research since 1987, and in 2007 he became responsible for Innovation with IBM Services clients in Europe. IBM created its IT Outsourcing business already in the early 1990´s and is one of the largest IT Service providers today. In IBM Research there is a complete track of services research which, amongst other business results led to a topic in the 2009 IBM Research Global Technology Outlook.
- Wil Janssen, Novay (Netherlands)
Wil Janssen combines research and business development in the field of open service innovation, e-business and internet development. He is responsible for the networked enterprises group at Novay, a public-private partnership aiming at supporting enterprises in ICT driven innovation. Wil was responsible for the development of the largest service innovation research programme in the Netherlands, Service innovation – people driven, ICT empowered. Wil Janssen studied computing science and a minor in social sciences at the Eindhoven University of Technology. He graduated cum laude in 1990. In 1994 he obtained his PhD from the University of Twente. After a short stay at the University of Oldenburg he joined the Telematica Instituut in 1996.
- Gertraud Leimüller, Austrian Creative Industries Platform (Austria)
Gertraud Leimueller is president of the Austrian creative industries platform creativ wirtschaft austria (www.creativwirtschaft.at) since 2006. She is an innovation expert and runs winnovation (www.winnovation.at), a research and consultancy firm specialized on open innovation processes. Mrs. Leimueller studied at Harvard University, where she earned a Master Degree in Public Administration, at MIT and at the University of Vienna, where she got a Ph.D. in Science. creativ wirtschaft austria collaborates closely with the Austrian Federal Ministry of Economic, Family and Youth on the development and evaluation of new innovation policies and instruments especially for the growing creative industries sector. For instance it invented the internationally recognized skill and network building format “c hoch 3” for young entrepreneurs. creativ wirtschaft austria was founded in 2003/04 and is located at the Federal Chamber of Commerce.
- Irene Martinsson, Vinnova (Sweden)
Dr. Irene Martinsson is Senior Programme Manager at VINNOVA and responsible for Innovations in the Service Society. Her duties include development of new programme activities and policies for Service Innovation. She is Vinnova's Project Manager in EPISIS (European Policies and Instruments to Support Innovation in Services). Prior to VINNOVA, she was Assistant Professor in Business Administration at Stockholm University and has also worked for the Swedish Ministry of Industry. VINNOVA (The Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems) is a State authority that aims to promote growth and prosperity throughout Sweden. VINNOVA's area of responsibility comprises innovations linked to research and development.
- Tor Mühlbradt, Innovation Norway (Norway)
Tor Mühlbradt is a Special Adviser of Innovation Norway in Oslo. He has a M.Sc and a Master of Management degree, and he has 18 years of international experience from the private sector in engineering, technology transfer and consulting. Tor Mühlbradt joined Innovation Norway in 1996 and he has been responsible for R&D contracts schemes and entrepreneurship as well as for developing cluster programs and knowledge transfer instruments. For 3 years he has worked as trade commissioner for Norway at Canada. Today Tor Mühlbradt is responsible for developing service innovation instruments.
Innovation Norway’s objective is to promote private- and socio-economic profitable business development throughout the country, and to release the commercial opportunities of the districts and regions by encouraging innovation, internationalization and image-building. The state owned company employs more than 800 people, and has offices in all the Norwegian counties and in more than 30 countries worldwide. The head office is situated in Oslo. The vision is: We give local ideas global opportunities.
- Eurico Neves, INOVA + SA (Portugal)
Eurico Neves, born in Portugal, 1966, is CEO and Founder of INNOVA Europe S.A.R.L., Brussels and CEO and Founder of INOVA+ S.A., Portugal, two leading firms in innovation studies, research management and technology transfer. He has an Msc in Engineering by University of Porto (1989) and a Master in Marketing by IEP / ESADE (1999). He is currently a Lead Expert in the INNO Learning Platform, a project for promoting trans-national innovation policy cooperation across Europe within the PRO-INNO Europe, and has been a member of the Secretariat of the European Network of Innovation Relay Centres, the world largest technology transfer network, from 2000 until this year. Since July 2007 he has been appointed as the representative from Portugal at the Business Chamber of the Enterprise Policy Group (EPG) of the European Commission, an advisory board to Vice President Verheugen. Other positions currently held include: Member of the Board of ANETIE – Portuguese National Association of Information Technologies and Electronic Companies, Representative of Portugal in the Technology Transfer Network of the European Space Agency, President of CEDES - Association for a Centre of Engineering on Sustainable Development, a non-profit association based in Gaia, Portugal, for technology transfer of research results into industry, Consultant for innovation issues to the National Council for the Lisbon Strategy of the Portuguese Government, Member of the Final Evaluation Panel of the European Institute of Technology and Lead Expert for the URBACT II – European Programme for Urban Sustainable Development. Formerly, he has been a Member of the Board and Chief Innovation Officer at Novabase, a leading ICT company in Portugal, an internal expert at DG XIII/D (Exploitation of Research results, currently DG Enterprise) of the European Commission in Luxembourg, where he participated in the conception of the Green Book on Innovation, and Export Manager at EFACEC, an industrial group. He is also a renowned writer on the subject of innovation in its own country, having published two books on leading national publishers.
- Jette Nøhr, Confederation of Danish Industries (Denmark)
Ms. Jette Nøhr is a senior adviser of the Federation of Danish Knowledge Advisors within the Confederation of Danish Industries. The Confederation of Danish Industries is the largest employer organisation in Denmark covering both manufacturing industries and service industries. Ms. Jette Nøhr has for the last five years focused on and worked intensively with innovation in services both at the practical level in relation to member companies and at a political level taking part in the development of service innovation policies in Denmark. She has been the coordinator of a 2½ years programme co-financed by the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation promoting Danish service companies participation in research and innovation projects within the EU. Also she has been member of several working groups on service innovation under the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation as well as member of the KISPLATFORM’s Horizontal Steering Group of Innova Europe as an external expert.
- Laurence Paye, Fondation Sophia Antipolis (France)
During the course of her career Laurence Paye has had the opportunity to work in many different capacities in government, academia and research centers (both public and private). Since 1998 she is Chair professor of Technological Research and Economic Competitiveness at the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers (CNAM) which is an academic institution unique in France because of its focus on life-long higher education. She also currently works for the Euromed Innovation Network under the leadership of the President of the Sophia-Antipolis Foundation. Sophia-Antipolis is a renowned French technological park. From 1982 to 1986 Laurence Paye was Deputy General Director for higher education and research at the French Ministry of Education. Following this, until 1989, she was Director for Regional Affairs at the National Center for Scientific Research. In the Renault Group, as Secretary General for Research, she was responsible for mobility services from 1990 to 1998. Then, for a decade she was head of the CNAM (1998-2009), and in 1999 she was also a member of the Council for the 5th European framework program for research and development.
- Stefano Pileri, Confindustria Servizie Innovativi e Tecnologici (Italy)
Stefano Pileri, Electronic Engineer, is an expert on fixed and mobile telecommunication sector with large experience, also at international level, on technology, networks, management systems, engineering, planning, marketing, internet services, media, research and innovation. He is the President of Confindustria Innovative and Technological Services. The Federation, organized in 51 Industry Associations and 62 Local Organizations, represents 17,000 companies employing 600,000 workers. The main sectors represented are: telecommunications - information technology, radio-television, internet and satellite services - consulting and training - advertising, public relations and marketing – engineering - quality and certification - research and surveys - integrated services and facility management. The purpose of the Federation is to represent, assist and defend the interests of the sector in relation to all technical/economic, social, and cultural issues either on a national, European, and international level.
- Thorsten Posselt, Frauenhofer (Germany)
Professor Posselt, PhD (Economics and Management) is the director of the Fraunhofer Center for Central and Eastern Europe (MOEZ). He is Professor of Innovation Management and Innovation Economics in the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Leipzig as well as Professor of Service Management at the University of Wuppertal. He has consulted various companies and is active in executive teaching with a particular focus on service management and innovation. The Fraunhofer Center for Central and Eastern Europe (MOEZ) is the strategic partner of industry, research, and politics for networking and collaborations with policy makers in Central and Eastern European markets. It is an institution of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Europe’s leading organization for applied research.
- Vanja Rangus, C4i (Slovenia)
Mrs. Rangus has been the main initiator of entrepreneurial environment creation as the Head of the Department for Economic Development and Tourism in the City of Ljubljana for more than 13 years. Main projects/activities where she plays the main role were:
- setting up Technology Park Ljubljana (8 Mio € grants from structural fund),
- development of Small Business Support Centre of Ljubljana,
- coordination of the National System of Innovation,
- development of several new schemes for SMEs, such as Ljubljana guarantee fund, subsidies for loans, financial support for clusters creation in service sector, subsidies for preparation of new projects and for applying in EU projects, foresight activities for TT from multinational companies (MNC) to SMEs, programmes to foster innovation culture were initiated for elementary schools, high schools and universities, business competition scheme.
Now Mrs. Vanja Rangus is an independent expert in the innovation field and she is the member of very important boards on national and international level:
- Innovating Regions of Europe – IRE Communities of Practice - Steering Group since 2002
- Board of Directors TII Network - since 2009
- Board of Competitiveness, National Governmental Office for Development – 8. Group for Business and Financial Environment – since 2008
- Hans Rijckenberg, Sapience'00 B.V (Netherlands)
Hans Rijckenberg holds an engineering degree in Urban and Regional Planning at Delft University of Technology. Since 1991 the European Commission has invited him for multiple projects and assignments. Between August 2007 and October 2008 he was appointed Secretary-General of ProTon Europe. With over twenty years of experience in knowledge transfer services, innovation policy evaluation and regional economic development, Mr. Rijckenberg is a recognized international expert. His work has yielded in multiple publications and presentations. He speaks five European languages of which four fluently and comprehends another twelve languages.
- Vaclav Suchy, Technology centre of academy of sciences CR (Czech Republic)
Václav Suchý is a senior manager of the Technology Centre ASCR in Prague, Czech Republic. His current activities are mainly associated with the Enterprise Europe Network which is aimed at stimulation and support of national SMEs. He also specializes in aspects of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection, with special reference to innovative companies. Technology Centre ASCR is the National Information Centre for European Research. The Centre also performs a range of analytic and perspective studies in RTD and is active in transnational technology transfer. Technology Centre ASCR also acts as a national coordinator of the Enterprise Europe Network in the Czech Republic.
- Minna Suutari, Tekes (Finland)
Minna Suutari works as a senior technology adviser in Tekes, Finnish Funding Agency of Technology and Innovation. She is a programme manager of Serve – Pioneer of service business –programme. Serve programme encourages companies to develop innovative, forerunner service business in manufacturing, knowledge intensive business services and trade. Minna is responsible for one taskforce in the EPISIS Inno-Net coordinated by Tekes. She has worked in Tekes for almost five years.
- Peter Wolfmeyer, Zenit GmBH (Germany)
ZENIT GmbH is the Centre for Innovation and Technology in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded as a public-private partnership in 1984 to support the local business fabric, above all SMEs, in the structural change, away from heavy industry and towards innovative technologies and services. Over the years, ZENIT has become a provider of innovation and technology-related services not only for SMEs, but also for the public sector, above all the national and regional governments and the European Commission. Key projects which have marked its history are the Euro Info Centre, the Innovation Relay Centre, and now the Enterprise Europe Network where, as NRW.Europa, ZENIT is one of the largest nodes. Following a career in banking and empirical political/social economic research, Peter Wolfmeyer joined ZENIT in 1986 as a Senior Consultant and has been its Managing Director since early 1994. He specializes in strategic and financial consulting, in particular federal, national and EU funding; policy consulting for EU, regional and national governments (SME, innovation, technology, financing); management of EU projects; and consulting on EU technology and structural policy.
