Western Balkans

*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

Subscribe to our newsletter

News archive - [Event Review]: Smart Specialisation and Technology Transfer as Innovation Drivers for Regional Growth

On 3-4 May 2018 in Sofia, Bulgaria, JRC, under the auspices of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, organised a high level conference. Its objective was to increase regional cooperation in South East Europe and to support the Western Balkans’ potential as competitive market economies. These ambitions follow from the European Commission’s strategy for Western Balkans.

Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister, Tomislav Donchev, the Mayor of Sofia, Yordana Fandakova and European Commissioner Mariya Gabriel, were amongst the opening speakers at the conference "Smart Specialisation and Technology Transfer as Innovation Drivers for Regional Growth". Over 350 policy-makers, representatives of businesses, regional authorities, universities and research organisations discussed the innovation potential of the region, and the mix of policies needed to achieve it.

The presentations of the conference are available as download package:

Conference presentations download pack (63MB)

Video recordings

Programme

The programme offered sessions around the key themes:

Smart specialisation
Technology transfer
Digital Economy
Watify: "Boosting technological transformation in Europe"

Sessions:

Opening statements: Innovation, a response to Europe's challengesPanel discussion: The innovation landscape in the EU - Main actors, initiatives, tools and outcomes
Sharing experiences I: Innovation in places - Making smart specialisation a success story
Sharing experiences II: Success factors in R&D and innovation – How businesses cooperate with academia
Final Plenary Panel discussion: Coordinating processes and synergies – Bringing multiple initiatives together

Keynote speakers:

Tomislav Donchev, Deputy Prime Minister, Bulgaria
Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society
Markku Markkula, Vice-President of the Committee of the Regions
Vladimir Šucha, Director-General, Joint Research Centre (DG JRC), European Commission
Sasha Bezuhanova, founder and board chairperson of MOVE.BG

JRC exhibition: Putting science at the heart of European policymaking

The conference reception (3 May, 18:00) marked the opening of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) science exhbition.

The exhibition showcased the work done by the European Commission's science and knowledge service from 03 to 18 May.

Contact

For more information please email: JRC-InnovGrowth-Conf@ec.europa.eu

Country

Bulgaria

Geographical focus

General/no specific focus

Scientifc field / Thematic focus

General

Entry created by Admin WBC-RTI.info on May 29, 2018
Modified on June 7, 2018

Western Balkans Info Hub - powered by "Policy Answers" - is funded by the European Commission through the Horizon Europe project "R&I policy making, implementation and support in the Western Balkans", grant agreement: 10105887. The portal builds upon previous initiatives, such as for instance WBC-RTI.INFO and WBC-INCO.NET, which were funded under different Framework Programmes (FP) for Research and Technological Development (RTD) of the European Commission and other contracts.

Kosovo* (This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.)