The summit, opened by Vice-president of the European Parliament Silvanan Koch-Mehrin under the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, discussed the role of innovation in energy efficiency, urban and regional mobility, sustained food security and agriculture, healthy ageing, and sustainable production. The gap, however, between the research conducted in these fields and the implementation of their results in the single market is widening.

'It's not so much about investing more in knowledge and in innovation but how to get a return back from these investments,' says Roland Strauss, Managing Director Knowledge4Innovation (K4I). K4I is a non-profit, independent multi-stakeholder platform with members from the European public, private and academic sectors. 'Our focus is on how to turn knowledge into market power, jobs and revenue,' he adds, stressing that innovation is not exclusive to research and science but involves everyone, including citizens.

Organised by the European Parliament's Scientific Technology Options Assessment (STOA) panel and K4I, the summit brought together a large number of stakeholders and policy-makers from around Europe and the globe. Experts from various fields of science were able to meet and discuss their concerns with members of the European Parliament and several European Commissioners. This included Nobel Prize Winner Peter Grünberg as well as over 200 students who participated in one of the 10 round table discussions and numerous workshops.

Future of copyright addressed

The future of copyright in the single market was a major point of debate at the summit. Europe's copyright system has not seen much reform in 20 years. Research facilities, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and universities for instance, are forced to navigate individual Member State copyright and patent laws. These laws can differ from one to another. The summit stressed the need to simplify copyright management systems. Currently, such fragmented laws do not bode well for European SMEs who account for half of Europe's GDP but could shed many jobs.

'It is not that we [Europe] don't have excellent research and excellent science but that the bridge into applied research and innovation, products, and market is too long and not properly connected,' says Lambert van Nistelrooij, a Dutch MEP from the EEP party who chairs the K4I forum. 'And now we have a wonderful opportunity in the second summit because we are in full charge of these initiatives in the European Parliament,' he says, adding that the European Commission's Europe 2020 strategy is pivotal to bridging innovation to the market. Europe 2020 is the Commission's strategy to invest in smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.

'Innovation Union' Initiative Officially Launched

On 6 October, the Commission officially launched the flagship 'Innovation Union' Initiative. It will seek to focus Europe's efforts addressing challenges like climate change, energy and food security, health and an ageing population. It will also seek to stimulate growth in the private sector and remove some of the more pressing administrative barriers that smother innovation.

'Innovation Union is a good start but the question now is how this will go forward by the Member States and at the regional and local levels. Success will depend on the ability to engage stakeholders and implement the policy locally,' concludes Mr Strauss.

Source: CORDIS.