Research and Innovation Policy in Western Balkans - some recent developments
In recent years the Western Balkan countries have made some important efforts to overcome the negative consequences of the economic and political transition and its impact on the region’s research and innovation sectors: They adopted a variety of strategies, laws and programs to improve the performance of the sector on the national level and they improved the regional cooperation in R&D for example by committing themselves to “Western Balkans Regional R&D Strategy for Innovation” and Smart Growth pillar of the “South East European 2020 Strategy” (SEE 2020). All countries are also associated to Horizon 2020; the preliminary results show some first success stories however overall participation rate is quite low. WBC also agreed on the establishment of “Western Balkans Research and Innovation Centre” (WISE) by the end of 2015 aiming at strengthening the regional research, innovation and technology systems by providing support, advice, information and recommendations to the states, public and private institutions, non-governmental organizations and all other relevant stakeholders. However, social and political problems are still more pressing in WBC than the low level of R&D investment (Serbia and Montenegro spend on around 1% of GDP on R&D, while other countries in the region spend up to 0,3% of GDP) or support for technology transfer activities. The importance of the education, research and innovation for the overall success of the EU-integration efforts of the Western Balkans was again confirmed during the 1st Joint Science Conference held on July 15-17, 2015 in Halle and Berlin and during the second Summit Meeting on the Western Balkans held in Vienna on August 27, 2015 – both events in the framework of the Western Balkans Process, also known as the ‘Berlin process'.
Research and Innovation Policy in Western Balkans - some recent developments was in focus of the WBC-RTI.info newsletter in August 2015. Related article is available here . Please find below also a selection of the topic related articles.
News
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Date: 24 September 2020, 10.00 The Western Balkans are a strategic priority for the European Commission. The EU has increased its efforts to boost the economic growth and support reforms required for...
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EU Ambassador Sattler opened the Centre for Entrepreneurship in Sarajevo
The Head of the EU Delegation to BiH and EU Special Representative Ambassador Johann Sattler has officially opened the Centre for Excellence in Entrepreneurship in Sarajevo at a ribbon-cutting ceremony...
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Montenegro is for the first time on European Innovation Scoreboard
For the first time, Montenegro is on the European Innovation Scoreboard this year. The European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) provides a comparative analysis of the impact of innovation in the countries...
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Events
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EIT Digital Anniversary, 29 October
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Teaching data skills to enterpreneurs
As part of its ongoing commitment to the digitalization of the economy, the EU states that “data-driven business models are the engine of Europe’s growth, industrial transformation, and job creation...
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Rapid R&I Force: Post-COVID, can we create a reserve force of deep-tech innovation?
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Organisations
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Ministry of Education and Science - Federation of Bosnia and Hercegovina
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The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) was officially launched at the meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) in Sofia, on 27 February 2008, ...
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Ministry of Science and Technology - Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina
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Calls
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Smarten up for the future - RCC is organising the first regional online Balkathon seeking innovative solutions in Smart Tourism, Digital Learning Platform and Online Payments Solution
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In order to provide a targeted response to the global outbreak caused by COVID-19, the CEI is glad to launch the COVID-19 Extraordinary Call for Proposals 2020. The call purposely aims at addressing quickly...
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Participate in the MORE4 survey on the mobility of researchers
Support data collection and analysis concerning mobility patterns and career paths of researchers ! The study has two main strands: mobility within Europe and outside Europe.
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Documents
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The WBC-RTI Roadshow - meet us at ESOF 2020 (flyer and video)
Two virtual sessions are being organised by the International Service Facility on behalf of the EC DG R&I at ESOF 2020, to inform and promote the strong potential of the Western Balkans' R&I capacities...
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Smart Specialisation and the Wider Innovation Policy Context in the Western Balkans
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This regional study is prepared within the project “Creating synergy in Western Balkans for strengthening education, research and science”, supported by Western Balkan Fund. It is implemented by a team...
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Projects
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For the European deep-tech start-up scene to grow sustainably and achieve its potential impact, access to real market problems and test beds is required. It is our vision to build smart spaces ecosystem...
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Although these countries are not yet EU Member States it is important to monitor their achievements and reform efforts of social rights as candidate and potential candidate countries. This is particularly...
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Although these countries are not yet EU Member States it is important to monitor their achievements and reform efforts of social rights as candidate and potential candidate countries. This is particularly...
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