Today, in the 21st century, the rapid progress and diffusion of IT and digital technology has enabled many products and services to be digitalized, propagated and provided worldwide, and speedily disseminated to hundreds of millions of people around the world. In line with this, the content and significance of innovation itself, as well as the forms of its realisation and deployment, are undergoing major changes. Start-ups with digital technologies that are expanding globally are emerging, and the importance of open innovation, which deliberately and actively stimulates the flow of technologies, ideas and other inputs and outputs between inside and outside of an organization are recognized as a key to facilitate innovation within an organization.
In this webinar to be held on 26 April (Wednesday) from 9:00-10:30 CEST, the discussion will focus on how innovation creation through support for startups and promotion of open innovation is being developed in line with the EU’s Smart Specialisation Strategy. The webinar will be opened by Ambassador Jean-Eric Paquet. It will also present good practices in European regions and Japanese prefectures.
Below, you will find an overview of the meeting agenda:
08:50-09:00 CEST Registration and Setting the Scene 08:50-09:00 JST
Participants can enter the meeting room and test the line connection and interpretation service.
Moderated Ivana Rae Almora, EU-Japan Region-to-Region Innovation Cooperation Helpdesk (EURADA)
09:00–09:25 CEST Welcome and Opening 16:00-16:25 JST
Meeting will begin with the opening address by the Head of Delegation of the EU to Japan and followed by keynote speech by an official from the European Commission.
Opening Address: Jean-Eric Paquet, Head of Delegation of the EU to Japan
Keynote Speech: Wolfgang Munich, Deputy Head, Unit of Smart and Sustainable Growth, DG REGIO, “EU’s Smart Specialisation Strategy and its Implication for Startups and Open Innovation”
09:25– 09:50 CEST Keynote Speech from Regional Perspectives 16:25-16:50 JST
Two keynote speeches will be provided from regional perspectives in the EU.
Keynote Speech (1): Laia Arnal, Director General of Knowledge Society, Transfer and Territory, Government of Catalonia, “Smart Specialisation in Catalonia in the Trend of Digitalization and Open Innovation”
Keynote speech (2): Leyre Madariaga, Director of Digital Transformation and Entrepreneurship of the Economic Development, Sustainability and Environment Department, Basque Government, “Digital Transformation, Startups and Open Innovation in Basque Country”.
09:50– 10:10 CEST Snapshots of Related Activities in EU Regions 16 50-17:10 JST
Presentations by EU regions on their regional innovation policy strategies and practices of startups and open innovation promotion.
- Aleš Pevc, Head of Technology Office, Technology Park Ljubljana, Startup and open innovation support ecosystem in Ljubljana Urban region
- Ms Monesi Sara, Art-ER, “Open innovation and support to start up within the Emilia-Romagna innovation ecosystem”
- Report by Val d’Oise (tbc)
- Report Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (tbc)
10:10– 10:25 CEST Comments and Q&A 17:10 -17:25 JST
Hidefumi Imura, Team Leader, EU-Japan Region-to-Region Innovation Project, will present comments from Japanese Perspectives”, followed by questions from the floor
10:25-10:30 CEST Quick Evaluation and Closing 17:25-17:30 JST
The webinar is restricted to regions and prefectures in the IURC programme but stay tuned for further updates including results of the webinar.