Dr Jennifer Cassingena Harper, Director of the Policy Unit at the Malta Council for Science and Technology, acted as rapporteur for one of the sessions at the high-level conference on 'The Future of Science and Technology in Europe’ which took place in Lisbon last October.
The conference was organized jointly by the European Commission Directorate General for Research and the Portuguese Presidency, it attracted over 400 participants largely senior science and technology policy-makers, researchers and industry representative bodies. The Conference agenda focused on the Portuguese Presidency priorities for research, including increasing investments in research, in particular fundamental research and the reform of universities.
The Conference provided an opportunity for exploring and debating the new perspectives for the European Research Area, the Commission’s recently launched Green Paper. A number of ERA Expert Groups have been set up to address the main issues raised in the Green Paper, namely : ERA Rationales, Realising a single labour market for researchers, Developing world-class research infrastructures, Strengthening research institutions, Sharing knowledge, Optimising research programmes and priorities, Opening to the world: international cooperation in S&T.
In the opening session, Commissioner for Research, Janez Potocnik, conveyed a clear and highly significant message: ‘the Commission cannot and would not wish to impose the ERA. A genuine European Research Area will only be created if all researchers, their institutions and companies, the Member States and regions as well as the Commission work together in partnership, with each accepting their responsibility for making it happen. Secondly, there is no appetite in the Commission, or elsewhere, for top-down coordination.’
The onus clearly rests now with Member States, regions, the research and business communities to take the ERA agenda forward. The Conference featured a blend of plenary sessions where high level policy-makers and key stakeholders presented their viewpoints on the Challenges for Science and Technology in Europe, Promoting and Attracting Human Resources in S&T, Boosting Public Investment in R&D and Increasing Private Investment in R&D. The parallel sessions featured presentations by the Chairs of the ERA Expert Groups, providing an opportunity for the Groups to obtain reactions to their preliminary findings and recommendations.
Dr Harper was invited to participate in the ‘ERA Rationales’ expert group early this year, and has been an active participant in the workgroup meetings. The group was chaired by Prof Luke Georghiou (University of Manchester), who delivered the keynote.
The ERA Rationales EG paper provoked a lively debate, over the two main lines proposed for rethinking the ERA, namely the need to broaden the policy framework in recognition of an emerging Research and Innovation Ecosystem and the need to identify and implement a number of European Grand Challenges. The ensuing discussion provided important insights as to how to take forward the Panel’s work, highlighting where further articulation of concepts is
Further information on the Conference is available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/research/conferences/2007/fst/index_en.htm
For more details on the ERA Green Paper consultations, visit :
http://ec.europa.eu/research/era/progress-on-debate/expert-groups-analyses_en.html
ERA Rationales Session – Rapporteur’s summing up slide:
- New vision vs. rethinking of ERA: wider engagement, relevance,specificities
- Grand Challenges:
European or Global:entail opportunities/need to address knowledge divide
Smart goals realistic & relevant to society, linked to innovation clusters, practical mini-challenges, workable allowing early successes, retroanalysis
Mission impossible: implementation concerns: how to convince politicians, and mobilise resources & ensure efficiency of ecosystem
Defining a Roadmap and shared vision: role of foresight/early warning
- Research and innovation ecosystem: re-conceptualising fragmentation:
sub-criticality: how to improve efficiency of public research system and quality of research. Dodos: cut actions which are extinct
Coordination: how to convince MS to work together on policies which go beyond research but involving research: increased coordination burden
Redefine cohesion in ecosystem: worldclass research requires scale/focus; access to knowledge and opportunity rather than equal distribution;
Exploiting proximities for knowledge exchange: virtual proximity
- Watch-outs:
Complexity of comparisons: emulating US dynamism not simplistic transfer;
European area of researchers vs links to innovation and broader policies
Progress: patience; measurement, ERA branding for later stages