Workshop on Thursday 23 Nov 2017 in Brussels, 14:00 – 17:00 under the patronage of the European Committee of the Regions

Europe is at a crossroad, with Horizon moving into the final episode, and various external and internal forces urging to re-think current cohesion policies. Robotics has been identified as one of the key technologies for innovation and regional development. The current IST-Call reflects this quite well with reverence to Digital Innovation Hubs in the field of robotics. But those who have been in the process of setting up regional clusters and hubs, have discovered that it takes more than a bag of money to establish an innovative ecosystem.

This workshop was part of the central events of European Robotics Week 2017, this year in Brussels.

The workshop aimed at informing about current initiatives of the European Commission and other European organizations, the status of current deliberations for future policies, and presenting recipes for successful establishment of successful regional clusters – especially under adverse conditions.

Agenda & presentations

• Welcome  by Markku Markkula, First Vice President, Committee of Regions, Brussels
• Cécile Huet (DG CNECT A1): Expectations for DIHs in the ICT Workprogramme 2018
• Krzysztof Mieszkowski (Smart Specialisation Platform, JRC): How the IndMod Platform provides advice to EU countries and regions for the design and implementation of their Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3)
• Jan Larosse (‎Independent Adviser at VANGUARD INITIATIVES Consult & Creation): Regions and cities as living labs for new solutions facilitated by robotics
• Panel discussion (with the previous speakers) “Why, and how regions should become active” (moderator: Uwe Haass, Consultant, Roboconsult) followed by a general discussion with members of the audience.