SEE attended 1st European Innovation Summit!

In order to enhance the quality of the research presented in the SEE Policy Booklet, an output of the SEE project (co-financed as part of the INTERREG IVC programme), I attended the First European Innovation Summit held in Brussels on 13th and 14th October.

On the Tuesday morning I met our Belgium partner in order to find out about the new Flemish Innovation Policy being published this month as well as to discuss a case study on intellectual property rights, both of which will feature in the booklet. I also had the pleasure of meeting Prof. Mary McBride, Director of the Pratt Institute Design Management programme (New York) to moot the contribution of design to innovation in public policy and discovered the Catalyst Strategic Design Review.

In the afternoon from 14.00 until 18.30 I attended a series of three lectures focusing on ‘Innovation Policies and Practices Across Europe’ at the European Parliament as part of the First European Innovation Summit. The first panel, moderated by Claus Schultze, Director of the European Regions Research and Innovation Network, centred on the strategic role of the Regions in the European Innovation System. The second panel, moderated by Gernot Klotz, Director of Research and Innovation at the European Chemical Industry Council, discussed private sector participation in the innovation process; while the final panel, chaired by Andre van der Meer, Permanent Representative for the City of the Hague to the Institutions of the EU, centred on future EU innovation policy and concluded with insightful questions from the floor.

The event was a great success and enabled innovation practitioners and EU policy-makers to engage in dialogue. However, design as a strategic disciple for innovation and public policy did not feature on the agenda so the SEE Policy Booklet will be an opportunity to advance the debate.

Anna