Back then "research and development" were seen as the magic words, ready to save the world each time they were pronounced or included in a policy document. As a consequence the debate on Europe’s competitiveness and social model was centred around the question on how to increase financing for R&D and how to best help citizens with the transition to a new form of societal organisation; the "Information Society".

It has become clear, that Europe, though performing first-class research and development, cannot focus on the production of knowledge only. It needs to find a way to channel its R&D results closer to the market and to translate it into concrete products and services to address newly arisen challenges such as climate change or demographic developments. Europe needs more innovation and more innovation requires a clear and effective policy framework.

Against this background DG Enterprise and Industry is working on a new innovation policy plan. At the same time DG EAC’s initiatives, surrounding 2009 as the Year of Creativity and Innovation, play a major role in ensuring that Europe’s youth is equipped with the skills and motivation to contribute to its scientific and technological knowledge basis. Regardless of the services involved, all recent proinnovation initiatives share one common element: The need to involve all stakeholders of Europe’s innovation ecosystem, if Europe’s next generation innovation policies are to succeed.

Among the most outstanding initiatives supported by various Directorate Generals is the first European Innovation Summit (EIS), taking place on 13-14 October 2009 at the European Parliament. The event is organised by the Knowledge4Innovation Platform (K4I), a business and policy networking platform, bringing together officials from several DGs, Members of the European Parliament and representatives from various leading companies and trade associations, regional organisations as well as universities and civil society organisations.

The main goal of the EIS is to raise awareness about the significance of generating and managing more and better innovations to sustain Europe’s future. "Technological change and innovation need to be the central theme for the European Economy like recently presented by José Manuel Barroso", explains Jos Leijten, President of the organising K4i platform. The EIS will help to achieve a mutual understanding of each other’s role, enhance cooperation among the different innovation actors and builds a basis for the challenging visions needed to drive innovation in Europe.

Europe needs to find out how best to use knowledge and to ensure its efficient communication in order to get the best return on investment in R&D. That is why initiatives such as the EIS will take the debate and the awareness on how best to shape future European innovation policies to the next level.

More info: www.knowledge4innovation.eu