Speech By The Minister Of Science, Technology And Higher Education ...
MINISTÉRIO DA CIÊNCIA, TECNOLOGIA E ENSINO SUPERIOR
Gabinete do Ministro
Speech by the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education
of Portugal
José Mariano Gago
at the
XXIII Session of the EUREKA Ministerial Conference
Ljubljana, 6 June 2008
Programme of the Portuguese Chairmanship of EUREKA
Dear Madam Chair,
Dear Commissioner,
Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
First of all, I would like to congratulate the Slovenian EUREKA
Chairmanship. Thank you for your hospitality and for the quality of the
organisation of this meeting. I would also like to thank the Slovenian
Eureka team for the important initiatives taken during your Chairmanship.
The choice of the topic “Eureka-European Proactive Response to Global
Challenges in Industrial Research” was indeed timely and important.
I am sure to interpret the recognition by all member states for your very
positive contribution to the progress of Eureka. Thank you! I warmly thank
the Slovenian government as well as the Slovenian chairs and
representatives and their support team. You deserve our applause!
Portugal was a founding member of the intergovernmental initiative
EUREKA. We are proud of having chaired EUREKA in 1998 – 1999 and
of having launched one of the very first industrial R&D European
initiatives in China, under the name of EUREKA - ASIA.
This is therefore the second time Portugal is given the task of chairing the
Initiative on your behalf. We are honoured to serve again EUREKA in this
capacity. We wish to stimulate debate, to strengthen the spirit of mutual
Estrada das Laranjeiras, 197 – 205 ● 1649-018 Lisboa
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MINISTÉRIO DA CIÊNCIA, TECNOLOGIA E ENSINO SUPERIOR
Gabinete do Ministro
cooperation among Eureka member states and to reinforce the involvement
of all stakeholders in our activities.
EUREKA has now 23 years of existence and has generated thousands of
projects, bringing together at present 38 full members – I warmly welcome
the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as a new member.
EUREKA was created with the ambition to promoting European’s industry
competitiveness, especially of SMEs, by fostering trans-national
cooperation in near market R&D, using a flexible and dynamic model.
Those were the Hannover objectives: “To raise, through closer cooperation
among enterprises and research institutes in the field of advanced
technologies, the productivity and competitiveness of Europe’s industries
and national economies on the world market... To enable Europe to master
and exploit the technologies that are important for its future, and to build
up its capability in crucial areas.”
However, twenty one years later, the 2006 Aho Report to the EU still
recommends that “a Pact for Research and Innovation is needed to drive
the agenda for an Innovative Europe.”
During the Portuguese presidency of the EU, in December 2007, EU
Council Conclusions on the Future of S&T in Europe were approved and
endorsed by the European Summit. In their Conclusions Ministers agreed
that faster progress is more than ever necessary in order to respond to:
−
the increased international competition, including for qualified
human resources for R&D, and new opportunities brought by the
globalisation of economic and knowledge flows;
−
the increasing complexity and scale of the economic, social and
environmental challenges affecting society;
−
the need of business to operate in an environment of 'open
innovation' where connections with each other and with public
research institutions are at the core of value creation;
−
the growing importance of the freedom of knowledge and of
knowledge circulation, notably knowledge-sharing between
public research and industry as well as public at large.
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MINISTÉRIO DA CIÊNCIA, TECNOLOGIA E ENSINO SUPERIOR
Gabinete do Ministro
How can EUREKA contribute to these major objectives?
We firmly believe that there an urgent need for renewing its political vision
and to bringing in a new dynamism to EUREKA.
EUREKA should not be let to slowly fade away as a memory from the past.
EUREKA was a courageous and innovative political initiative launched to
stimulate innovation through research at international level, to accelerate
globalization and to help Europe to grasp its benefits. It was not designed
as another bureaucratic instrument, where top-down priorities are set a
priori to be hopefully followed by the real players, industry and
researchers. Instead, a bottom-up approach was firmly established by
EUREKA in conjunction with a spirit of flexibility and national
responsibility.
The number of Eureka projects rose from the very first 10 in 1985 to 99
new projects and 2 Umbrellas in 1986, and to the current 800 to 900
reported running projects.
A large network of EUREKA countries was established beyond traditional
political boundaries. This is a clear success upon which a global strategy of
stimulating R&D collaboration among firms at world level must now be
agreed upon by EUREKA governments. We believe that such a debate
cannot be postponed. A clear political answer to those countries
approaching us must be developed urgently, based upon a clear vision of
long term mutual benefits and on the responsibility by the firms themselves
for their own contractual arrangements.
Yes, EUREKA was a success story. But how shall we renew the Initiative
in order to remain so?
Difficult questions cannot be avoided anymore. EUREKA is a political
Initiative and its future depends upon political, not administrative
decisions. This is not a platform for bureaucratic planners or red tape
developers. The future of EUREKA is first of all a challenge for EUREKA
governments.
Is the EUREKA label a competitive advantage for innovative firms and for
new innovative products? How attractive is it to the most competitive
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MINISTÉRIO DA CIÊNCIA, TECNOLOGIA E ENSINO SUPERIOR
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companies and R&D institutions? How can the EUREKA label be
reinvented to become a world wide symbol of innovation?
EUREKA is at a cross roads.
This is a time for careful assessment and for firm and prompt political
decisions.
The Portuguese chairmanship wishes to contribute to the success and
strengthening of EUREKA as a major tool to promote research and
innovation, strengthening the bottom-up, open and flexible nature of the
network.
We will therefore promote, with your help, not only a policy of continuity
but also those actions needed to the development of a common vision for a
renewed EUREKA.
Our proposal is to focus on four main directions:
1. Promoting a policy of increased international cooperation by looking
proactively for partnerships with the world at large.
The external dimension of EUREKA should, in our view, be further
developed and supported. Approaching new partners from regions such as
the Southern Mediterranean and the Gulf, Asia and America is both a
necessity and an opportunity we cannot ignore. New networks for R&D
and advanced training are emerging between European and non-European
companies, research institutions and Universities. Those are flexible
contractual arrangements sharing with EUREKA the spirit of autonomy
and initiative of their participant stakeholders and the diversity of support
schemes from national authorities and other funding sources. EUREKA
might become one of the best political tools that Europe can contribute to
the development of those novel R&D networks that are shaping our future.
2. Seeking increased cooperation with other intra-European mechanisms
for R&D support. Relations with programmes and projects of the European
Commission such as COST, the JTIs and the ERA – NETs should also be
pursued in order to explore synergies and new opportunities.
Estrada das Laranjeiras, 197 – 205 ● 1649-018 Lisboa
Telef.: 21 723 10 00 ● Fax: 21 723 10 23
MINISTÉRIO DA CIÊNCIA, TECNOLOGIA E ENSINO SUPERIOR
Gabinete do Ministro
EUREKA spans a distinct and larger set of countries than the EU. Its role
as a truly independent platform must be preserved by all means. However,
synergies between EUREKA and EU policies and programmes should be
regarded as fundamental both for EUREKA and for the EU. Combining
member states’ national policies with EUREKA as well as with
increasingly diverse, open and global EU Framework Programmes for
R&D is a challenge we all know well. The EUROSTARS Programme will
certainly add a new dimension to this challenge that we hope will be
beneficial to all.
3. Adding value to the EUREKA label, reinforcing a communication
strategy that increases recognition of EUREKA as associated to successful
projects that have reached the market with innovative products and
services. The Portuguese chair will suggest the organisation of an
exhibition of project results in conjunction with a high level event for the
delivery of EUREKA Awards.
4. Strengthening mechanisms for the generation of projects, improving
relations within the Network and its clusters in order to achieve even better
results, and promoting, as far as possible, voluntary synchronization of
evaluation and funding.
It is our understanding that one of the main aims of the EUREKA Initiative
is the generation of new and excellent projects. New collaborative projects
leading to the creation of innovative products and services should be a
constant priority.
New decisive projects in Energy – New, Clean and Renewable sources of
Energy – should be a common concern of EUREKA as a responsible global
partner.
A Technology Mission of European enterprises and research institutions to
Asia is being considered and will be proposed to the Eureka network. We
are open to a frank and productive dialogue with all member states in order
to assess other opportunities.
A set of brokerage events is being prepared. The first one, on Moulds and
Dies innovative products and processes will take place in October at
Marinha Grande, north of Lisbon, one of the main regional hubs of mould
industries in Europe.
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Telef.: 21 723 10 00 ● Fax: 21 723 10 23
MINISTÉRIO DA CIÊNCIA, TECNOLOGIA E ENSINO SUPERIOR
Gabinete do Ministro
Portugal will hold in Lisbon the next Ministerial Conference, in June 2009.
Furthermore we intend to suggest to the Portuguese Parliament the
organisation of the Inter - parliamentary Conference in 2009.
Administrative meetings should be reduced to a minimum. We will ask the
Secretariat to streamline its activities on behalf of the main objectives of
EUREKA. We ask for greater coordination and optimisation, and for a
clear departure from the administrative and bureaucratic natural tendency
to contribute to the second law of thermodynamics by promoting
continuously a greater multiplicity of meetings and structures, decreasing
the clarity and focus of the organisation and reaching safely higher levels
of entropy. With the help of the Secretariat and with your political support
we will try to contribute to the efficiency and simplicity of EUREKA.
The Portuguese EUREKA team is committed to working closely with all
EUREKA partners in order to promote a renewed and stronger EUREKA.
We will all be working together. I am looking forward for your ideas,
proposals and projects.
We will be chairing EUREKA on your behalf. Thank you very much in
advance for all your support!
José Mariano Gago
Estrada das Laranjeiras, 197 – 205 ● 1649-018 Lisboa
Telef.: 21 723 10 00 ● Fax: 21 723 10 23
