About VISION Era-Net

VISION Era-Net is a collaborative network of nationally and regionally leading innovation policy agencies. The network includes 12 partners from 10 countries, and develops shared knowledge bases for innovation policy.

The project is part of the 6th Framework Programme of EU that supports the building of European Research Area (ERA), and runs between 2005 and 2009.

"THE LANDSCAPE OF INNOVATION IS CHANGING"

The landscape of innovation is changing, but not in a dramatic way, conclude the first series of research from the VISION Era-Net resesearch program on Open and Collaborative Innovation.

Openness, collaboration, and networking matter increasingly for innovation performance, and this keeps driving change in Europe. Much of the change can be analyzed in terms of the concept "open innovation", although it alone doesn't suffice to describe the unfolding transformation.

The key policy message from the studies is that traditional national innovation systems and clusters are forced to open up in order to stay competitive.
Horizontal innovation policies gain relevance as we move from closed to open innovation processes and systems, the studies argue.

Third conclusion addresses the different implications of open innovation for large and small firms. Large firms, due to their superior organizational capabilities, seem to be better equipped to take advantage of opennes than small firms. Public policies may play an important role for the networking of small firms and their capacity to benefit from open innovation.

Three projects, which included about 20 researchers from the leading European innovation research centers, analyzed the challenges and opportunities presented by open innovation in Europe. Click here for detailed project results and reports.

The projects have significantly "europeanized" the concept of "open innovation" and broadened its theoretical foundations. Project "Open Innovation and Globalization" analyzed alos in detail how to existing innovation survey data to describe and analyze changing innovation processes and the open innovation phenomenon..

Project "Sectoral Modes of Open Innovation" analyzed how open innovation is different between industries and technologies, as well as analyzed in detail what a group of small countries are doing to foster open innovation.

The results of the projects were presented at a conference in Stockholm in April 2008. To download the presentations, visit the EVENT SITE.

News

10.10.2008 Potocnik: ERA must be open to the world

The EU and its Member States must 'transform Europe's research labyrinth into a European Research Area open to the world, attracting the best brains and contributing to address global challenges', said European Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik. Mr Potocnik was speaking at the launch of a new European strategy for international cooperation in science and technology.

06.10.2008 Practical Guide to EU funding opportunities for Research and Innovation

Practical Guide to EU funding opportunities for Research and Innovation offers practical information on combining the different potential funding sources, and contains a description of each fund, advice for policy makers and an innovative Checklist and Scorecard. These are helpful when planning to apply for European funding.

22.09.2008 Conference on the Future of Humanities Research in Europe, Strasbourg, France, 8-9 October 2008

A conference on the future of humanities research in Europe will be held in Strasbourg, France, on 8 and 9 October. It is the fourth meeting organised in the framework of the EU-funded HERA ('Humanities in the European Research Area') project and the first European Conference for Collaborative Humanities Research (ECCHR).

Download VISION ERA-NET broschure:

VISION ERA-NET handout (pdf) (187.2 KB)

	© 2008 Ministry of Employment and the Economy, P.O. Box 32, FI-00023 Government, FINLAND, telephone +358 10 60 6000
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