FEATURE
Aiming for smarter growth
The third Industrial Technologies Conference was held in Athens in April as part of the Greek Presidency of the European Council. Insight was media partner at the event and reports how the event’s theme of Smart growth through research and innovation struck a chord with all who attended
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he Industrial Technologies 2014 event, which took place in Athens in April, was declared a huge success by all 1,000 participants, exhibitors and speakers who gathered to focus on industry and innovations in an effort to
boost growth and wellbeing in slowly-recovering European economies. Terms like “reindustrialisation”, “industry
modernisation” and “smart growth” were explored across all policy areas within a packed event agenda that included four plenary sessions, 17 parallel sessions, and 14 workshops. High-level speakers from more than 50 countries representing business, government and academia in all the areas of Nanotechnology, Materials and new Production Technology, discussed new inventions and innovations, and the way they affect our everyday lives. The event was open by Christos Vasilakos, Secretary
General of Research and Technology, Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, paving the way for Rudolf Strohmeier, Deputy Director General, DG Research and Innovation at the European Commission, who explained: “In order to take its innovation policy to the next level, the EU should invest in innovation and capacity building, taking a more strategic approach towards both national and regional smart specialisation and innovation strategies and involve higher private investments.” In one of the plenaries, Esko Aho, former Prime
Minister of Finland (1991 to 1995), encouraged the audience to foster a risk-taking, entrepreneurial attitude and courageous decision making in order to
address the challenges, which lie in the decreasing competitiveness and the difficulty to continuously innovate within European industries. Professor Javier García Martinez of University of
Alicante, who is also a co-founder of Rive Technology continued on this topic, raising an important point during the press conference – competitiveness in innovation could be achieved through adoption and encouragement of the more entrepreneurial mindset in organisations around Europe. One person who contributed vastly to the birth of
concept of smart specialisation, Professor Dominique Foray, who represented
EPFL, explained the
structure of development relationships within three groups through brilliant metaphors: sleeping giants (large organisations), exited goblins (regions) and hungry dwarfs (SMEs). Heinrich Flegel, Chairman Manufuture ETP,
Daimler AG, made the clear statement: “Only innovative industry can create productive growth.” The process of re-establishing industries in Europe is
anticipated to bring vitality to the suffering national economies of 21st century and industrial modernisation must be pursued by investing in innovation, resource efficiency, new technology and skills. European innovation today is mostly based on
multidisciplinary approaches, and there is a fine balance between the technological, economical and societal aspects. “The need to rethink technology and societal challenges have been understood in Europe at all levels – however, the role of Chief Technology Officers as key drivers within corporations is not sufficiently recognised,” said Pekka Koponen, CEO of Spinverse.
Insight Publishers | Projects
“The feedback from delegates of the Industrial Technologies 2014 conference has been almost overwhelming and we are leaving Athens even more enthusiastic”
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