European Technology Forum Wroclaw 2014
From left: prof. Gabriel Crean, dyr. Khalil Rouhana, p. Emmanuel Forest, dr Peter van Staa, dr Giuseppe Tartaglione
dr Andreas Wild, dr Xabier Goenaga, prof. Jacek Guliński
The first European Technology Forum organised by the Polish Chamber of Commerce for Advanced Technology and the National Centre for Research and Development was held on 12th and 13th of June 2014 in Wroclaw, Poland. As expected the conference was an open forum for consulting with a wide range of stakeholders about reindustrialisation of Europe by Key Enabling Technologies innovation . The main topics of debates were:
- priorities and funding mechanisms of the EU KETs policy, and the seven-year cross-cutting KETs work programme of Horizon 2020 in particular,
- various types of networking and partnerships - be they industry-driven, science-driven, or driven by public authorities - to avoid duplication of efforts and establish common goals.
Over 40 respective politicians and outstanding experts participated in the Forum as keynote speakers or panellists, among them prof. Jerzy Buzek, prime minister of Poland 1997-2001 and President of the European Parliament 2009-2012 who chaired the Forum, and prof. Gabriel Crean, Vice-President for Technology and Director for Europe, CEA, France and Chairman of the Sherpa Group of the European Commission High Level Group on KETs who moderated the plenary panel. Almost 1000 representatives of technology providers, down-stream industry users, scientific organizations and engineering associations, financial institutions and other stakeholders from all around Europe took part in the Forum sessions , workshops, showcases and live demonstrations. The Forum was a great chance to meet people, build up networks, exchange ideas and identify possible partners.