Conference: ICT Research and Innovation Challenges in Eastern European Member States (EEMS)

11 November 2011

Budapest, Hungary

The Conference:

Eastern EU Member States have very low ICT business expenditures in ICT R&D in relation to their GDP. They also show a very low rate of ICT public expenditures in R&D in relation to their GDP. Although several of them have recorded spectacular increases in ICT manufacturing employment, deeper analysis tends to indicate that these countries are still hosting rather low value added activities.

The mission of this conference was to confront such facts and views to the testimony of the stakeholders from academia, industry and policy so as to validate the observations, interpret their possible meaning and opt for actions that might favorably influence the future.

Conference presentations:

The speakers's CVs are available on the "Speakers and Co-authors" section of the EEMS conference website.

Keynote

• Norbert Kroó, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, European Commission DG Research, ERC
  An EEMS Perspective: Making Sense of the Issues

• Juraj Stancik, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) - Joint Research Centre (JRC), European Commission
  • ICT Research and Innovation Trends and Challenges in EEMS as seen in the 2011 Report on ICT R&D in the EU (presentation)
  • ICT Research and Innovation Trends in EEMS (paper)

• Bruno Lamborghini, Chairman of the Board, European IT Observatory
  EITO Overview of ICT activities and R&D Challenges in EEMS

Insights from Industry

• István Lepsényi, General Director of Knorr-Bremse Hungary, President of the  Hungarian Association of Managers, Vice President of the International Organization of Automotive Manufacturers (OICA) & Laszlo Palkovics, Director for Advanced Engineering, Knorr-Bremse Hungary
  
  • Hungarian challenge – how to strengthen the role and position of the locally owned SMEs in the R&D arena

• Zoltán Horváth, Vice Rector of Eotvos Lorand University, Budapest
  • Brief introduction to the activities of the Budapest ICT Lab of the European Institute of Technology

Regional Insights

• Imants Freibergs, former President of LIKTA (Latvian Information and Communications Technology Association), Latvia
  • Latvian ICT (presentation)
  • ICT RTD Latvia (paper)

• Saulius Maskeliunas, VU Institute of Mathematics and Informatics, President of Lithuanian Computer Society, Lithuania
  • The Baltic R&D in ICT Scene

• Diana Šimić, University of Zagreb, Chairperson of the eSEE initiative group
  • ICT R&D Challenges for the Western Balkans (presentation)
  • ICT R&D Challenges for the Western Balkans (paper)

• Roberto Bellini, EUCIP-AICA
  • EUCIP Talk

Country Perspectives of ICT R&D Challenges in EEMS
(including research priorities and products, R&D financing, participation in EC programs)

• Renata Anna Jaksa, Director, ICEG European Center, Hungary
  • ICT R&D Perspectives from Hungary
• Kiril Boyanov, ICT Institute & Stefan Dodunekov, Director of Institute of Mathematics and Informatics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
  
  • ICT R&D Perspectives from Bulgaria (presentation)
  • Some Aspects of Research and Development in ICT in Bulgaria (paper)
• Barnabas Malnay, Hungarian Mobility and Multimedia Cluster
  
  • Brief comments on recent developments in the Hungarian innovation ecosystem
• Niko Schlamberger,  President of SSI Ïnformatika and Past President of CEPIS & Franci Pivec, President of Government Council of Higher Education in 2010
  
  • Strategy of High Education in the Republic of Slovenia with Special Attention on R&D (presentation)
  • Strategy of High Education in the Republic of Slovenia with Special Attention on R&D (paper)
• Branislav Rovan, Professor at Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia
  • ICT R&D Perspectives from Slovakia (presentation)
  • ICT Research and Innovation - Slovakia (paper)
• Marek Holynski, Director of Computer Science Institute, Warsaw, Poland
  
  • Polish ICT (presentation)
  • ICT Research in Poland (paper)

Conference Closing

• Carlos Jose Oliveira, European Commission - Information Society and Media Directorate General (DG INFSO-C2), Strategy for ICT Research and Innovation
  • Research and Innovation Challenges in Eastern European Member States

Conference material:

• EEMS Conference website
• Conference Proceedings
• Conference Programme
  
  

Related Links:

• PREDICT Project webpage
• The Observatory on Information Society take-up (OISTU)
  

Related Publications:

• Overview of JRC-IPTS reports from previous research on Information Society take-up in the New Member States and Candidate Countries

• IT STAR Newsletter - Vol. 10, no. 1, Spring 2012
• IT STAR Newsletter - Vol. 9, no. 3, Autumn 2011
• IT STAR Newsletter - Vol. 8, no. 2, Summer 2010

Related Projects:

• New Entrants: Information Society take-up in Eastern Countries. More...
• The Observatory on Information Society take-up (OISTU). More...
  
• The Krynica Economic Forum:  2004 2005  2006
  

Contact:

Marc Bogdanowicz: Marc.Bogdanowicz(at)ec.europa.eu