The SMARTlab and Research teams of UCD will be hosting and moderating an ongoing series of innovation design/knowledge exchange workshops, mini-roundtables, and technology mapping exercises to make visible and audible the new ideas bubbling up throughout the event.
The SMARThub will be based in the centre of the European Parliament, and will host an artist-in residence drawing the events of each day in analogue format, along with technologies including mindmapping,smartboards, visualisatioon tools, virtual world spaces where collaborators at a distance can join in live, and a live videos stream to youtube where the essence of key ideas can be collected and projected in real time. Big ideas arising will be fed into overall event plenary sessions throughout the week. Daily roundtable workshops will be hosted on a 'need to talk' basis as new ideas and conversations emerge across the plenary and panel sessions.
What to expect
Running Presence as an Exchange Space + daily ad hoc Emergencies sessions to feature emerging issues , ideas, questions arising from the summit at large
The purpose of the opening plenary is to introduce the conference agenda and elaborate on the intended outputs of the conference. Moreover, an action will be presented for how the outcomes of the conference can be taken forward in the future.
More patent applications are filed at the European Patent Office for medical technology than for any other. New inventions for implants, robotic limbs, analytical tools and diagnostic devices are improving the quality of life for millions of people, including an increasing number of elderly people. Medical technology is big business - and patents help scientists and researchers secure investment as well as protect the fruits of their R&D. If you have a question about patenting in this field, or are unsure about what can be patented and what not, then come along to this session and meet an EPO examiner who is expert in this field.
Rare diseases affect close to 30 million people in the EU-27 and despite the high quality of public research and the existence of 'centres of excellence', there is a lack of innovative approaches for the development of new therapies. The definition of optimised methods and resources use requires coordination in both investments and infrastructures that only a Public Private Partnership approach can supply. The conference will explore how to leverage existing models to promote best practises in the field.
Speakers include researchers from rare disease centres in France, Italy, U.K. and Germany.
The rise in Alzheimer’s disease is a global crisis and a societal grand challenge for the 21st Century. It threatens not only the health of populations globally, but also sustainable economic growth, fiscal policies, and the social fabric of European communities. Alzheimer’s is a case study for how European science, European institutions, and European public-private partnerships can play a leadership role in addressing a global challenge through global collaboration.
The Alzheimer’s CEO Roundtable seeks to provide additional private sector collaboration to complement important efforts already underway in governments, patient groups, universities, and other communities and to catalyze new actions to accelerate the fight against Alzheimer’s.
The four goals of The Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer’s disease include:
- Develop and issue the comprehensive a Alzheimer’s research agenda
- Identify specific, quantifiable actions that reduce the time, cost, and risk associated with developing therapies for Alzheimer’s disease
- Clarify the fiscal and economic case for addressing Alzheimer’s, and define new global investment models that will increase research and drive innovation in care and care delivery
- Leverage the collective voice of business and government to enhance public engagement, increase the understanding of Alzheimer’s disease, and promote proactive approaches to addressing cognitive health for those who suffer from Alzheimer’s as well as their loved ones
With over 80 million documents, all sorted and classified according to technology type, the free databases of the EPO make it easy to find a wealth of relevant scientific and technical information. Most of the documents describe technical solutions which are free to use, because the patents are not in force! And thanks to Patent Translate, documents in over a dozen languages can now be understood instantly. Did you know that patent information can support more than just your research? The databases can lead you to previously unknown suppliers, partners or rivals too, providing a more complete view of the market.
During this session experts from the EPO will introduce the databases and their search functions, explaining tricks and tips for extracting the answers you need in developing your technology.
This workshop is designed to help researchers directors of research groups to plan for Horizon 2020.
The workshop is designed to address the following concerns of researchers in 2013:
How to identify the most suitable programmes (Mapping)
How to Lobby for Topic in Horizon 2020
How to identify strategic partners for Horizon 2020
How to start drafting proposal ideas for Horizon 2020
Global health challenges, their related socio-economic implications and the future of medicine can only be efficiently addressed by international, inter-disciplinary collaboration.
The various topics of the plenary are structured in a manner to guide participants from future health challenges to possible solutions and required actions to address these challenges. Speakers are invited to present their view on the key issues described below.
Global health challenges and economic implications
What are the upcoming global health challenges and what are the economic implications of such challenges? Healthcare systems have no proper solutions in place to cope with these challenges and countries have no strategy how to finance healthcare under these expected developments. There is a need for new solutions.
50 year roadmap for the future of medicine
These new solutions may only be delivered by top level research and development. However several
paradigm shifts in the R&D and healthcare landscapes are required to occur: To change from a fragmented R&D landscape to multidisciplinary and international collaborative research: To take advantage of the “massive data” century; to change research focus from individual molecules to biological systems; to restructure medicine by establishing a mechanism/biological system-based disease taxonomy. This has several implications ranging from restructuring medicine from being a current organ-centered to a future on common disease mechanisms based medicine, new strategies in drug development and prescription, new organization of healthcare providers, to developing new curricula for education and training. These changes will be reflected in the 50 year roadmap. For more information, please visit http://www.globalsciencecollaboration.org/global-challenges/health
Frameworks for international collaborative research: technical, ethical and legal challenges
In order to allow such paradigm shifts, particularly to enable interdisciplinary and international collaborative research common technical standards, and harmonized ethical and legal frameworks are essential. This will be elaborated on the example of “massive data” –driven healthcare addressing challenges of common taxonomies, quality management, technical challenges, data protection and
privacy.
Role of academia and industry in health innovation
The paradigm shifts in the R&D landscape will also affect the academia-industry relationship. There is a need for increased collaboration between academia and industry particularly in the pre-competitive field. This will also impact on role of patents and open access information. Several examples of R&D partnerships in the precompetitive field will be presented.
Towards a global health science policy
Basically all of the above highlighted issues are of global nature requiring global collaboration for an efficient response. Therefore, the question arises whether the time is ripe for an international concerted action to develop the solution that will allow to respond to future health challenges and to sustainably
finance healthcare systems.
Horizon 2020 strongly emphasizes finding innovative and efficient solutions to address societal changes and enable technological breakthroughs. The design, demonstration and implementation of Smart Grids represents a significant step forward for the electric power infrastructure of the EU by providing increased reliability, efficiency and affordability, while leveraging renewables and other distributed power generation sources. Exploiting advances in a number of technologies, including ICT and power electronics, the Smart Grid methodology has been demonstrated on small scales, but still faces a number of challenges to scale to major cities and beyond. This session will provide a clear definition of Smart Grids and their potential, address the challenges that must be faced in the next years to realize their advantages, and discuss the role that international collaboration will play in the grid's evolution.
More patent applications are filed at the European Patent Office for medical technology than for any other. New inventions for implants, robotic limbs, analytical tools and diagnostic devices are improving the quality of life for millions of people, including an increasing number of elderly people. Medical technology is big business - and patents help scientists and researchers secure investment as well as protect the fruits of their R&D. If you have a question about patenting in this field, or are unsure about what can be patented and what not, then come along to this session and meet an EPO examiner who is expert in this field.
The Space Weather Seminar will bring industry, academia, and high-level policy and decision makers together in order to engage in a lively dialog about space weather. The Seminar will address the truly variant effects of space weather on today’s technologies. It will highlight space weather’s potential impacts on several crucial sectors, including communications, navigations, spacecraft operations, aviation, and electric power. The presentations and debate at the Space Weather Seminar will also focus on identifying the highest priority needs for operational services that can inform future research and identify new value-added capabilities which can be transitioned into effective applications. The conference will promote communication among researchers, space weather service providers, and users of space weather services. Pursuant to this, the ES:GC2 Space Weather Seminar will focus on the challenges of ensuring that the EU can meet its Horizon 2020 objectives for space, with a specific focus on securing the integrity of the vital services provided by orbital equipment and technologies.
The world has started facing a dramatic change in global health challenges. On top of the unmet needs to
combat communicable diseases especially in the developing world our societies become larger, older and unhealthier. We even export most of these life style diseases into the low and most prominently the medium income countries (LMIC). 2/3 of all new cancer cases in 2030 can be estimated to be diagnosed in LMIC, the highest increase in type 2 diabetes and glucose intolerance will be seen in LMICs. At the same time public health spending is increasing already and the need for an economic return for Pharma is becoming shorter. For big Innovations first stage funding is seen as too risky and seed funding instruments are unattractive for investors.
Healthcare systems have no proper solutions in place to cope with the upcoming health challenges and
countries have no strategy how to finance healthcare under these expected developments. This situation will result in a major threat for global economy. There is a need for new solutions for better prevention of diseases and more efficient cures. These solutions have to emerge from top level research requiring also new financing instruments to enable efficient translation of research into innovation.
The Georgia Tech Institute for People and Technology leads a Humanitarian Systems initiative is focused on developing novel communication and information, building safety and shelter, healthcare, and security technologies to aid communities during disaster and crisis situations. This session will examine the role of sensors, computers, and communications in social and political development with the aim of building systems that support communities as they overcome significant challenges. From the perspective of science the session will address three areas of potential advancement to technology that will aid in prediction and recovery from disaster.
One area of discussion is prediction and preparation for natural and human disasters will involve the combination of intelligence, environmental sensing, and human social awareness and response. There are emerging opportunities for algorithms that provide advanced warning from massive data collections
involving regional intelligence or environmental trends, large scale sensing, and human social networking. Given a disaster situation there is additional opportunity to develop new sensors that
detect human victims, structural safety, and danger to first responders. Finally, future smart buildings may include biologically inspired design and low cost sensing to provide increased resiliency to natural disasters. The science behind such opportunity is in large scale sensing and analysis of massive data sets.
Mutual awareness for ocean prosperity: how do we share existing ocean surveillance information from space systems to equitably enrich all maritime nations by promoting good stewardship and safe conduct across the world's oceans?
Effective maritime situation awareness requires, by its very nature, global collaboration. The "Collaboration in Space for International Global Maritime Awareness" (C-SIGMA) undertaking looks to develop an unclassified Global Maritime Awareness system using existing commercial and civil space systems, and to make them synergistically more effective by fostering international partnerships and
collaboration. An efficient global maritime awareness system will not only increase security and promote trade, but also will enhanced safety of life at sea and provide greater protection of the maritime environment and its resources, benefiting the entire global community. Following on the Horizon 2020
proposal to improve tools for maritime surveillance, this session will focus on the collaborative nature of maritime situation awareness and how best to integrate European member states with other important global players to achieve these ends via the use of existing unclassified aerospace technology.
As personalised medicine enters clinical and public health practice, its wider implementation requires favourable health policies and a new health infrastructure. Personalised Medicine is expected to allow our current, largely reactive mode of medicine to be replaced over the next years by a personalised, predictive, preventive, and participatory medicine. Europe has to provide citizens with access to emerging knowledge and technologies which will aid them in achieving a better quality of life over an extended lifetime. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been identified as one of the bottlenecks. Due to growing demands for data-rich, individualised medicine, ICT and healthcare are increasingly merging. As data-intensive analysis and computer-intensive modelling become common practice, this will result in a shift from personnel-intensive to ICT-intensive applications. Modelling will be used to generate “Virtual Patients”, such that each citizen might conceivably have a “virtual twin” that can be used to simulate and predict outcomes such as response to therapeutic or preventive interventions. To accelerate the development of personalised medicine, personal health and individualised healthcare global collaborations of researchers in academia, industry, SMEs, patient groups and regulatory authorities are needed, preferably as public-private partnerships, to ensure that research results are translated into tangible benefits for citizens.
This workshop will discuss the rationale for using astronomy as a tool for development and the lessons that may be relevant to other disciplines.
In recent years there has been increasing emphasis on science and technology as a tool for global development and capacity building. Astronomy has been in the forefront of such efforts, particularly in Africa. This workshop will discuss the rationale for using astronomy as a development aid and the lessons from astronomy that may be relevant to other disciplines.
09h30 Welcome Speech by Bill Newton Dunn
09h45 Rationale for astronomy as a development tool by Prof. George Miley
10h05 The IAU Office of Astronomy for Development by Kevin Govender
10h25 Astronomy for technological capacity building by Anita Loots (tbc)
10h45 Coffee Break
11h00 Astronomy and Industry by Harry Van Dorenmalen
11h20 Astronomy for human capacity building – universities and research by Jean Pierre de Greve
11h40 Astronomy for human capacity building – schools and children by Pedro Russo
12h00 Experiences from the CIT Blackrock Castle Observatory by Niall Smith
12h10 Discussion
Two experienced technology transfer managers will share their insights into the challenges when bringing brilliant science to market. How can the differing expectations of academics and industry partners be reconciled? How can the urge to publish be aligned with the secrecy requirements for patenting? How can both sides negotiate a win-win solution? Come and listen to some fascinating case studies and learn the secrets of success!
The conference discusses the many challenges facing global science. One such challenge common across all areas is the role of women in science, research and economic and societal development.
The current difficult economic climate provides women with an opportunity to lead us forward to find a more positive, and sustainable position for the benefit of people.
We set no topic limitations or agenda other than a basic request that a high level group of intelligent and socially conscious women leaders each put forward their five to ten minute vision for the future of Europe and the global environment and economy.
We ask the European Commission to take up some of these challenges in the framing of the Horizon 2020 Programme.
The 100 Year Starship initiative aims at making interstellar travel a reality in the next 100 years. What are some challenges in space travel to a star beyond our solar system? During this plenary, the focus of the discussion will be centred around the importance of the grand challenge of interstellar travel to push both R&D and societal benefits. The format of the plenary will be broken up into two sessions on the following topics:
Time, distance and destinations. The first half of this theme will examine some of the challenges of getting a spaceship to another star system such as propulsion, navigation, and communication as well as how it pushes physics, astronomy, and planetology to a new level. The second half will look at some of the social science, health, and environmental aspects such as sociology, behavioural sciences, and some of the living structures in other systems.
Life, environment and habitats. In the first half of the session, the panel will address how interstellar travel enhances life on earth by examining some topics such as systems engineering, data management, remote sensing, and the application of space technology to developing countries. The second half of the session will ask what some of the fundamentals to becoming an interstellar civilization are with regards to access to Earth orbit, education, international cooperation, and legal considerations. This second half will also address how interstellar travel pushes humans’ imaginations by looking at the importance of
storytelling and global aspirations of space travel.
Researchers, engineers, industry and funders will discuss priority actions for the future of African-European radio astronomy cooperation.
The African-European Radio Astronomy Platform (AERAP) is a stakeholder forum convened to define research action plans across the wide range of technological areas that will be essential for the future of radio astronomy. The “Draft AERAP Framework Programme for Cooperation” will be the first of these action plans. It will include strategic objectives, specific actions and suitable funding opportunities for each of the priority areas for African-European radio astronomy cooperation (e.g.: ICT, renewable energies, African VLBI, human capital development and training). The “Draft AERAP Framework Programme for Cooperation” will be presented during this workshop and researchers, engineers, industry and funders will discuss in further detail the priority actions identified in this document.
The workshop will start with a video-streamed "Radio Astronomy Concert". Children from England and Ghana will perform a song that demonstrates the basic principles of radio astronomy. Thus, this amazing scientific discipline will be made accessible for non-scientists.
Please find the provisional agenda here: http://www.aerap.org/archivos_subidos/provisional_agenda_aerap_events_at_esgc2_21feb.pdf
Revealing the molecular basis of diseases will depend critically on the availability of well-documented, high quality biological samples from large numbers of patients and healthy persons, collected and made available by biobanks. Human biological samples, including associated medical and molecular data are key resources in unraveling genetic and environmental factors causing diseases and influencing their outcome. These resources are required for development of new solutions to improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases.
The pan-European Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure (BBMRI-ERIC) will further develop and provide access to these key resources in a quality controlled and ethically and legally compliant manner. Although BBMRI-ERIC is a European initiative much emphasis is placed on global cooperation and the development of globally harmonized biobanking-related processes and standards.
BBMRI-ERIC builds on OECD guidelines pertinent to biobanking and should become the European part of global biological resource centres network (GBRCN) as specified by OECD.
This seminar will present BBMRI-ERIC as well as several other leading biobanking initiatives in Europe and outside of Europe. Key measures to improve international collaboration and interoperability of biobanks will be discussed.
Speakers from the European Patent Office will first explore the policies which encourage innovation: patents and their alternatives. Patents promote technology diffusion to markets in more ways than you would imagine. After an introduction to the current patent procedure in Europe, the proposals for the Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court will be described, showing how long-needed reforms are creating the patent system European innovators really need if they are to protect markets and attract investment. This will lead to a concluding presentation about the economic impact of patents: central to prosperity and progress in Europe.
The plenary will be completed by a case study from an inspirational innovator who has won the
European Inventor Award.
Crime science focuses on the study of crime and the factors that cause it, not criminals or criminal behaviour. The evolving discipline of crime science will help us design crime prevention into our environments in order to significantly reduce drivers for crime. We are in an ICT enabled revolution that can help reduce crime by designing systems that discourage criminal behaviours intelligently and discretely. This session will focus on application of information sciences and ubiquitous sensing to crime reduction. Topics of interest include Geographical Information Systems; surveillance, detection, and identification; massive data extraction; and the integration of social connectivity with mobile sensing. A more familiar area of crime science is on detection and another area of interest is advanced forensics - in particular detecting signatures of individuals from standoff detection of non-invasive signatures (physical features, gait, voice, etc.), new technologies for microscopic forensics, emerging timeline analysis opportunities via social media and mobile technologies, and policy issues from opportunistic tracking of individuals.
The session wishes to highlight with practical examples by FP-7 funded projects and other initiatives the significance of Europe’s space systems for EU-science, research and innovation dynamics. Representatives of the European Network NEREUS1 and representatives of relevant European institutions are going to debate how European space systems can contribute as a vital tool to advance in the different societal challenges of Horizon2020 and thus serve European society. The emphasis of the NEREUS-network is on the use of space technologies and provides its members with a dynamic platform to mobilize projects, share experience and knowledge and raise awareness for the regional dimension of space applications. Several EU-projects have been mobilized on the NEREUS-platform and speak for themselves.
In numerous ways satellite data and services bring an added value to all six societal challenges2
and pave the way to more knowledge and a wider insight. To quote just a few examples, Galileo
is fundamental to develop innovative transport solutions, Earth Observation/Copernicus-data brings an immense treasure of information to research activities in areas such as climate change, health, agriculture, marine and maritime, raw materials, energy. A recent study on the economic benefits of Copernicus showed that 1 Euro invested in the system brings up to 10 Euros back to the European society in terms of economic benefits, in addition to strategic advantages which cannot be accounted for. The science community is a key beneficiary of space-based information. The session wishes to call for a close linkage between the different columns of the Horizon2020, in particular of bringing the dimension of space into the topics of the societal challenges. In particular with both space systems growing increasingly mature, establishing synergies to societal challenges are crucial to ensure an optimal exploitation and capitalization of these systems for Europe’s research endeavors.
By the year 2050, the world will need 70% more food than it produces today to feed a global population of over 9 billion people. Maintaining the security of the food supply from contamination from both intentional and natural sources is a challenging problem. As the world’s demand for food continues to rise, this only increases the need for new solutions to maintain the quality of the food as well as its security from farm to fork. This session will focus on the two key areas in food security: rapid detection of chemicals or pathogens in food and optimization of the supply chain. The first area is critical to identifying threats as quickly as possible. Because our food supply can be produced one day and consumed the next day, traditional 24 hour sampling techniques are not sufficient to meet the needs of the modern food system. However, the technology to perform the pre-concentration and sampling of the
high volume product streams as well as detect a single pathogen or extremely low chemical concentrations within 10 minutes does not yet exist. The supply chain itself is a source of a great deal of food waste - up to 30% of all fresh produce is lost in the supply chain in the US. How do we move away from first in, first out logistic systems and to least shelf life, first out system? To accomplish this, technology for measuring, estimating and tracking shelf life will need to be developed. In addition, the supply chain must continue to play a role in the security of the food it transports.
This session will introduce the concept of the ‘diaspora’ as more than an economic driver, bringing in perspectives from multidisciplinary experts all showcasing the potential of harnessing a strong future market for Europe building upon the diaspora communities in all their forms.
Concepts to be discussed include:
- The history and origins/definitions of ‘diaspora’
- Global population shifts and migration
- A who’s who in diaspora development, historical leaders, implications, etc
- diasporic factors: remittances, philanthropy, trade and investment, art & culture, education, sport, medical tourism, volunteering
- global networks and social networking
- practice-based research
- Diaspora & peace
- the influence of technology & transport
- legal aspects of Diaspora
- Diaspora and Gender
- mobile telephony & its implications
Horizon 2020 will address three priorities in one programme: Excellent Science, Industrial Leadership and Societal Challenges. In this panel we will elaborate on the main areas of Application Driven Research, Technology Driven Research and Basic Research in the field of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The key issues on the 2020 Horizon, such as Scenarios, New Architectures, Spectrum, Management of Complex System and Service Applications will be introduced and the positioning of ICT topics, such as Elastic Networking, Future Radio Access, Software Defined Networking, Service Aware Networks, Virtualization, etc. discussed.
Science is now a global enterprise; from Dubai to South Africa, new researchers and research communities are reshaping the international science, technology and innovation (STI) landscape, long dominated by the USA, Japan and Europe.
At the same time, global challenges have made the need for large-scale, multilateral cooperation in STI more pressing than ever; global cooperation platforms allow for greater synergies, setting standards and exchange of best practices, and the diffusion of socially relevant knowledge. The ESFRI Roadmap is a good example of this kind of cooperation as it brings together experts from all fields of research at European level to identify projects for research infrastructures of European interest.
This conference aims to strengthen dialogue with international partners in order to build a critical mass for tackling global challenges. This session will address key topics, including:
• How funders of global challenge programmes can devise better ways to coordinate their efforts, share good practices, define thematic priorities, minimise duplication and transaction costs, and maximise impact
• International strategies for gearing national funding for better responses to global challenges
• Investigating new ways in which trends in global science can be captured, quantified and benchmarked developing methodologies to assess global and regional capacity development in specific scientific fields
• Building research infrastructures with a specific focus on international and interdisciplinary collaboration; involving all key stakeholders in order to improve cost-efficiency ratio
• Establishing multi-pronged, customized outreach and dissemination plans for communicating science policy messages and implications to various stakeholders, including the general public
• Forward-looking strategies for minimising barriers to the flow of talented people
• Exploring opportunities to further expand Horizon 2020 to international cooperation
Inventions can be protected by legal rights - patents - but making money from them requires a business plan. Two experts from the world of business and academia assess the merits of patents and their alternatives (e.g. trade secrets) in optimising a strategy for commercial success. Different innovations require different approaches to secure investment, deter infringement and protect market share. See how deciding to file a patent (or not!) fits into the bigger picture of research and product development.
PREFERENCE IS GIVEN TO PEOPLE WHO RECEIVED SPECIFIC INVITATIONS FOR THIS SEMINAR
The goal of this session is to showcase successful avenues for excellence in research and development for Global Health, with a particular focus on the benefits of international and cross-sectorial cooperation. While negotiations on Horizon 2020 continue, financing for research and development for Global Health will be addressed primarily by the EDCTP, but also ERC and possibly IMI. We would look at how these instruments are generating opportunities to expand and accelerate R&D for PRNDs by rewarding scientific excellence and fostering the collaboration between partners with distinct areas of expertise and capacities.
Researchers, engineers, industry and funders will discuss priority actions for the future of African- European radio astronomy cooperation.
The African-European Radio Astronomy Platform (AERAP) is a stakeholder forum convened to define research action plans across the wide range of technological areas that will be essential for the future of radio astronomy. The “Draft AERAP Framework Programme for Cooperation” will be the first of these action plans. It will include strategic objectives, specific actions and suitable funding opportunities for each of the priority areas for African-European radio astronomy cooperation (e.g.: ICT, renewable energies, African VLBI, human capital development and training). The “Draft AERAP Framework Programme for Cooperation” will be presented during the first part of this workshop on 6 March. In this second part, AERAP stakeholders and other participants will have the occasion to discuss their ideas for implementing the Framework Programme and initiate the process of consortium building.
Please find the provisional agenda for the AERAP workshop here: http://www.aerap.org/archivos_subidos/provisional_agenda_aerap_events_at_esgc2_21feb.pdf
The Intergroup Sky and Space, in the framework of the International Women's Day 2013 and the 50th anniversary of the first women in space (Valentina Tereshkova) will launch the Brussels chapter of Women in Aerospace Europe (WIA-E).
Women in Aerospace Europe (WIA-E) was founded in June 2009 as an international association dedicated to expanding leadership opportunities and increasing the visibility of women in the aerospace sector. It is open to both women and man, in Europe and across the globe, who share an interest in a broad spectrum of aerospace activities including: human space flight and exploration, aviation, remote sensing, satellite communications, robotic missions, commercial space, space tourism, education and related policy challenges.
The Assistive Technologies Events at ES:GC2 will engage participants in discussing new strategies and global opportunities for influencing disability research that will benefit individuals with autism and intellectual disabilities in developed countries and low-resourced communities. The presentations will highlight the potential for positive global impact that is envisioned by the DOCTRID International Research Institute and its international partners in the EU, USA, Canada and Japan.
Three key areas will be explored in the course of the Symposium and Workshop:
1. Establishing and utilizing internationally-based collaborations to conduct Assistive Technology research using EU Horizon 2020 Funding instruments.
2. Creating a global Assistive Technologies consortium that will access and utilize new European Union research and development funding to partner in collaborative research.
3. Maximizing the role of international Assistive Technologies R&D structures including DOCTRID and AAATE, the private sector, advocacy groups and charities that can expand access to diverse networks, assess research initiatives for broader impact and advise on policy and new directions.
Activities
Meeting: Early-bird AT Workshop for Speakers (by invitation only)
Date: Tuesday 5th March
Time: 9.30am-1.00pm
Venue: Enterprise Ireland Office Brussels
Meeting: AT Symposium Speakers pre-symposium Workshop (by invitation only)
Date: Wednesday 6th March
Time: 2.00pm-4.00pm
Venue: ISC Offices
Meeting: AT Symposium (open to people registered to the Conference)
Date: Thursday 7th March
Time: 9.00am-12.00pm
Venue: EU Parliament
Meeting: AT Workshop (open to all)
Date: Thursday 7th March
Time: 2.00pm-6.00pm
Venue: Radisson BLU EU Hotel – Schuman Meeting Room
The pervasive nature of cyber infrastructure and the rapidly increasing connectivity between the cyber and physical worlds have made cyber security a critical issue for citizens, governments, and industry. From the economy to our physical well-being (i.e., healthcare), we must rely on cyber-enabled services even when they come under attack. Unfortunately, we cannot reduce the risk of such attacks to zero. The growing complexity of future systems lead to gaps and vulnerabilities that will be exploited by sophisticated adversaries. To date, cyber security efforts have helped to reduce the risk but have not delivered the level of security we need in personal, corporate, or government systems.
This session will discuss new approaches to cyber security with a focus on resilience and transatlantic cooperation. Future systems need to recognize that attacks will be successful and some cyber elements and services will be compromised. Information security research will move down a transformative path, beyond traditional border defenses to resilience. The session will focus on several important research areas including data-driven real-time analysis of large-scale threats to networked applications, infrastructure, and services; the development of secure virtual network technology to partition the wide-area Internet to contain these threats; and watchdog technologies to limit the ability of attackers to monetize stolen data.
Science and technology are rapidly emerging as driving forces in society with impacts penetrating decisions of economic development, education, environment and more. Politicians need to be able to understand the implications of technical topics such as a broadband access, cyber-security, nanotechnology, and radar technology. The complex character of these topics makes explaining them to non-scientists very challenging. This seminar will equip academic and industry researchers with the tools and vocabulary to translate and explain emerging science and technology (S&T) issues to state and federal level policymakers.
The programme for this workshop includes:
• An overview of the history of science policy
• Examples of effective and ineffective legislative testimony
• Instruction and exercises in effective communication, written and verbal
• A capstone exercise in which each participant prepares a 1-minute testimony of their research to offer to a mock legislative committee hearing
One of the most important technical fields of this decade is space and satellite technology. The potential impact on all our lives will be enormous, from the multitude of uses for Earth observation data, to navigation and telecommunications. With the launch of Europe's own Galileo GNSS to rival GPS it is clear that the technology race will intensify. This is also an area where standards are key to the development and evolution of technology, ensuring interoperability of systems. But what happens when patents and standards collide? If you have a question about patenting in this field, or are unsure about what can be patented and what not, then come along to this session and meet an EPO examiner who is expert in this field.
This seminar will examine the state of alternatives to animal testing, the implementation of the 3Rs - Replacement, Refinement and Reduction – worldwide.
The EU member states have a long tradition of incorporating the 3Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement) into laws and policies. The tradition has extended to the organic documents that underlie the European Union (i.e., Article 13 of the Lisbon Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union). For example, EU’s chemical regulation (REACH), the Directive on the Protection of Animals Used for Scientific Purposes (2010/63/EU), and Cosmetics Regulation incorporate animal welfare into their basic policy schemes.
As in vitro, computational and other non-animal based approaches in toxicology have evolved, more and more nations have begun to incorporate 3Rs principles into their national laws and regulatory schemes.
This workshop will examine the state of the implementation of the 3Rs worldwide, with a focus on EU leadership and how the EU can continue its forward-looking approach to the 3Rs. The workshop will also assist in identifying ways to ensure high quality science and global consistency through opportunities for harmonization.
At a time when Europe needs more innovation in order to remain competitive on the global stage, standardisation provides a bridge between research, innovation and the market, and can thereby make a
positive contribution to economic growth and prosperity.
CEN and CENELEC are fully committed to supporting the Horizon 2020 programme and helping to tackle barriers to innovation in Europe.
In this sessions panellists will present and discuss the European Standardization System, the role of standards in the innovation lifecycle, the role of standardization in support to Horizon 2020 as well as
concrete examples. The session will allow for interaction with stakeholders interested to understand and learn more about European Standards and their integration in research and innovation projects.
With over 80 million documents, all sorted and classified according to technology type, the free databases of the EPO make it easy to find a wealth of relevant scientific and technical information. Most of the documents describe technical solutions which are free to use, because the patents are not in force! And thanks to Patent Translate, documents in over a dozen languages can now be understood instantly. Did you know that patent information can support more than just your research? The databases can lead you to previously unknown suppliers, partners or rivals too, providing a more complete view of the market.
During this session experts from the EPO will introduce the databases and their search functions, explaining tricks and tips for extracting the answers you need in developing your technology.
New regulatory science in system toxicology: is an update needed, what would be the critical elements and by when?
Regulatory toxicology is used to control about $10 trillion (£6.2 trillion) worth of worldwide trade in chemicals, drugs, pesticides, food and consumer products.
While Europe has been pursuing change under the label of alternative methods and the 3Rs (reduce, replace, refine) for more than two decades, it was only a 2007 National Research Council report on the subject that prompted serious efforts to change the US system. The 3Rs approach had suggested either optimising animal tests (fewer animals or less pain and distress) or replacing traditional tests with in vitro or in silico models for harmonization.
The answer emerging in Europe is to combine various information sources in integrated (or intelligent) testing strategies (ITS). Despite the enormous possible impact this could have with EU legislations like REACH or the testing ban for cosmetic ingredients, efforts to further this are still limited. The answer emerging in the US is to adopt a new, molecular description of toxic action based on pathways of toxicity (PoT) – the biomolecular pathways that lead to a cell being harmed. This approach represents a paradigm shift in toxicity testing – identifying a substances effect on harmful cellular pathways, rather than interpreting effects on cell lines or entire organisms.
Synergies exist between these two approaches and two economic partners. Joint efforts to keep
leadership and achieve results are seek.
New regulatory science in system toxicology: is an update needed, what would be the critical elements and by when?
Regulatory toxicology is used to control about $10 trillion (£6.2 trillion) worth of worldwide trade in chemicals, drugs, pesticides, food and consumer products.
While Europe has been pursuing change under the label of alternative methods and the 3Rs (reduce, replace, refine) for more than two decades, it was only a 2007 National Research Council report on the subject that prompted serious efforts to change the US system. The 3Rs approach had suggested either optimising animal tests (fewer animals or less pain and distress) or replacing traditional tests with in vitro or in silico models for harmonization.
The answer emerging in Europe is to combine various information sources in integrated (or intelligent) testing strategies (ITS). Despite the enormous possible impact this could have with EU legislations like REACH or the testing ban for cosmetic ingredients, efforts to further this are still limited. The answer emerging in the US is to adopt a new, molecular description of toxic action based on pathways of toxicity (PoT) – the biomolecular pathways that lead to a cell being harmed. This approach represents a paradigm shift in toxicity testing – identifying a substances effect on harmful cellular pathways, rather than interpreting effects on cell lines or entire organisms.
Synergies exist between these two approaches and two economic partners. Joint efforts to keep
leadership and achieve results are seek.
With the increasing use of Big Data come big questions regarding privacy issues. In this session, the panel of specialists will ask, “Personality Survival: What are the anchors and armor to sanctify and legitimize personal data use amidst the Big Data Tsunami?” Horizon 2020 calls for a development of a framework to safeguard human rights in the digital society so that users can control how their personal data is used by third parties. This session will look at how technology relates to the sociological and ethical dimensions of security on a global scale and what a policy framework should look like to protect individuals’ privacy.
Historically, the US federal government has guided policy with regard to science, technology and innovation in the United States. During World War II, federal investment in research and development resulted in the US becoming a world leader politically, economically, and socially. Over sixty years later, science and technology have pervaded all aspects of our lives, requiring policymakers to balance investment and regulation in order to stimulate economic growth while also protecting their citizens. This 90-minute workshop will include:
- a chronology of US science policy;
- a review of leaders who have helped define the field;
- a discussion of how US science policy is unfolding today; and
- a brief comparison of US and EU policy approaches to science, technology and innovation
The Assistive Technologies Events at ES:GC2 will engage participants in discussing new strategies and global opportunities for influencing disability research that will benefit individuals with autism and intellectual disabilities in developed countries and low-resourced communities. The presentations will highlight the potential for positive global impact that is envisioned by the DOCTRID International Research Institute and its international partners in the EU, USA, Canada and Japan.
Three key areas will be explored in the course of the Symposium and Workshop:
1. Establishing and utilizing internationally-based collaborations to conduct Assistive Technology research using EU Horizon 2020 Funding instruments.
2. Creating a global Assistive Technologies consortium that will access and utilize new European Union research and development funding to partner in collaborative research.
3. Maximizing the role of international Assistive Technologies R&D structures including DOCTRID and AAATE, the private sector, advocacy groups and charities that can expand access to diverse networks, assess research initiatives for broader impact and advise on policy and new directions.
Activities
Meeting: Early-bird AT Workshop for Speakers (by invitation only)
Date: Tuesday 5th March
Time: 9.30am-1.00pm
Venue: Enterprise Ireland Office Brussels
Meeting: AT Symposium Speakers pre-symposium Workshop (by invitation only)
Date: Wednesday 6th March
Time: 2.00pm-4.00pm
Venue: ISC Offices
Meeting: AT Symposium (open to people registered to the Conference)
Date: Thursday 7th March
Time: 9.00am-12.00pm
Venue: EU Parliament
Meeting: AT Workshop (open to all)
Date: Thursday 7th March
Time: 2.00pm-6.00pm
Venue: Radisson BLU EU Hotel – Schuman Meeting Room
The concluding plenary session will follow three days of discussions among conference delegates on how EU support for research and development can best enable global scientific collaboration and strengthen the response to global challenges.
The concluding plenary will provide the opportunity for conference participants to return to the point of departure that was set out in the opening plenary and allow participants to report back on their discussions. Rapporteurs from various conference sessions will elaborate on the issues that have arisen for further consideration and action going forward. This will be with a particular view to reframing of challenges as opportunities – for example by stimulating the cross-fertilization of ideas across scientific disciplines and encouraging bottom up collaboration. The plenary will also serve to provide a clear idea of the process to follow the conference – “who will do what” – and thereby mark the conference as the beginning of a process rather than a one off event.
Key components of the plenary agenda will include:
• The conference providing the potential basis for a Council Conclusion at the European Union Competitiveness Council
• Elaboration of how Horizon 2020 and actions outside its framework can relate to a 50 year roadmap for research and development
This two day event will bring together the science community, industry and policy-makers to present project deliverables, discuss major recommendations on how to facilitate Africa- Europe STI cooperation and research infrastructure partnership and celebrate the project’s achievements.
One of the most important objectives of Horizon2020 is strengthening international cooperation with third countries. Horizon2020 sets the goal of increasing the Union’s excellence and attractiveness in research to tackle global challenges in collaboration with international partners, which in turn supports the European Union’s external policies and contributes to achieving the UN’s Millennium Development Goals.
The Promoting African-European Research Infrastructure Partnerships (PAERIP) project is an initiative aimed at informing the organisation of policy dialogue and promoting research collaboration between the two continents. Funded under the EU’s FP7 Capacities Programme (INFRA-2010-3.2), the PAERIP project represents an example of an initiative that could result from Horizon2020 and discussions taking part at the ES: GC2 Conference.
The first day of the conference will be dedicated to a high-level opening session with the participation of senior representatives from the European Commission and the African Union Commission, and will include a keynote speech from South Africa’s Minister of Science and Technology, Minister Derek Hanekom. The discussion on the first day will also be focused on the PAERIP analysis and recommendations on:
• Interventions to enhance African and European researchers’ transnational access to African and European researcher infrastructures;
• Opportunities for Africa and Europe to collaborate in developing new large-scale research infrastructures ; and
• The merit of investment from development and economic cooperation instruments in Africa-EU research infrastructure partnerships, due to their socio-economic benefit.
The conference will provide a platform for meeting with key decision-makers to discuss future perspectives for increasing Africa-Europe RI cooperation and exchanging experiences with international experts. This event is expected to confirm the significance of PAERIP as one of the first dedicated support actions for international research infrastructure cooperation with a specific geographic focus and the first FP7 project on RI coordinated from outside Europe.
The conference agenda and the registration form are now available on the PAERIP website (www.paerip.org).
One of the most important technical fields of this decade is space and satellite technology. The potential impact on all our lives will be enormous, from the multitude of uses for Earth observation data, to navigation and telecommunications. With the launch of Europe's own Galileo GNSS to rival GPS it is clear that the technology race will intensify. This is also an area where standards are key to the development and evolution of technology, ensuring interoperability of systems. But what happens when patents and standards collide? If you have a question about patenting in this field, or are unsure about what can be patented and what not, then come along to this session and meet an EPO examiner who is expert in this field.
Smart Cities are an imminent reality. There are several pressing challenges, along with substantial opportunities, which are inciting this development. The world is growing into an increasingly urbanized environment, making space and resources more scare as our world population swells. This has a collateral negative effect on pollution, consumption habits, infrastructure and public health. As these challenges loom and threaten our way of living, opportunities are emerging which provide real, innovative solutions. Current megatrends in efficiency and digitization are metamorphosing into sophisticated tools which transform the infrastructure of modern cities, turning them into Smart Cities. With ICT and energy efficiency enabling this transformation, Smart Cities will be a central force in moving towards efficient living, sustainable growth and socially responsible competitiveness.
However, this global challenge requires the collaboration of all stakeholders at every level. This is not achieved in the near future; this requires long – term collaboration and policy action. Horizon 2020 calls for the European Union to assist in fostering smart cities through research to understand the social, economic and cultural issues involved. Challenges still persist in funding, research and standardization among fragmented stakeholders. Thus, in order to deliver Smart Cities it must be approached in an open, collaborative model. The Smart Cities of the Future session at ES:GC2 will examine some of the research challenges facing Smart Cities while offering potential solutions. Key aspects of the session will focus on policy regulation, standardization challenges and research opportunities. As the conceptualization of Smart Cities development from end user to the producer becomes more sophisticated, this exposes the dire need for increased support for capacity building, large scale infrastructures and innovation.
The revolution in healthcare induced by the fast advancing field of personalised medicine influences dramatically the existing business models of pharmaceutical companies and other healthcare industries. The aim of personalised healthcare comprises not only targeted individualised treatment, but also focuses increasingly on effective and efficient prevention strategies. Diagnostics is one of the fields that expand tremendously due to the new function of medical care in the citizen’s life. The healthcare industry must develop now new concepts providing a flexible and sustainable approach to address the new demands of the global market.
Another emerging trend in the healthcare sector is “frugal” or “reverse innovation”.
High-tech healthcare is often costly and cannot be transferred easily to less favoured countries or applied in rural areas. However, poor countries with their only very limited resources can also be drivers for innovation. “Frugal” innovation” is a strategy where innovation is driven by the local or regional demands and according to the availability of the resources. To prepare Europe for the challenges in healthcare and open the ERA for innovative approaches we will discuss this area with experts from countries representing emerging markets.
The physician’s oath brings a sense of the values of honesty and integrity to the medical profession’s relationship with the public. In the basic motto ‘first do no harm’ articulated as a set of first principles for medical intervention, the Hippocratic Oath as currently practiced sets a fine precedent for the kind of ‘oath’ needed for the rest of the research and professional practice community as it reaches out to engage directly with the public.
In discussion and iteration workshop with a world-leading team at a recent Ideas Salon in the Silicon Valley (led by the vision of Professor Alex jaded in his larger project on the Future of Medicine), Lizbeth Goodman put forward the idea of ‘Hippocratic Innovation’ as a framing mechanism to engage top Researchers in Technology Innovation and Education in a joint effort to demonstrate the principles of ‘first do no harm’ and to frame an explicit and fundamental set of values in the global research sector.
This workshop offers attendees at the European Challenges event an opportunity to engage with a few of the ‘first founders’ of Hippocratic Innovation, and then to offer their own models for socially committed research. It builds on the Steve Jobs/Apple prototyping idea of the ‘Next Next’: the suggestion that in planning carefully for the third generation of prototype before signing up to a current offer, we may find the most effective ways to ensure sustainability and scalability of our first principles as they become embedded in global social consciousness.
Medical devices regulation within the EU centers on regulatory framework for market access, international trade relations, and regulatory convergence all with the aim of ensuring patient safety while promoting innovation and competitiveness. The current legal framework has hitherto been criticized for being too fragmented and difficult to follow; however, the medical devices market is truly a global one and alignment on this topic is essential in order to make the medical field as a whole more harmonized and efficient. This is particularly prevalent within Europe as Horizon 2020 emphasizes improved cross-cutting support technologies to facilitate the development of “new, more efficient, effective and sustainable treatments for disease and for the management of disabilities.”
Within the medical devices field, there have been large strides made with respect to the role robots play
in healthcare; yet there is still much debate around the use of robots in healthcare. With this increased role of robots comes the question: “Helping the infirm help themselves: when and where are robots an appropriate health care solution?” If the use of robots in healthcare can be agreed upon to create a
systemized and harmonized model across the union, this will lead to even larger developments in the medical field.
In this session, the panelists will look at some of the following questions:
This two day event will bring together the science community, industry and policy-makers to present project deliverables, discuss major recommendations on how to facilitate Africa- Europe STI cooperation and research infrastructure partnership and celebrate the project’s achievements.
One of the most important objectives of Horizon2020 is strengthening international cooperation with third countries. Horizon2020 sets the goal of increasing the Union’s excellence and attractiveness in research to tackle global challenges in collaboration with international partners, which in turn supports the European Union’s external policies and contributes to achieving the UN’s Millennium Development Goals.
The Promoting African-European Research Infrastructure Partnerships (PAERIP) project is an initiative aimed at informing the organisation of policy dialogue and promoting research collaboration between the two continents. Funded under the EU’s FP7 Capacities Programme (INFRA-2010-3.2), the PAERIP project represents an example of an initiative that could result from Horizon2020 and discussions taking part at the ES: GC2 Conference.
The first day of the conference will be dedicated to a high-level opening session with the participation of senior representatives from the European Commission and the African Union Commission, and will include a keynote speech from South Africa’s Minister of Science and Technology, Minister Derek Hanekom. The discussion on the first day will also be focused on the PAERIP analysis and recommendations on:
• Interventions to enhance African and European researchers’ transnational access to African and European researcher infrastructures;
• Opportunities for Africa and Europe to collaborate in developing new large-scale research infrastructures ; and
• The merit of investment from development and economic cooperation instruments in Africa-EU research infrastructure partnerships, due to their socio-economic benefit.
The conference will provide a platform for meeting with key decision-makers to discuss future perspectives for increasing Africa-Europe RI cooperation and exchanging experiences with international experts. This event is expected to confirm the significance of PAERIP as one of the first dedicated support actions for international research infrastructure cooperation with a specific geographic focus and the first FP7 project on RI coordinated from outside Europe.
The conference agenda and the registration form are now available on the PAERIP website (www.paerip.org).
