Education and Science, EU – Baltic States, Forum, Good for Business, Innovations, Technology

Some 400 actors from the world of science, industry and society, aiming at take stock of European achievements in science over the past 10 years take part in the conference. World-class scientists, industrialists and political figures will debate the role science, technology and innovation can play in societal well-being and its potential to stimulate growth, jobs and business development opportunities in Europe.

Alongside President Barroso, some other prominent politicians and academicians will take part in the conference: Portugal President, Aníbal Cavaco Silva, Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn; Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard, as well as professor Anne Glover, Chief Scientific Adviser to the President, professor Victor De Lorenzo, co-chairperson of the Science and Technology Advisory Council (STAC).

EU Science and Technology Advisory Council (STAC)

STAC is an independent and informal group of science and technology experts from academia and business, covering a broad range of disciplines and uniting expertise from across the European Research Area.

Established in January 2013 by President Barroso, the task of the Council is to examine areas where research and innovation can contribute to Europe's growth — with a particular focus on benefits and risks of advances in science & technology and how to address and communicate these.

Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation program ever with nearly €80 billion of funding available over 7 years (2014-20), in addition to the private investment that this money will attract. The program promises more breakthroughs, discoveries and world-firsts by taking great ideas from the lab to the market.

Commission’s opinion

Ahead of the Conference, President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso underlined that while Europe was still facing many challenges many of the solutions to these problems would come from science and new technologies.

He stressed that science mattered much for the future of Europe; besides there had been always incredible legacy of European scientific leadership.

President of the European Commission argued that innovation had become a growth multiplier; it was high time to think about the links between excellent knowledge produced in Europe with more economy growth and jobs.  

Commission’s report “The Future of Europe is Science” and Eurobarometer survey

At this Conference, the European Commission will launch the report prepared by STAC (the Council which advises the President on scientific matters).

The report outlines some key opportunities for Europe that could be provided by science and technology, looking ahead to the year 2030. It is structured around citizens' priorities, as identified by a new Eurobarometer survey which is also published for the conference (Special Eurobarometer 419 on "Public perceptions of Science, Research and Innovation").

The survey underlines that health and medical care provide good incentives for job creation; they are seen by European citizens as the top priorities for science and technology innovation over the next 15 years.

On the topic of health and medical care, the Council's report highlights the potential opportunities of personalised medicine, performance enhancing technologies, brain imaging and the microbiome (microbes in the human body). These could help medical facilities in the EU member states to understand and tackle diseases more effectively in future.

Other initiatives

The conference’s section on jobs, ICT and learning underlines the challenges of dealing with the growing amounts of information, especially in online. Therefore the report recommends that the EU institutions and the member states must focus on training old and young alike to "learn how to learn", so that knowledge, skills and critical thinking can be acquired throughout a working lifetime.

The report also includes commentary on additive manufacturing (3D printing), numerous ICT developments and mobile technologies.

In relation to environment, climate and energy, the report highlights research aimed at replacing and/or finding new materials (e.g. graphene) as well as providing potentials for developing bio-based industries for production. The report recommends that investments in resource exploration should be assessed according to the resources’ sustainability.

Finally, the report outlines the Council's vision for a knowledge-guided society in Europe, where it is citizens that make the choices about the future of Europe, using shared knowledge and evidence.

The report praises the Commission's activities in scientific foresight and recommends that prospective activities should be linked to the EU sectoral policy development, so that Europe would be better prepared “for the future beyond Horizon 2020”.

The Future of Europe is Science in European Commission, IP/14/1092; 06/10/2014 at:

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-1092_en.htm?locale=en