11 May 2016 | The EuroTech Universities Alliance Brussels Office is delighted to host a High Level Round Table Discussion on Innovation today. Over the last weeks, fourteen professors in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship from across the four EuroTech Universities have put their heads together to analyse what is needed to make Europe more innovative. The outcome, a discussion paper on “The Future of the EU as an Inclusive and Sustainable Innovative Economy”, is now presented to selected representatives from across several Directorate Generals of the European Commission as well as the European Research Council and the European Investment Bank.
According to the professors, five conditions will enable the EU to become the leading economy in the world by capitalizing on its distributed and inclusive nature as well as exploiting its potential for breakthrough innovations:
- Transforming the educational and research landscape, by transferring funds from institutes entirely focused on research to universities that systematically connect research and education;
- creating an ideal setting for young entrepreneurs and their innovative companies, to enable a virtuous cycle of new (academic) ideas, creating start-ups, scaling them up, and demand for and supply of investment capital;
- transforming the highly fragmented landscape of national tax systems into a simple and transparent tax system that fuels rather than inhibits innovation and growth;
- Crafting a well-functioning patent system and market for technology, to ensure appropriate rewards and incentives for innovators in the age of open innovation;
- Building and mobilizing local innovation ecologies, especially those in less-advanced regions, through smart specialization.
The professors urge stakeholders not to accept “quick fixes” when it comes to efforts made to meet these conditions. Each condition touches on major challenges of nonlinear nature that cut across many different jurisdictions.
Download the Discussion Paper: Full Version (Revised following 11 May Round Table)
Contributing professors:
Dominique Foray, Chair of Economics and Management of Innovation, EPFL
Georges Romme, Chair of Entrepreneurship & Innovation, TU/e
Oliver Alexy, Professor of Strategic Entrepreneurship, TUM
Per Dannemand Andersen, Professor of Technology Foresight and Innovation, DTU
Marc Gruber, Chair in Entrepreneurship and Technology Commercialization, EPFL
Joachim Henkel, Professor of Technology and Innovation Management, TUM
Fred Langerak, Chair in Management of Product Development, TU/e
Jason Li-Ying, Associate Professor, DTU Management Engineering
Ed Nijssen, Chair of Marketing, TU/e
Gaétan de Rassenfosse, Chair of Innovation and IP Policy, EPFL
Isabelle Reymen, Associate Professor of Innovation Technology, Entrepreneurship & Marketing, TU/e
Soren Salomo, Head of DTU Management Engineering
Christopher Tucci, Chair of Corporate Strategy Innovation, EPFL
Thomas Weber, Chair in Operations, Economics and Strategy, EPFL
The discussion paper provides an expert view of a group of professors in the area of innovation and entrepreneurship, rather than representing the official viewpoint of the (boards of the) four EuroTech Universities.
The EuroTech Universities cover the entire value chain from entrepreneurship and innovation-related knowledge generation, awareness-raising, education and training of students and scientists to patent applications, international business development and investment in start-ups. The EuroTech Universities Alliance is a unique framework to exchange and promote innovation & entrepreneurship activities across borders and has defined Entrepreneurship & Innovation as one of its key focus areas for strategic collaboration.
