HARMONI fosters European innovation

As stakeholders from the European process industry continue their search for measures to facilitate the transfer of innovation to the market, the Horizon 2020 funded SPIRE project HARMONI (Harmonised assessment of regulatory bottlenecks and standardisation needs for the process industry) has acted as a catalyst, bringing together over 150 experts to foster innovation activities.

On 16 and 17 January, the 2019 HARMONI Summit took place with the objective to encourage dialogue on an effective framework to facilitate and foster innovation. More than 150 experts from all sectors of the process industry, the European Commission and European standardisation bodies engaged in the exchange of ideas.

Summit solutions

The summit addressed solutions for non-technological challenges that hinder innovation and the transfer of solutions, such as regulation, standardisation needs and the lack of innovative business models. Based on the themes within the HARMONI project, the summit selected priority discussion areas that included innovation transfer and the harmonisation of EU regulation and EU standardisation.

Six sessions took place during the two-day workshop, dealing with context specific priority areas, such as the circular economy, CO2 valorisation and waste management. Each session included experts, and opportunity for Q&A’s, as well as working groups and discussion panels. This allowed for a hands-on evaluation of possible solutions for industry needs while, in parallel, giving a voice for representatives from the European Commission in an open and transparent dialogue.

HARMONI, in the words of the DG Research and Innovation, “can play a very interesting role in the future of the Horizon Europe Programme”, especially due to its good practise of integrating regulation and standardisation.

What’s next?

The HARMONI project continues until October 2019. The results of the project mainly address industry, regulatory and standardisation bodies. Identified priorities and results from the working groups will serve to provide recommendations to the responsible authorities.

The HARMONI team welcomes your input and looks forward to engaging with you in order to move towards a sustainable and competitive European process industry. Why not subscribe to the HARMONI newsletter to keep up to date with upcoming events and results?

More information on Harmoni

HARMONI aims to bring together all the relevant stakeholders in the process industry to jointly identify, analyse and propose solutions to the regulatory bottlenecks and standardisation needs that hamper their innovation processes and the market uptake of their results.

To do this, the project is developing and applying a methodology that ensures effective collaboration between the eight sectors involved in the SPIRE contractual Public Private Partnership to elaborate the solutions to the common challenges they face due to non-technological barriers including regulatory issues and lack of appropriate European Standards relevant to improving resource efficiency. In addition, HARMONI is analysing, comparing and proposing recommendations to trigger the transferability of technical solutions among and beyond the SPIRE sectors.

The project activities should enable an optimised EU regulatory and standardisation framework that facilitates and supports innovation in the process industry; improved participation of the SPIRE community in EU regulatory and procedures; earlier and more active involvement of the SPIRE community in the EU standardisation process; and an overall better environment that maximises transferability rates for technologies across SPIRE sectors.

For more information, please take a look at the HARMONI website.

G20 backs Innovation for Sustainable Growth

At the recent G20 Summit in Hangzhou, China the world’s leading nations adopted the G20 2016 Innovation ActionPlan. The ambitious plan underlines the recognition by G20 leaders of the need to “further advance innovation and assist member countries to create innovative ecosystems” in order to foster innovation-driven growth. This approach is broadly welcomed by SusChem as a long-time advocate of the need for innovation to drive sustainable development. “Sustainable chemistry is a major driving force for innovation in Europe and beyond and essential for smart and sustainable growth across all sectors,” said Pierre Barthélemy, Executive Director, Research and Innovation at Cefic.

In their communique issued at the end of the summit, the G20 leaders highlight that “in the long run, innovation is a key driver of growth for both individual countries and the global economy as a whole” and commit to pursue pro-innovation strategies, policies and measures supporting investment in science, technology and innovation.

The G20 communique noted that “To achieve innovation-driven growth and the creation of innovative ecosystems, we support dialogue and cooperation on innovation, which covers a wide range of domains with science and technology innovation at its core” and “commit to pursue pro-innovation strategies and policies, support investment in science, technology and innovation (STI), and support skills training for STI - including support for the entry of more women into these fields - and mobility of STI human resources”.

Commenting on the communique Pierre Barthélemy (left) said: “To truly tackle and solve our current societal challenges, Europe’s innovation landscape needs to be driven by a holistic approach. Innovation is not only about new technology development, it’s also about new ways of working together, having a workforce with the necessary skill-set, the integration of technology and working along value chains. This is the European chemical sector’s view on innovation.”

“Through its products and processes, innovation from the chemical industry is a major driving force for innovation as a whole in Europe and is essential for smart and sustainable growth across all sectors,” he continued.

The G20 also stressed that “growth, to be strong, sustainable and balanced, must also be inclusive… we place sustainable development high on the G20 agenda” and “reaffirm our commitment to further align our work with the universal implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

A 2016 G20 Innovation Report will also be produced and released. As well as the Innovation Action Plan the G20 also published a G20 Blueprint on Innovative Growth at the Summit.

European CTO of the Year 2015 Award

Dr. Marcel Wubbolts of Royal DSM has received the European CTO (Chief Technology Officer) award of the Year 2015, an award for excellence in technology and innovation leadership, for laying the foundation for the growing number of bio-based manufacturing processes in DSM’s businesses.

Dr.Wubbolts has a central role in Royal DSM, a company that over the past two decades has transformed itself completely from a petrochemical to a life and materials sciences company active in health, nutrition and materials.  Royal DSM is also a leading player in the biotech industry. “The frontrunner development and commercialization of lignocellulosic ethanol technology is only one very relevant example of many in which Dr. Wubbolts is intimately involved. His enthusiasm and drive for science and sustainable innovation for society is an inspiration for many”, praises Gert-Jan Gruter of Avantium, jury member and European CTO of the Year 2014

in SME category.

“The European CTO of the Year Award is a unique way to recognize outstanding individuals whose vision and passion have made a big difference in keeping their companies at the forefront of innovation. All the winners have shown exemplary leadership as technology managers, we’re happy and proud to recognize them for their impressive accomplishments.”, states Dr. Carlos Härtel, jury member and Managing Director Europe

The other two winners of the CTO of the Year 2015 are Martin Curley of Intel Corporation and Jonathan O’Halloran of QuantuMDx.

  

About the CTO of the Year Award

European CTO of the Year is the leading European award, awarded by EIRMA (European Industrial Research Management Association) and Spinverse (Nordic leader in innovation consulting). The concept is Pan-European and, as Robert-Jan Smits, Director-General for Research and Innovation, European Commission says: “Europe needs to celebrate those who advance technology and innovate. Initiatives like the “CTO of the year award” are very welcome as they lead to role models and further strengthen innovation in Europe”.

Who is Europe’s Most Innovative CTO?

Who is the most innovative European technology leader you know? Spinverse Ltd. and EIRMA, the European Industrial Research Management Association, have launched this year's quest for Europe's Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the Year. And they are looking for your nominations.

The CTO of the Year award is designed to highlight the role of the most prominent leaders of technology-based growth, promoting innovations to renew European industry and boosting Europe’s competitive advantage. The winner does not have to be CTO by title, however, he or she must be responsible for technology and its development in their company. The competition is based on an open call for nominations, across industry sectors and across Europe.
 
The award will be given to the most innovative technology leader, bringing significant value to their company’s growth through technology. An inspiring team-builder and a leader, he or she must be a passionate communicator of the benefit of technology to all stakeholders in an understandable way. The company represented by him or her will have an innovative and competitive - or an exciting, emerging - technology-enabled offering in Europe and globally.

As Robert-Jan Smits, Director-General for Research and Innovation, European Commission says: "Europe needs to celebrate those who advance technology and innovate. Initiatives like the ‘CTO of the Year award’ are very welcome as they lead to role models and further strengthen innovation in Europe."

More information
For more information, visit http://www.ctoeurope.net. Nominations are open until August 24th. You can also follow the award on Twitter at @CTO_Europe.