EU needs a joint strategy for technology infrastructures

“The competitiveness and innovation capacity of Europe can be strengthened if we better utilize technology infrastructures which exist in member states. This requires a joint EU strategy,” said RISE CEO Pia Sandvik when she spoke at EARTO's Annual Policy Conference in Brussels on 16 October.

EARTO is the European Association of Technology and Research Organizations. On October 16, EARTO organized its annual policy conference, this year on "Towards Horizon Europe: EU Cross-Border Collaborative & Applied Research". Horizon Europe is EU's forthcoming research and innovation framework programme. One important action to strengthen Europe’s innovation capability is to increase cross border utilization of existing technology infrastructures which include testbeds, innovation hubs and development environments.

Among the speakers at the conference were Portugal's Minister for Research, Manuel Heitor and EU Commissioner Carlos Moedas, responsible for research and innovation.

In her speech, RISE CEO Pia Sandvik stressed the importance of industry’s access to technology infrastructures.

“The EU today has a joint strategy for research infrastructure but lacks a strategy for testbeds, which are used for applied research. The competitiveness and innovation capacity of Europe can be strengthened if we better utilize technology infrastructures which exist in member states,” said Pia Sandvik.

“An EU strategy needs to map existing testbeds, prioritize investments needed, ensure that small and medium sized businesses have access to the testing environments and include EU funding on par with EU funding for research infrastructure,” said Pia Sandvik.