FP7/FP8: “Setting the Right Priorities for Future Innovation”
13 July 2010
On the 29th of June 2010, Katrien Maes (Chief Policy Officer LERU) gave a presentation at the K4I Forum of the European Parliament. It hosted its second Dinner Debate of the month, entitled FP7/FP8: "Setting the Right Priorities for Future Innovation". As usual, it took place at the European Parliament and participants included innovation and IPR experts from the European Commission, members of the European Parliament and representatives from the ICT and R&D sectors. The dinner was hosted and opened by the Chair of the K4I Forum of the Euroopean Parliament MEP Lambert Van Nistelrooij.
Halfway through the 7th Research Framework Programme, a number of points have become clear which, according to the different stakeholders, need to be changed in FP8 or even sooner. The most prominent point is certainly the need for simplification and harmonisation of regulations and tedious procedures. Despite general agreement on this objective, there are many different views as to how this should be done. A second important point is the idea of directing research funding towards the theme of the “Grand Challenges”, which raises the question of how far this might discourage cutting-edge and innovative bottom-up research. The K4I Dinner Debate brought the different stakeholders from the Commission, the Parliament as well as the Research Community together in order to discuss the different views and positions.