Event Agenda

Europe’s future:

Open Innovation, Open Science, Open to the World

Jointly organised by K4I and DG R&I with the participation of the

RISE HLG

Hosted by Lambert van Nistlrooij, MEP

Tuesday, 27 June 2017 | 09h00 – 14h30

European Parliament, Brussels

Venue: ASP 5E 2

09h00 – 09h30 – Welcome speeches

• Lambert van Nistelrooij - Member of the European Parliament (MEP), Chairman of the K4I

Forum Governing Board

• Teresa Riera Madurell - RISE, Professor at the University of the Balearic Islands, former

Member of the European Parliament

09h30 – 10h30 – Session I: EU’s future R&I policy – Visions and values

What future do we want for Europe in view of 2030? How can the EU be more responsive to

citizen’s needs in a policy of Open Science, Open Innovation and Open to the World? Can the

EU set a direction for the future through mobilising R&I missions? How can the EU respond to

societal challenges and the global Sustainable Development Goals? Is there a new role for

Research and Innovation in EU policy?

Moderator: Roland Strauss - Co-founder and CEO, Knowledge4Innovation (K4I)

• Dainius Pavalkis - RISE, Professor at Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, former

Minister of Education and Science in Lithuania

• Ivo Slaus - RISE, Honorary president of the World Academy of Art and Science, Dean

of Diplomacy College

• Pierre Barthélemy - Executive Director Research & Innovation Programme, The

European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic)

• Wolfgang Polt - Head of the Centre of Economic and Innovation Research - POLICIES,

Joanneum Research Ltd.

Key Note responses by:

• Andrey Novakov - Member of the European Parliament (MEP)

• Carlos Zorrinho - Member of the European Parliament (MEP)

10h30 – 11h00 – Break

Venue: ASP 1E 201

11h00 – 12h00 – Session II: An Innovation-driven EU policy – which framework conditions and

instruments?

What would an innovation-driven EU policy agenda imply for investment and funding

instruments to R&I? Is there scope for further synergies between the EU R&I framework

programme and Structural Funds? How can innovation and regulation reinforce each other,

embracing the Innovation Principle?

Moderator: Robbert Fisher - Managing Director of The Joint Institute for Innovation Policy

(JIIP); President, Knowledge4Innovation (K4I)

• Luke Georghiou - RISE, Vice-President for Research and Innovation at the University

of Manchester

• Daria Tataj - RISE, entrepreneur, investor, author, former founding member of the

European Institute of Innovation and Technology

• Jean-Philippe Azoulay - Director General, European Crop Protection Association

(ECPA)

• Yannick Legré - Managing Director, EGI Foundation

• Àngels Orduña Cao - Executive Director, SPIRE

Key Note responses by:

• Maria Spyraki - Member of the European Parliament (MEP)

• Ivana Maletić - Member of the European Parliament (MEP)

12h00 – 13h00 – Lunch

Speakers

Venue: ASP 3E 2

13h00 – 14h00 – Session III: Focus on Impact - Creating social and economic value

How can we shift from an input- to an impact-focused R&I policy? How do we measure

progress? Can Open Science and Open Innovation trigger more social and economic value

from investments? How can we involve new actors, entrepreneurs, cities, and citizens, as

actors of innovation in open spaces of experimentation?

Moderator: Joachim Weidemann - Associated Business Director EU, Handelsblatt Global

• Delphine Manceau - RISE, Dean, European Business School, Paris

• Mary Ritter - RISE, Emeritus professor Imperial College London, International

Ambassador EIT Climate-KIC

• Ronald de Bruin - Director, COST Association

• Leena Sarvaranta - Vice President EU Affairs, VTT Technical Research Centre of

Finland

Key Note responses by:

• Henna Virkkunen - Member of the European Parliament (MEP)

14h00 – 14h30 – Concluding remarks: Kurt Vandenberghe - Director, DG Research and Innovation, EC

Lambert van Nistelrooij - Member of the European Parliament (MEP), Chairman of the K4I Forum Governing

Board

Lambert van Nistelrooij is Member of the European Parliament since 2004. He

has been focusing on regional policy, research, innovation, energy and the Digital

Agenda. Lambert was member of the local community council and member of

the 'Provinciale en Gedeputeerde Staten' in the Dutch region of Noord-Brabant

from 1991-2004. Currently, he is a Member of the Committee on the Internal

Market and Consumer Protection, and the Committee on Regional Development.

He is also actively involved with Active and Healthy Aging.

Recent activities as Member of the European Parliament:

October 2013:

REPORT European Joint Technology Undertaking Biobased Industry.

July 2011:

FIRST RAPPORTEUR on EP and Council Regulation on the General Regulation; European Investment Funds

(ESIF), (325 Billion Euros).

January 2011:

OPINION on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Year

for Active Ageing (2012)

May 2010:

REPORT on the implementation of the synergies of research and innovation earmarked Funds in Regulation

(EC) No 1080/2006 concerning the European Fund of Regional Development and the Seventh Framework

Programme for Research and Development in cities and regions as well as in the Member States and the Union.

Other experiences:

Initiator of the website Broadband for all (www.broadbandforall.eu) cooperation between the European Union

and Satellite companies in order to enlarge the accessibility of internet for people in the rural areas, especially

for the elderly.

Robbert Fisher - Managing Director of The Joint Institute for Innovation Policy (JIIP); President,

Knowledge4Innovation (K4I)

Robbert is the managing director of The Joint Institute for Innovation Policy (JIIP).

He is specialized in strategy and policy in the fields of R&D, technology transfer

and innovation in general. From 1989 until 2000 he was a senior manager with

PricewaterhouseCoopers. From 1991-1995 Robbert was seconded as an expert

to the European Commission DG XIII (now DG CONNECT) in Luxembourg.

Robbert received a Master’s degree Law, Leiden University, The Netherlands

with special subjects Intellectual property, Information Systems and Business

economics. He holds degrees in marketing and public relations. In addition he is

alumnus of the PwC International Management Development Programme, and has followed executive courses

at Darden Business School.

Teresa Riera Madurell - RISE, Professor at the University of the Balearic Islands, former Member of the European

Parliament

Teresa Riera Madurell is University full Professor. She is graduated in

mathematics by the University of Barcelona (1974) and PhD in Computer Science

by the University of the Basque Country (1981). She was professor in the

Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) (1974-1986) and, since 1986 in the

University of the Balearic Islands (UIB). She was director of the Business and

Computer Sciences School (UIB) (1986-1990) and Associate Vice-Chancellor, UIB

(1991-1994).

She was Research Associate in the University of California (Berkeley) (1981 and

1982), and Visiting Researcher in the Carnegie Mellon University (1989). Her

fields of research are: Multiple valued logics, approximate reasoning, possibility theory and its applications to

artificial intelligence She has published many research articles in specialized scientific journals and in proceedings

of national and international conferences. She is author of books and articles on didactics of mathematics and

on scientific outreach. She is also member of the gender studies research group (UIB) and was co-director of the

UIB-Gender Studies Summer University. She has a long experience in science policy being responsible for

research and innovation in both, the Parliament of the Balearic Islands (1989-1996) and the Congress of Deputies

(1996-2004) where she was the spokesperson of the Science and Technology Congress-Senate Committee,

(1987-1996).

She was also vice-president, and general rapporteur of the Science and Technology Committee in the NATO-

Parliamentary Assembly and author of rapports such as: “Global Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol: The

science of global Climate Change. International response. EU and USA position”. General Report 199 STC (02) 6;

and “Non-proliferation in the 21st century: a transatlantic agenda”. Report 155 STC (03) E.

As Member of the European Parliament (2004-2014), she was coordinator of S&D group in the Industry, Research

and Energy (ITRE) Committee and rapporteur for Horizon 2020, the Framework Programme for Research and

Innovation (2014-2020): EP489.637v03-00 (A7-0427/2012).

She was also Rapporteur for the Specific Programme “Cooperation” in FP7: EP368.072/v05-00 (A6-0379/2006);

for the legal framework for a European Research Infrastructure (ERI). EP414.035/v03-00. (A6-0007/2009); and

for the regulation on the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking: EP 523.015v02-00.A7-0105/2014).

Dainius Pavalkis - RISE, Professor at Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, former Minister of Education and

Science in Lithuania

DAINIUS PAVALKIS, professor at Lithuanian University of Health Sciences and

Head of the Innovation and Development department of the Kaunas Clinics

(University hospital).

Graduate of the Medical faculty at Kaunas Institute of Medicine, he received

postgraduate training between 1984 and 1986 at Proctology Scientific Research

institute, Moscow; in 1993 he became assistant in surgery at St.Mark’s Hospital,

London, UK. 1995-2005 he was the Director for surgery of the biggest University

hospital in Lithuania – Kauno Klinikos, with responsibility of all clinical and

administrative activities of all surgical specialties, intensive care and trauma. As University professor he published

more than 280 publications, during last 10 years 17 publications referred in ISI WOS database. Majority of

publications concerns colorectal cancer, radio and chemotherapies, surgery and quality assurance measures.

Prof. D. Pavalkis conducted 5 clinical trials, and one academic randomized clinical trial as principal investigator,

entitled “Preoperative Chemoradiation versus Short term radiation alone with delayed surgery for stage II and

III respectable Rectal cancer”.

In 2012-2015 he was Minister for Education and Science of Lithuania, responsible for all levels of education,

science and research activities. Prof. D. Pavalkis conducted many international research and science activities in

different fields, giving priority to biomedical research and biotechnologies for health care. During Lithuanian

Presidency of the European Council he finalized Horizon 2020, Erasmus plus and other future programs for EU

development. He was responsible for preparation of the Smart specialization strategy in Lithuania.

Ivo Slaus - RISE, Honorary president of the World Academy of Art and Science, Dean of Diplomacy College

He is a nuclear and particle physicist and director of South East European Division of

the Academy (SEED). He is also a member of the international advisory council of

the Club of Rome and former president of the Croatian Association of the Club of

Rome; a member of the Pugwash Council and former president of Croatian

Pugwash; a founding Fellow of Academia Europaea; a member of the managing

board of the Balkan Political Club; Chairman, International Network of Centres for

Sustainable Development; founder and former Executive Committee member of the

European Physical Society; Fellow World Innovation Foundation, and a former

member of the Parliament of Croatia. Professor Slaus has held academic teaching posts at Rudjer Bošković

Institute, Croatia, UCLA, Georgetown University, Duke University, and the International postgraduate school

“Jozef Stefan”, Ljubljana (since 2003). He has received national awards for research in 1962 and in 1969.

Pierre Barthélemy - Executive Director Research & Innovation Programme, The European Chemical Industry

Council (Cefic)

Pierre Barthélemy is currently the Executive Director of Research and Innovation

at Cefic (The European Council of the Chemical Industry). He obtained his PhD in

Chemistry from the University of Liège, Belgium, and joined Solvay in 1988. He

held various positions in R&D, management and senior leadership roles, covering

a broad spectrum of activities with a strong Research and Innovation agenda

(phasing-out of CFCs, development of peptide pharmaceutical ingredients,

development of materials and technologies for organic electronics). He joined

Cefic in 2014 on secondment from Solvay.

Wolfgang Polt - Head of the Centre of Economic and Innovation Research - POLICIES, Joanneum Research Ltd

Wolfgang Polt is the Head of the Centre of Economic and Innovation Research -

POLICIES of Joanneum Research Ltd. and authorized representative of this

organisation, which is one of the major public research organisations in Austria.

He is an economist with long experience in innovation research and policy

studies in science, technology and innovation policy. He has carried out

evaluations of programmes, policies and institutions for DG Research, DG

Enterprise and DG Information Society of the European Commission, and for

institutions in countries like Austria, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan and

Switzerland. As an expert, he has contributed to the recent country studies of

the EU and the OECD on innovation policies in Estonia, Greece and Hungary. Most recently, he was the study

director of a project analysing and comparing the research system of Germany.

Andrey Novakov - Member of the European Parliament (MEP)

Andrey Novakov is the youngest Member of the European Parliament. His term

began in November 2014. His work is concentrated in 4 priorities: EU funding

instruments and simplification of EU funding; European Fund for Strategic

Investments; youth employment (Youth Guarantee); EU Budget and Budgetary

control.

In the Committee of Regional development, he is focusing mainly on the

Programming period 2014-2020. His most important initiative in the Committee

of Regional development is the EU funding simplification initiative. He is also

involved in the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) revision/ review.

In the Committee of Budgets, his activities are mainly related to the EFSI regulation, Youth employment Initiative,

EU General Budget 2015 and EU Draft 2016. His goal is more investment focused on results in youth employment

and SMEs. Andrey Novakov has been working on numerous EGF cases and the release of financial support from

the European Solidarity Fund for recovering from the damages of the natural disasters in Bulgaria and Greece

during last winter.

In this Committee of Budgetary control, Andrey Novakov is working for youth employment and for improvement

of the current and future investment projects. He was appointed as a rapporteur and a shadow rapporteur in the

field of Youth Action Teams, Youth Guarantee and EU Inland Waterways Transport. He also promotes

investments for growth in tourism through various initiatives at regional and EU level.

Meanwhile, Andrey Novakov is actively taking part in the Delegation for Euro-Latin American Parliamentary

Assembly, where the he is co-chair in the Committee on Sustainable Development, the Environment, Energy

Policy, Research, Innovation and Technology.

For his achievements, Andrey Novakov was selected by Forbes magazine in its prestigious 30 under 30 ranking

for young leaders positively changing the world.

Carlos Zorrinho - Member of the European Parliament (MEP)

Carlos Zorrinho (born 28 May 1959) is graduated in Business Management at the

University of Évora, which later awarded him a Doctorate Degree in Information

Management. He pursued his academic career as a professor at the University of

Évora, becoming Full Professor of its Department of Business Administration.

Member of the National Council of the Socialist Party since 1990, he was elected

for the first time for the National Parliament in 1995, by the electoral circle of

Évora. He was a member of Parliament until 2000, becoming Vice-President of the

Socialist Party’s Parliamentary Group in 1999.

From 1997 to 1999, he coordinated the ProAlentejo - Programme for the Integrated Development of Alentejo.

In 2000, he was elected Member of the National Council for Education. Later that year, he entered office as

Secretary of State Deputy to the Minister for Home Office of the XIV Constitutional Government (2000/2002).

In 2002, Carlos Zorrinho resumed his academic career at the University of Évora. After the Socialist Party won

the 2005 general elections, he was appointed National Coordinator of the Lisbon Strategy and the Technological

Plan, reporting directly to the Prime Minister of the XVI Constitutional Government (2005/2009). Under that

capacity, he led the development of the Portuguese Digital Agenda, known as “Plano Tecnológico”, which aimed

at improving the country’s competitiveness through technology, innovation and knowledge.

From 2009 to 2011, he served as Secretary of State for Energy and Innovation, within the Ministry of Economy,

Innovation and Development of the XVII Constitutional Government. Returning to the Parliament in 2011, Carlos

Zorrinho was elected Leader of the Socialist Party’s Parliamentary Group from September 2011 to 2013.

Since June 2014 Carlos Zorrinho became Member of the European Parliament and Head of the Portuguese

Delegation of the Socialists & Democrats at the European parliament.

Roland Strauss - Co-founder and CEO, Knowledge4Innovation (K4I)

Dr. Roland Strauss is the Founder and CEO of Knowledge4Innovation. He has

created this association in 2009 and runs it since.

Roland has a strong background in the industry and 20 years of experience in

the EU Institutions environment. He was a Vice President for Siemens

Government Relations in Brussels during 10 years. Roland is well known for his

expertise with EU policies and funding instruments, in particular those, related

to technology, research and innovation.

Luke Georghiou - RISE, Vice-President for Research and Innovation at the University of Manchester

Luke Georghiou is Vice-President for Research and Innovation at the University

of Manchester and Professor of Science and Technology Policy and Management

in the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research at Manchester Business

School. He has been on the staff of its precursor institute, PREST, since 1977 and

was its Executive Director from 1990-2004. He is responsible for the University's

research strategy and its implementation and for business engagement and

commercialisation activities.

He continues to be active in research and policy advice to governments and

business. He has chaired several international panels examining research and innovation issues including acting

as rapporteur for the influential report to European leaders, Creating an Innovative Europe which put demand-

side innovation policy onto the political agenda, and as Chairman of the High-level Expert Group on Rationales

for the ERA which recommended a refocusing of European research and innovation support on a series of grand

challenges. In the UK he was a member of the Glover committee which reported to the Treasury and BIS on

access to public procurement by SMEs and chaired its expert sub-group. He was for 6 years an elected member

of the Board of Governors of the University of Manchester and for 10 a member of the Board of Directors of

Manchester Science Park Limited. He is on the editorial board of eight journals and has published extensively in

leading outlets including Science and Nature.

Daria Tataj - RISE, entrepreneur, investor, author, former founding member of the European Institute of

Innovation and Technology

Expert in innovation to the World Economic Forum, former founding Board

member of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a new

multibillion institution established by the European Commission in 2008. Author

and speaker, she is regularly invited at many business, government and academic

events all around the world. Recognized by the US Department of State and

Fortune Magazine as one of emerging global women business leaders (2006).

Based in Warsaw. Author of a forthcoming book ‚Innovation and

Entrepreneurship. A Growth Model for Europe beyond the Crisis’ with a preface

by Manuel Castells (New York, 2015)

Dr. Tataj is a part of recognized regional and global expert group for the World Economic Forum’s project

‘Collaborative Innovation Transforming Business, Driving Growth’, which focuses on what policy makers and

business can do to embrace new models of innovation and stimulate entrepreneurship. In her capacity, she looks

for relevant examples and case studies where stakeholders were brought together in successful innovation

ecosystem involving both public and private actors. Dr. Tataj was one of the architects of the EIT and its

Knowledge and Innovation Communities serving for six years as an Executive Member of the EIT founding Board.

The EIT is a new funding institution that brings together research, education, innovation and entrepreneurship

in a new operational model with a business-like governance. Its has funded a portfolio of Knowledge and

Innovation Communities, which were recognized as some of the most successful policy experiments, and

eventually the EIT received a multibillion EUR budget.

Jean-Philippe Azoulay - Director General, European Crop Protection Association (ECPA)

Jean-Philippe Azoulay was born in Perpignan, France. He graduated as a

mechanical engineer at the Institut National des Sciences Appliqueés (INSA) of

Lyon, France, and obtained a Master of Business Administration at the

University of Central Florida, USA in 1988. He spent 26 years with DuPont,

mainly in the crop protection sector, including a period as Head of the Crop

Protection business of DuPont in the EMA region between 2011 and 2015. He

also work in DuPont’s polymers and food nutrition businesses, holding various

posts in France, Italy, Spain and the USA. Since September 2016, Jean-Philippe

is director general of the European Crop Protection Association. He and his

wife Monique are now living in Brussels.

Yannick Legré - Managing Director, EGI Foundation

Yannick is the director of the EGI Foundation since February 2014. He was

formerly a senior research engineer at the French National Scientific Research

Centre – Grid and Cloud Institute (CNRS-IdGC). He holds a Master of Science in

Information Technology (MScIT) and a degree in Law (LL.L). Over the last 15

years, Yannick has been involved in more than 30 projects in the areas of

healthcare and biomedical research, as well as biodiversity and environmental

research, such as the ENVRI & CReATIVE-B projects. Yannick has also been a

co-founder and the president of the international HealthGrid association, and

the director for International Relations of a French SME.

Àngels Orduña Cao - Executive Director, SPIRE

Àngels Orduña is a seasoned EU and international collaboration leader with

proven track record championing success in technology and business

development through multi-partner, multi-country and multidisciplinary

collaboration. With an academic background in International Relations, she has

managed and led a number of RDI projects in the EU and Canada in technology

areas related to value chain productions and enabling technologies such as ICT,

energy, renewables, environment, advanced materials or manufacturing. She

has shown great ability to translate technological concepts to market

opportunities and to link partners’ commitment through a win-win perspective.

Maria Spyraki - Member of the European Parliament (MEP)

Born in Larisa, 1965. She studied chemistry at the Aristotle University of

Thessaloniki. After completing her studies, she continued her education at the

London School of Journalism. She has attended numerous seminars on Crisis

Management, the Financial Crisis of 2010, on population displacement, and on

operational peacekeeping at NATO.

She has recently attended the College of Europe’s Practice Seminar:

Negotiations in Practice.

She currently attends an Executive Master’s Program at the Athens University

of Economics and Business on European Studies.

She has worked for more than 20 years as a journalist in both the print press as well as in major television

networks like SKAI, STAR, ALTER and MEGA.

Ms Spyraki worked in the European Parliament between 2003 and 2004 at the Press Office and was Head of

Communications at the office of Commissioner Stavros Dimas during 2004-2009 term.

As a reporter, she has covered major political developments in South-East Europe and has covered the main

political scenes from 1998 until 2014 when she resigned from all her journalism engagements to run for office at

the European Parliament upon the request of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.

She was elected first in order at the European Elections of 2014 with Nea Demokratia and she sits with the

European People’s Party in the European Parliament. She is a member of the Committees of Regional

Development and of Industry, Research and Energy as well as a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee

on the relations of the EU with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

She is actively involved in issues regarding cohesion policy and structural funds, with a particular interest in areas

that relate to energy, SMEs, Blue Growth as well as new financial instruments and the European Fund for

Strategic Investments.

She was the spokesperson of Nea Demokratia between the 31st December 2014, until the 26th of January 2015.

After the elections, she resigned to return to her duties at the European Parliament.

She is married to Stratos Stylianides, who is an Adjunct Professor at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and

together they have two children.

Ivana Maletić - Member of the European Parliament (MEP)

Member of the European Parliament Ivana Maletić is an economic expert with

years of experience in the areas of public finance, budgeting and EU funds.

She obtained a Master's Degree in Economics at the Faculty of Economy in Zagreb.

She started working at the Ministry of Finance, initially as Associate Expert and

Consultant, and then as Assistant Minister and Secretary of State.

She is an internationally renowned lecturer and consultant in the area of financial

management and has held numerous seminars on the subjects of financial

management, budgetary processes, public finance reform, EU funds, regional development etc.

She has published a large number of expert and scientific works, co-authored several significant books in the

area of public finance and participated in numerous research projects.

She has taken an active part in the negotiations relating to Croatia's accession to the European Union as Deputy

Chief Negotiator for Chapter 22: Regional Policy and Coordination of Structural Instruments (EU funds).

She has been elected as a representative of the Croatian Democratic Union in the elections for the European

Parliament in 2013 and 2014. In the European Parliament she is a member of the Committee on Economic and

Monetary Affairs (ECON), substitute member of the Committee on Regional Development (REGI) and Special

Committees on Tax Rulings and Other Measures Similar in Nature or Effect (TAXE) and Committee of Inquiry to

investigate alleged contraventions and maladministration in the application of Union law in relation to money

laundering, tax avoidance and tax evasion (PANA) and particularly monitors Budgets (BUDG), Budgetary Control

(CONT), Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL), Agriculture (AGRI), Fisheries (PECH), Transport and Tourism

(TRAN).

Joachim Weidemann - Associated Business Director EU, Handelsblatt Global

Joachim Weidemann is an experienced business journalist and media

manager, born in Germany, but at home in Europe. Associated Business

Director EU, he is expanding the activities of the English language media

channels of Germany's leading business media group Handelsblatt. He

also operates an EU and UN monitoring service called IEU Monitoring,

including innovation issues. His career has led him to various places in

Europe (Warsaw, Kyiv, Prague and Moscow) which is why he speaks

various languages. He formerly studied Economics, Russian and Polish

linguistics and literature, and published a wide range of reports, as well as several books.

Delphine Manceau - RISE, Dean, European Business School, Paris

Professor Delphine Manceau, PhD, is the Director of European Business School,

Paris. As a marketing and innovation specialist, she has published several books

on these topics and is the co-author of the French edition of Marketing

Management with P. Kotler & K. Keller (14th edition in 2012, Pearson Education).

In 2009, she wrote a report for the French Minister of Economics on the

innovative capacities of French and European companies, entitled A new

approach to innovation, with P. Morand. She then founded i7, the Institute of

Innovation and Competitiveness, an academic think tank on innovation. She has

published many papers in academic journals such as International Journal of

Research in Marketing, Creativity and Innovation Management, Customer Needs and Solutions, International

Journal of Advertising and International Journal of Industrial Organization. Delphine graduated from ESCP

Europe. After her PhD from HEC Paris, she did a post-doc at Wharton as senior research fellow.

Mary Ritter - RISE, Emeritus professor Imperial College London, International Ambassador EIT Climate-KIC

Mary is Professor Emeritus at Imperial College London. Following a Doctorate

in Immunology from Oxford University, she held academic posts in the USA and

UK focussing on research into development of the immune system and

published widely on this. She has had extensive experience of senior

management as Pro Rector Postgraduate Affairs and then Pro Rector

International Affairs at Imperial (2004-2011). She sits and has sat on many

international and national committees including the National Research

Foundation Fellowship Evaluation Panel in Singapore, European Universities

Association (EUA) Institutional Evaluation Programme Panel of Experts, EUA

Council for Doctoral Education, the German Excellence Initiative (Institutional

Strategies) Evaluation Group, and the Programme Review Committee for the Cambridge-MIT Institute (CMI).

From 2010-2014 she was CEO of Climate-KIC – Europe’s leading public-private partnership addressing climate

change – guiding it from inception to its current community of >200 partners from academia, business and

regional/city government, working to bring innovation for low-carbon prosperity and climate resilience. She is

now Climate-KIC’s International Ambassador, working to extend the organisation’s global impact. In particular

she is working with a cross-sectorial team in Australia to launch ‘Climate-KIC Australia’ later in 2016. She is an

elected Fellow of The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (FRSA), Royal

College of Pathologists (FRCPath), Royal Society of Biology (RFSB) and City and Guilds Institute (FCGI). She was

awarded an OBE in the 2014 New Year Honours for her service to scientific research and innovation.

Ronald de Bruin - Director, COST Association

Dr Ronald de Bruin was appointed Director of the COST Association on 1 June

2016.

Before joining the Association, Ronald was Director of the European Institute

of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and Head of Department of the European

Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA). For almost eight years, he

played a key role in and managing and setting up these European Union

agencies from scratch.

Prior to this, he was Deputy Director of a public-private partnership platform

for the Information Society in the Netherlands for over three years. His main responsibilities included drafting

the annual work programs including public-private partnership projects, managing the implementation of

national multi-stakeholder projects, and coordinating EU-funded projects.

For almost three years, he worked for a global .COM company with top-100 clients. During his one-year stay as

manager at KPMG, he worked on developing e-security services for the growing e-commerce market. He started

his career as Policy Advisor for the Dutch national government, where, for three years, he was responsible for

developing a national policy on e-security services, and scenarios for introducing digital TV.

He is Ambassador to Brussels for the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership Europe and Founding Director of

the Greenleaf Center in Brussels.

Dr De Bruin has also authored several books on servant-leadership, digital television, online consumer trust and

computer security. He holds a Ph.D.in Law and Computer Science, an M.Sc. in Technology Management and a

B.Sc. in Electronic Engineering.

Leena Sarvaranta - Vice President EU Affairs, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland

Dr Leena SARVARANTA is responsible for defining and implementing strategic

guidelines of VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland towards EU research,

including models of collaboration since 2007. VTT is part of the Finnish innovation

system and operates under the mandate of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and

Employment. VTT contributes actively within innovation initiatives in Horizon

2020 Pillars 2 and 3, which aim at industrial transformation and sustainable

society. Leena’s recent contributions to EU-level initiatives include High Level

Group on Key Enabling Technologies (2010-2011, 2013-2015), assessments of

Contractual PPPs in FP7 and H2020, as well as collaboration within EARTO,

European Association of Research and Technology Organisations, for constructive dialogue with European

institutions, examining issues in a broad innovation policy context across traditional sectoral and administrative

boundaries. She is member of the Strategic Research Council within the Academy of Finland, with the task to

provide funding to long-term research and to support improved evidence-based policy across society. As member

of the Government Foresight Group she takes part in coordination of national foresight efforts in Finland. She is

also member in the Coordination Committee within Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council, which has the task to

develop and implement the region’s Smart Specialisation Strategy.

Henna Virkkunen - Member of the European Parliament (MEP)

Henna Virkkunen has been a member of the European Parliament since 2014 and

is a member of the European People's Party (EPP). Her primary committee is the

Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) and she is a substitute

member of the committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN). In addition to

committees, Ms Virkkunen is a member of the Delegation for relations with South

Africa and a substitute of the Delegation for relations with the Arab Peninsula.

Before Ms Virkkunen was elected to the European Parliament, she served as a

Minister of Transport and Local Government (2014) in Finland. She has also been

a Minister of Public Administration and Local Government (2011-2014) and a Minister of Education (2008-2011),

during her two terms as a Member of the Parliament of Finland. Ms Virkkunen has been a member of the City

Council of Jyväskylä since 1997, and was the Chairwoman of the council during 2005-2008.

Ms Virkkunen is a licentiate of Philosophy.

Kurt Vandenberghe - Director, DG Research and Innovation, European Commission

Kurt Vandenberghe is Director for Policy Development and Coordination at DG

Research and Innovation since February 2016. He was Director for Climate Action

and Resource Efficiency at the same DG between 2013 and 2016.He previously

worked as head of the cabinet of European Commissioner Janez Potočnik, first

in charge of science and research (2008-2009) and subsequently in charge of

environment policy (from 2010). Kurt was deputy head of Janez Potočnik’s

cabinet between 2004 and 2008, where he was in charge of coordinating the

research area and the research framework programmes. Between 1999 and

2004, he was a member of the cabinet of European Research Commissioner

Philippe Busquin, where he was in charge of life sciences, biotechnology, public health, space policy, transport,

science and society issues, ethical questions and press and communication. Kurt joined the European

Commission in 1996 as co-ordinator of the Commission’s Intermodal Transport Task Force and of the Transport

Research Programme. Before entering the Commission, Kurt worked for 4 years as a manager at Ernst & Young

Association Management.