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Unleashing Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Europe: People, Places and Policies

IFI co-authored a book that sets out the elements for the design of a streamlined and future-proof policy on innovation and entrepreneurship in Europe. It is the result of a collective effort led by CEPS, which formed a Task Force on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the EU, composed of authoritative scholars, industry experts, entrepreneurs, practitioners and representatives of EU and international institutions. The result of these deliberations is a set of policy recommendations aimed at improving the overall environment and approach for entrepreneurship and innovation in Europe and a new paradigmatic understanding of the role that innovation and entrepreneurship can and should play within the overall context of EU policy. These recommendations are based on a new, multi-dimensional approach to both innovation and entrepreneurship as social phenomena and to the policies that are meant to promote them.

The Task Force was chaired by José Manuel Leceta, former Chairman and Co-founder of Insight Foresight Institute (IFI), currently DG of Red.es. Andrea Renda, CEPS Senior Research Fellow, Totti Könnölä, Managing Director and Co-founder of Insight Foresight Institute and Felice Simonelli, CEPS Research Fellow, served as rapporteurs.

Link to the free pdf

image©CEPS

Unleashing innovation and entrepreneurship in Europe: People, places and policies from Totti Könnölä

Internationalisation of Spanish Universities

Luis Delgado and Totti Könnölä (CEO of IFI) write in the EAIE Magazine on the role of international officers in Spanish universities. The analysis of job offers for international officers in higher education in Spain leads to the conclusion that their main goal is to support the recruitment of international students. They often work within recruitment teams, managing sales channels for specific regions to fulfil the university´s recruitment objectives. Nowadays, however, the concept of internationalisation of higher education should go far beyond student recruitment, the mere mobility of student, or the signing of international agreements. There is much more to a career in international higher education!

Delgado, Luis and Totti Könnölä. “Spain´s New International Officer.” EAIE Forum Member Magazine Winter 2016:08-09. Print.

image©EAIE

California for Europe

A reflection of the almost finished year: at the same time that the Cotec Foundation for Innovation celebrated its “the must” spring event, near Seseña a tyre bonfire was burning full flame. Those lost tyres could have become a business opportunity, an important service for our community and to the environment. Since the 70s the MIT professor Nichols Ashford, and more recently, Andrea Renda, from the CEPS European think tank, find evidence that an adequate regulation can create innovation, particularly to face the grand societal challenges. On the contrary, an inappropriate regulation can not only worsen the emerging opportunities, but prevent the potential innovators, professionals and entrepreneurs to innovate at all.

But as institutions are bearers of history, people are the wheels of the future. For example, the European Commission, has put into practice the so called innovation deals, using as a reference the previous Dutch experiences. It is refreshing to see an economic commissioner taking control over a directorate-general, usually ruled by the scientific logic. This combination of regulation and risk taking must be completed with a clear performance-oriented goal, because if something positive can be extracted from this crisis, is precisely the invitation for all of us, individuals and institutions, to rethink our previous stance, and go further than the established.

However, if all the innovations are novelties, not every novelty is innovation. In Spain, we embraced the United Kingdom model and the Business Innovation and Skills, but its application to the Economy hasn´t been able so far to achieve a new social agreement for innovation and science. The investment for our Spanish model of R&D+innovation will have another four years’ opportunity. No one will be able to say that two terms in office aren´t enough, and that they didn´t have the opportunity to think about the non-achieved objectives and how to get back on track. As Oscar Wilde said: “There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book, books are well written or badly written”…

Read to the full article in Spanish in Cinco Días

People, Places & Policies: promoting systemic innovation and a stronger entrepreneurial culture in Europe

Innovation and entrepreneurship are key drivers for economic growth and competitiveness. While recent policies also aim at promoting sustainability and better governance, many analysts have pointed to Europe’s inability to create a suitable environment in which a vivid entrepreneurial culture could flourish.

The event, organised by the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in partnership with the European Parliament, will be hosted by Eva Paunova MEP on 27th April 2016 at the European Parliament. The event intends to validate a new report from CEPS on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Europe: People, Places and Policies, the result of a six-month Task Force involving authoritative scholars, industry experts, entrepreneurs, practitioners and representatives of EU and international institutions.

Insight Foresight Institute (IFI) has played pertinent role in this taskforce chaired by José Manuel Leceta (Chairman of IFI). Furthermore, Totti Könnölä (Managing Director of IFI) has acted as a co-rapporteur. We highly appreciate that some of the board and council members have also participated in the taskforce meetings.

The outcome is a set of policy recommendations that aim at improving the overall environment and approach for entrepreneurship and innovation in Europe, and a new understanding of the role that “people, places and policies” can and should play within the current context of the European Union. More specifically, the CEPS Task Force agreed upon three key principles: future EU policy for entrepreneurship and innovation should be systemic, simple and, more importantly, tied to societal needs.

For full Agenda click here

Registration click here

E2 I2 Forum – Education + Entrepreneurship + Innovation + Investment

A new coalition is set to create an innovative ecosystem in Spain. The Royal Academy of Engineering sponsors the Forum E2 I2, to unite innovation actors with allies including RedEmprendia, la Fundación Transforma España, el Foro de Empresas Innovadoras and European Institute of Innovation and Technology.

The Royal Academy of Engineering together with the experts of Insight Foresight Institute (IFI) coordinates the Forum E2 I2 + Education + Entrepreneurship + Innovation + Investment, a meeting point of experts from member companies and the world of academia seeking to address the major challenges in these areas in a coordinated manner.

“This is to encourage understanding what’s working and what must be improved,” says Elijah Ferreres, president of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

“Now we have an opportunity to do different things. The ecosystem allows us to guide new policies, in academia and in the corporate world, “explains Senen Barro, president of the RedEmprendia.

“This is to introduce innovation beyond the ICT sectors such as textiles or the food sector, which accounts for over 20% of Spanish GDP, “says José Molero, president of the Forum for Innovative Enterprises. He adds: “we must create a strategic framework with new policies”.

Meanwhile, Eduardo Serra, president of fundación Transforma España, points to the lack of collaboration between the different actors. “In countries like USA exists flexibility and relationship between different sectors. The professors go to companies, etc.. However in Spain there are a great reluctance to produce these relationships.”

José Manuel Leceta, chairman of IFI (director of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology at the time of the forum kick-off) also points to the importance of a comprehensive approach to economic transformation, education and business to promote innovation ecosystem.

For further information: Jose Manuel Leceta