The European Commission’s Bureau of European Policy Advisers organised earlier this month a meeting in Brussels with representatives from the business sector, R&D enterprises and senior staff from the European Commission. The aim of the meeting was to discuss how to combine efforts in education, research and business in order to reduce the gap between knowledge and innovation.
The representatives from the business sector emphasised the importance of the link between education, research and innovation to enhance Europe’s competitiveness. The Commission stated that the representatives from business and industry also gave their overall support to the European Institute of Technology (EIT), as they think it would contribute to economic growth and the creation of more and better jobs.
The following took part in the meeting:
Mr. Reinhold Achatz, Corporate Vice President and Head of Division at Corporate Technology of Siemens
Dr. Günter A. Baumann, Vice President of the Deutscher Industrie- und Handelskammer (DIHK)
Mr. Jean-Philippe Courtois, President of Microsoft International and Senior Vice President of Microsoft Corp.
Dr. Annette Doherty, Senior Vice President, Pfizer Global Research and Development and Site Director, Sandwich Laboratories
Mr. David Duncan, Head of Global Research and Development, Unilever
Mr. Bo Ekman, Chairman of Nextwork AB, Founder and Chairman of the Tällberg Foundation
Mr. François Guinot, Président de l'Académie des Technologies
Dr. Heinrich Hoefer, Director of Technology and Innovation Dept. of the Federation of German Industries (BDI)
Dr. Bob Iannucci, Senior Vice President, Head of Nokia Research Centre
Dr. Steven Koonin, Chief Scientist, BP PLC
Mr. Magnus Madfors, Director R&D Policy, Ericsson European Affairs Office
Mr. Jan Van der Eijk, Chief Technology Officer of Royal Dutch Shell
Prof. Dr. Walter Ch. Zimmerli, Founding President of the Volkswagen Auto University
