9. European ICT Poles of Excellence (EIPE)
Type of service
An interactive online tool mapping ICT R&D, innovation and business activity in Europe, offering 42 individual indicators on business and research activity agglomeration, internalisation and networking at global level for each of 1303 NUTS3 regions in Europe.
10. Increasing higher education impact on innovation: Entrepreneurial Universities
Type of service
JRC is researching the conditions that affect the success of European universities to become more entrepreneurial: budget size, autonomy, research performance, specialization, entrepreneurship education, teaching/ research ratio, among others. A first case study of Aalto University and its innovation ecosystem has been published already . A combined qualitative and quantitative analysis will result in the publication of a report planned for 2018 .
Type of service
Innovation Camps are essentially a tool to develop a culture of innovativeness at a local level. They seek to address societal and economic challenges facing local societies in a European context. They bring together a geographically and disciplinary diverse group of participants to work closely together during two to five days. Immersion in an entrepreneurial way of thinking and working processes aims to foster the discovery of opportunities and the development of ideas with real-world impact. This methodology has been refined through the ongoing organisation of such camps across Europe since 2010.
Sharing similar goals, the Smart Specialisation Platform (S3P) encourages and supports regions and cities willing to host Innovation Camps. The platform can provide methodological guidance and access to a pool of professional facilitators and support the preparation of a team of local facilitators for an autonomous use of the methodology.
12. Providing analysis on Research and Innovation Systems
Type of service
The Research and Innovation Observatory (RIO) Country Reports analyses and assesses the development and performance of the national research and innovation system of the EU Member States and related policies. The analysis of research & innovation in the RIO reports, including the challenges, policy responses and their impact, provides Member States and regional stakeholders with a timely source of analysis and evidence. In the 2017 series of reports, a stronger focus on smart specialisation is envisaged. These short reports are co-authored by JRC and a network of independent experts on R&I. The draft reports also feed into the European Semester process. Member State contact points are able to check the reports before publication. In order to be more accessible, the reports are available in 20 EU languages.
13. Mapping industrial actors and technologies
Type of service
JRC monitors business research and innovation activities. It provides data and analyses of the main industrial players. The key strength is that the different databases on company performance, location of subsidiaries, patents and technological profiles and scientific citations are matched from a company perspective. This allows JRC to investigate how these companies and their knowledge creation and innovation activities act as drivers of territorial competitiveness and employment.
Based on several indicators (patent analysis, scientific publications, etc.), JRC builds the technological profiles of the patent portfolios of both regions and companies. In particular, their technological competences in a series of key strategic, high R&D sectors, as well as their capacity to develop Advanced Manufacturing Technologies, Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) and emerging technologies (Figure 1). Depending on the level of disaggregation of the data it is possible to analyse the main patterns and trends at the world, national and regional levels.
Supporting Technology Transfer
Type of service
JRC mobilises its expertise and network of experts, practitioners and stakeholders to support developments in three broad inter-connected domains of technology transfer activities:
- operational capacity;
- financing; and
- innovation ecosystem design.
For technology transfer to happen successfully, synergies in these three domains need to be identified and exploited.
The technical assistance provided to national and regional authorities has the following objectives:
- To provide expertise on technology transfer to countries and regional authorities;
- To provide technology transfer relevant evidence and related expert services across the innovation cycle in conjunction with EU policies;
- To deepen local and regional competences in understanding technology transfer processes by exploiting the results of successful projects funded by EU programmes (e.g. H2020, COSME, etc.).
SELFIE – helping schools in Europe to go digital
Type of service
The self-reflection tool for digitally capable schools (SELFIE) [1] is an easy-to-use, online tool that helps schools understand where they are in their use of digital technologies for teaching and learning. It is based on the conceptual framework for Digitally Competent Organisations[2] developed by JRC. A ´digitally-capable school´ that promotes digital-age learning follows both top-down and bottom-up innovation and it is responsive and supportive of the development of its members. Thus, SELFIE allows schools to start a dialogue within the school community and become a driver of change towards better teaching and learning practices. In this sense, SELFIE focuses on learning in all its dimensions, and not on specific technologies. To consolidate progress and to ensure scale and sustainability, SELFIE helps education institutions to review their organisational strategies, in order to enhance their capacity for innovation and to exploit the full potential of digital technologies and content.
Related Content
Practical Handbook for Regional Authorities
JRC Services: why and how to engage with the European Commission’s science and knowledge service