The three Smart Specialisation Thematic Platforms join forces in Bilbao (Spain) for the first time

News article |

The JRC is organising the Smart Specialisation Thematic Platform Days in Bilbao, which will bring together, for the first time, the three Smart Specialisation Thematic Platforms. Over 200 participants from all over the EU will come together to explore learning, networking and business interregional opportunities in areas linked to agri-food, energy and industrial modernisation.

The JRC is organising the Smart Specialisation Thematic Platform Days in Bilbao, which will bring together, for the first time, the three Smart Specialisation Thematic Platforms. Over 200 participants from all over the EU will come together to explore learning, networking and business interregional opportunities in areas linked to agri-food, energy and industrial modernisation.

Smart Specialisation Thematic Platform Days

For the first time, the Smart Specialisation Thematic Platform Days are taking place in Bilbao (Spain) on 27 and 28 November 2018. The event will bring together over 200 stakeholders and experts that have been actively involved in the development of the Smart Specialisation Thematic Platforms including policy-makers, researchers, industrial and civil society representatives, and practitioners from all over Europe. This event, which is co-hosted by the Basque Country, will consist of a Joint Thematic Platforms Conference Thematic Platforms and three meetings dedicated to each Smart Specialisation Thematic Platform.

The Joint Thematic Platforms Conference

The Joint Thematic Platforms Conference "Working Together towards Joint Investments" will take place in the afternoon of 27 November. This joint event proposes an open and interactive discussion exploring the future of the thematic approach to Smart Specialisation and interregional collaboration opportunities across the three Thematic Platforms, also in view of the next Multiannual Financial Framework. The driver behind the Joint Conference is to identify the synergies and facilitate interactions between partnerships across the three Thematic Platforms. These synergies can further strengthen the knowledge base of regional innovation eco-systems, promote the transition towards Industry 4.0 goals, and improve participating regions' position in global value chains leading to new opportunities and growth. New paths of development could be created through inter-partnership collaboration leading to inter-platform joint initiatives that could boost innovation investments in Europe.

The Smart Specialisation Thematic Platforms

The Smart Specialisation Thematic Platforms on Agri-Food, Energy and Industrial Modernisation were successfully launched by the European Commission between 2015 and 2016 as a support action to accelerate the implementation of Smart Specialisation across the EU, while contributing to the competitiveness and innovation capacity of the EU industry.

Overall, the three Thematic Platforms enable over 145 regions and countries to work closely together within 28 interregional and cross-borders partnerships. These partnerships support EU regions to foster interregional collaboration and joint investments and help to tackle various obstacles linked to the implementation of their Smart Specialisation Strategies. The thematic partnerships involve the active participation of business organisations, research institutions, academia and the civil society and involve above 380 partners in total.