Latvian Presidency announces major R&I conference in Riga

The Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union has announced the details of a major conference focusing on smart specialisation and national and regional R&I policy.

Due to take place on 12-13 February in the capital of Riga, the international conference ‘Smart Specialisation Strategy: New Approaches for Partnerships among Education, Research and Industry in Regions’ aims to push forward new innovation policy. Smart specialisation is designed to promote efficient and effective use of public investment and the conference will be an opportunity for policy makers, academics, researchers, entrepreneurs and NGOs to strengthen areas of joint international co-operation.

The conference will be opened by Mārīte Seile, Latvian Minister for Education and Science, and expected attendees include Carlos Moedas, the European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation; Corina Creţu, the European Commissioner for Regional Policy; and Torbjørn Røe Isaksen, the Norwegian Minister for Education and Research. The objective of the conference is to build a stronger link between national/regional research and innovation strategies for smart specialisation and the priorities set by the Europe 2020 strategy, and their impact on the European Economic Area and national research and innovation policies. Synergies between cohesion policy, Horizon 2020 and national financial instruments is also considered a key area of interest.

The event is organised by the Ministry of Education and Science, and the State Education Development Agency. ‘Competitive Europe’ is an overarching priority of the Presidency, which emphasises the need for full exploitation of the potential of national research and innovation systems.