Success at the fifth European Innovation Summit

With a closing ceremony hosted by Jerzy Buzek MEP, the fifth European Innovation Summit came to an end last night, with the former Polish prime minister stating that the summit ‘has continued to show that it is an important platform for debate and discussion on innovation in Europe.’

The conference saw discussions on topics such as sustainable societies, Horizon 2020, and SMEs in Europe. Policy maker contributions from, amongst others, the European Commission’s Director General of DG Research and Innovation Robert-Jan Smits, Maria da Graça Carvalho MEP and Günther H. Oettinger, the European Energy Commissioner, gave summit attendees access to knowledge of key policy instruments of innovation.

SMEs were an important subject of each of the event’s session. José Luis Alarcón Morente, Chairman at Athisa Group and winner of the EUREKA Innovation Award 2013, served as a model of success and was in attendance for the summit and spoke alongside Anne Glover, the president of the European Commission’s chief scientific adviser, and Kristin Danielsen, the new International Director at the Research Council of Norway, in the ‘SMEs in Europe – maximising their innovation potential’ panel session.

Ultimately, the summit concluded on the stressed point that Europe needs to take initiatives to wake up and bring innovation to the forefront of national policy discussions. Its nature of driving growth and creating jobs is essential to the future of pan-European prosperity.