European Leadership through Disruptive Technologies - Future and Emerging Technologies towards 2030

The “European Leadership through Disruptive Technologies” event will present Future and Emerging Technologies as a catalyst for disruptive research and a basis for radical innovations. The event, organized by the EFFECT project in cooperation with the European Parliament’s ITRE Committee and with the support of the European Commission, will be held at the European Parliament in Brussels on March 7, 2018.

© NASA

Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) have the potential to revolutionise human society. Supercomputers, highly efficient batteries, 2D materials or new cancer treatments are just a few examples of the achievements that could turn into applications accessible to all.

The new knowledge developed by FET research contributes to keeping Europe at the forefront of technological innovation and scientific leadership. However, the investigation of unexplored scientific frontiers is a challenging endeavour. The development time for market readiness required by FET visionary research can take years.

The “European Leadership through Disruptive Technologies” workshop will focus on these intrinsic characteristics of FET science and their impacts. It will involve representatives from the European institutions, the FET Advisory Group, the H2020 FET Flagship Interim Evaluation Committee and the academic and industrial ecosystem. The event consists of two sessions:

• Session 1: Success Stories: The FET Programme’s experience: disruptive and interdisciplinary research as the basis for radical innovation
The debate will focus on the relevance of high-risk, long-term, multidisciplinary and collaborative research projects for the development of radical new technologies.
• Session 2: The FET Programme towards 2030
A round table will discuss the complementary measures to maximise the technological impacts of FET frontier research.

The event will trigger the debate on breakthrough innovation and on supporting measures to position Europe as a main player on the global scientific scene. An online consultation about Future and Emerging Technologies towards 2030 will be launched on social media and on major FET-focused online portals based on the key conclusions of the workshop. Its goal is to heighten the debate and provide further elements on how to best place FET in the framework of the European technological advancement. People interested in this topic can follow the debate during and after the event on Twitter (#EWEP2018).

Background

Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) are radically new, science-based paradigms embracing some of the most relevant challenges of today’s society. The ultimate goal is to leverage fundamental research for the development of innovative solutions and applications. FET cover disparate, yet interconnected research areas such as health, biotechnologies, artificial intelligence, information technologies, new materials, nanotechnologies and energy supply.

For these reasons, over the past years, EU research funds have been granted to FET innovative projects. Roughly 2.5 billion euro have been allocated to FET research by the Horizon 2020 funding programme between 2014 and 2020. Up to December 2016, more than 130 FET projects with participants from 40 different countries have been funded by Horizon 2020, for a total budget of 650 million euro.


Joining the discussion

Online registration is mandatory. Seats are limited and early registration is advised. Registration is open until 27 February. Participation is free of charge.
The workshop, its key themes and main conclusions will be covered by a dedicated journalistic production, which will be published on fetfx.eu in the days following the event. A consultation on the main outcomes of the workshop will be launched on the web and on social media to enable broader participation. The results of the consultation will be used in recommendations to support the discussion on future public funding opportunities of FET research programmes.
Check the agenda for more details on the event. http://www.fetfx.eu/event/european-leadership-disruptive-future_and_emerging_technologies/

Free registration here. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/european-leadership-through-disruptive-technologies-future-and-emerging-technologies-towards-2030-registration-42192614245

Date: 7 March 2018, from 18:00 to 20:00

Venue:
European Parliament, Room A5E-2
Rue Wiertz 60
Brussels, 1047 Belgium

Countries

Belgium