Raising the profile of EU-India science activities
Overall, the 'India-EU joint house for science & innovation' (INDIA SI HOUSE) project aimed to provide the European Commission with recommendation for establishing a joint EU-India House for enhancing ST&I activities between the two regions, based on an analysis of the existing political and scientific will, the legal possibilities and the barriers to enhancing multilateral cooperation between Europe and India. Characterised as a feasibility study, work in INDIA SI HOUSE was divided across six areas, including management, coordination and dissemination. INDIA SI HOUSE explored the political will to develop sustainable ST&I cooperation between the EU and India, the legal schemes and tools needed to support EU-India House, and the scientific will and priorities for ST&I cooperation between the two regions. A database of ongoing multilateral and bilateral programmes that provide funding in ST&I cooperation was created. Other activities included mapping, per Member State, the willingness of Europeans, on one side, and Indians, on the other, to target specific areas of common interests with India. Legal schemes and tools were explored, with the aim of devising a coherent EU strategy on ST&I and laying the foundation for a mutually beneficial legal framework. An online survey, interviews, workshops and round tables targeting key European and Indian stakeholders supplied valuable input for designing the House needed for enhancing Indo-European ST&I collaboration. Outcomes led to a concept paper on how the EU-India House could be established based notably on best practice models of existing successful bilateral and multilateral cooperation programs following benchmarking and analyses of these models. The recommendations for establishing a future EU-India House led to one preferential proposed scenario, that is a physical EU-India House in India with a small dedicated secretariat and representative office in Europe who support flexible multilateral cooperation programs run through virtual platforms. The INDIA SI HOUSE project has laid the groundwork for the setting up of a future EU-India House for multilateral ST&I collaboration. With both sides eager to proceed, it is now up to Indian and European public and private stakeholders to take the House from this concept to a reality with sustainable future.
Keywords
Science, multilateral collaboration, technology and innovation, ST&I, science & innovation
