Skills Development for Smart Specialization conference under the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union was organized by National Research, Development and Innovation Office on 2-3 December 2024. The project consisted of the conference organization process, the completion of the event, and the preparation of three follow-up materials.
During the organization process in M1-M4, the program content was prepared and speakers were identified by the project coordinator consulting an expert stakeholder group. The invitation to the conference was sent out via NCP networks, targeted e-mails, and newsletters of NRDIO and Science|Business to attract a wide variety of stakeholders. Speakers were invited, and, in case of cancellations, new speakers were found based on recommendations. The program of the conference was slightly adjusted to fit the speakers’ expertise and availability. The operational background for the conference was prepared during the first four months of the project as well: the procurement process for a professional event management company was completed, the venue was booked.
In M5, the conference was organized in a hybrid format: plenary sessions and panel discussions were livestreamed for maximizing outreach, sharing the insightful thoughts of speakers and findings from fruitful panel discussions, with the recordings available on YouTube after the event as well. The panel discussions were moderated by experts of smart specialization, social sciences and humanities, and European research funding schemes in general. Various stakeholder groups were represented: Researchers (universities, research institutes), Funding agency representatives, NCPs, European and national policymakers. Speakers were invited on the basis of professional experience, with the aim of representing diverse stakeholder groups. Particular attention was given to the balanced distribution of speakers in terms of gender, geographical coverage and stakeholder group. Altogether 70 in-person participants attended the event that was hosted by the prestigious Ludovika University of Public Service.
Follow-up activities and the preparation of conference documents were completed in M5 and M6. Video recordings were published on YouTube to maximize outreach, an extensive LinkedIn campaign was conducted with follow-up posts, and two conference conclusions were produced (Set of Recommendations, Starter Kit).
