Final Report Summary - INDIGO POLICY (Support for the advancement of policy cooperation between India and Europe in Research and Innovation)
Executive Summary:
INDIGO POLICY´s major objective was to further enhance EU-INDIA STI by supporting STI dialogue structures, both in India and the European Union.
Over the years, INDIGO POLICY has positioned itself as the primary source of constant monitoring and analytical evidence, feeding the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) policy dialogue between India and the European Union.
INDIGO POLICY also gathered together an important pool of Indian and European experts keen to support and share their views on strategic topics of mutual interest within the STI dialogue such as Energy, Water and Health, areas considered high priority within the India-EU-STI dialogue.
Ultimately, INDIGO POLICY assembled a large community of researchers, business leaders, policy makers, and young scientists contributing to the ongoing EU-STI collaboration between India and the EU and developing a new axis of collaboration for the future.
This final report summarises the contribution of INDIGO POLICY on several fronts.
INDIGO POLICY has contributed to supporting of the policy dialogue by producing several policy analyses on the current status of EU-INDIA cooperation at EU and Member State level, as part of WP3. These analyses covered a wide range of policy areas in the field of STI: co-publications, co-patents, technology transfer; frugal innovation, migration and mobility, as well as the outcomes of the Indo-European collaboration in the framework of FP7, etc. Moreover, the bibliometric studies of INDIGO POLICY have also shown that the annual number of India-Europe co-publications has increased steeply over the last decade. In fact, this figure has quadrupled during this time and Europe became the most important co-publication partner for India, even ahead of the US.
All the reports and policy papers are available for the Indian and European STI policy makers and constitute an excellent analytical collection for understanding the current status of STI collaboration between India and the European Union.
In terms of outreach and multi-stakeholder engagement, INDIGO POLICY also played a pivotal role in implementing and coordinating three EU-INDIA STI Cooperation Days, under the general objective of WP5.
With the objective of reinforcing cooperation in research and innovation between Europe and India, the EU India STI Cooperation Days were organized alternately in Europe and India and focused on thematic priorities of common interest. Over the years, they have become a crucial forum for stakeholders to discuss ongoing and future cooperation in the field of STI. More than 600 participants attended the events over the years and key areas of future collaboration were also explored.
As part of WP 2, INDIGO POLICY was also essential for implementing and reinforcing the EU-STI platform in India with the aim of it becoming a single point of entry for European industries and public organisations wanting to establish a presence in India. Optimising channels for information about Horizon 2020 through the Indian Focal Points was a major responsibility of INDIGO POLICY from 2013 to 2017. In fact, several networking events were held, aimed at triggering new collaborations and facilitating knowledge transfer by pooling resources and expertise between India and the EU (WP5, WP2, WP4).
Supporting India’s participation in European funding schemes beyond the framework of Horizon 2020 by ensuring structured consultation between European and Indian representatives was also one the objectives of INDIGO POLICY under the specific objectives of WP2. As result of structured follow up between India and the European stakeholders, Indian representatives showed interest in two specific EU JPI initiatives. In July 2017, the Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance (JPIAMR) welcomed India as a new member of the groups of European and third countries which have joined forces across nations to fight Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) through effective collaborative actions in areas of unmet needs.
Finally, INDIGO POLICY also helped to set up a Water Technology Platform in India, as part of the strategic objective of WP4. In this connection, expert meetings and industry-focused workshops were held in India, as this constitutes a strategic area of collaboration for India-EU-STI dialogue.
Moreover, INDIGO POLICY played a role on allowing the full implementation of three selected projects in the field of Biotechnology between India and the European Union. The Linking Programme proved to be a successful tool, permitting the opening of bilateral cooperation to new partners, the formalisation of pre-existing multilateral networks and thereby the enhancement of EU-India relations in the field of biotechnology.
Overall, INDIGO POLICY has played a pivotal role in linking different communities, both in India and in the European Union, thus contributing to the enhancement of STI cooperation between both regions.
Project Context and Objectives:
INDIGO POLICY context:
INDIGO POLICY has been selected to answer the major concern of the European Commission on supporting the advancement of policy cooperation between India and the European Union in the field of Science, Tecnolology and Innovation.
The case of EU-India STI collaboration surely is one of the most interesting in the field. Scale and potential are two key reasons. First, Europe is undoubtedly a world leader in research and innovation, boasting 24% of the world’s expenditure on research, 32% of high-impact publications, and 32% of patent applications despite having only 7% of the world’s population . India’s research and innovation system warrants respect in its own right, ranking ninth in the world according to the SCImago Journal & Country Rank, behind only the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Italy (in terms of Europe) . And, with the world’s fastest-growing economy , it is expected that India’s contributions to the global research and innovation ecosystem grow at a similarly fast pace.
India-EU relations date back to the early 1960s . Since then, the partnership has grown extensively and resulted in a strategic partnership which covers numerous areas. One of the most important areas of cooperation is Science, Technology and Innovation . Several bibliometric studies have shown that the annual number of India-Europe co-publications has increased steeply over the last decade. In fact, this figure has quadrupled in this time. Europe is the most important co-publication partner for India, even ahead of the US .
Over time, the international research collaboration between India and the EU has been taking place through different channels, such as exchange of researchers, establishment of formal intergovernmental agreements on scientific cooperation, meetings and workshops, access to international large-scale facilities, many collaborative projects, publications, and the establishment of joint laboratories. In the case of India and the EU, formal collaboration in Science and Technology began with the signature of the European Community–India Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement (STCA) on 23 November 2001, establishing the EU–India Joint Steering Committee on Science and Technology.
The STCA, which was renewed in 2007, indicated that efforts should aim to create a joint infrastructure for advanced research and funding systems for the promotion of Science and Technology (S&T) collaboration. In the STCA, leaders also welcomed efforts to strengthen partnership initiatives such as joint projects with co-investment of resources in selected fields of mutual priority. The scope of EU–India scientific cooperation was further broadened in 2009 with the signature of the bilateral agreement between EURATOM and India in the field of fusion energy research. At the December 2010 EU–India Summit, leaders recognised the importance of a more coordinated approach in research and innovation. The Summit welcomed the new dynamic of the India–EU and Member States Research and Innovation Partnership for more coordinated cooperation in tackling major societal challenges, aligning FP7 and India’s own national science and innovation programmes.
INDIGO POLICY objectives:
INDIGO POLICY, a Coordination and Support action (CSA), supported the policy dialogue in the field of Science, Technology and Innovation between India and the European Union. Since the beginning of the project in 2013, the funding framework in which the collaboration took place has changed. Under FP7, India—like China, Russia, Brazil and Mexico—was one of 139 International Cooperation Partner Countries (ICPC) that received automatic funding for successful EU collaborative projects. However, participation rules for these five countries (BRIC+Mexico) have changed under Horizon 2020. While all countries are free to take part in Horizon 2020, India was no longer eligible to receive EU funding. As per INDIGO POLICY analysis, not surprisingly, most if not all of the countries included in this policy change have experienced negative consequences in terms of their overall participation in Horizon 2020. India had the largest percentage drop among BRIC+Mexico countries in the following categories:
▪ Number of projects with at least 1 Indian participant: from 42 to 6 in Horizon 2020;
▪ Total cost of projects with at least 1 Indian participant: from €175 million to €19 million;
▪ Number of Indian participants in all projects: from 58 to 7 .
India has also seen the number of participants receiving EC funding drop from 11 to 6, and the EC contribution to those participants has fallen from €2.2 million to €1.1 million. Thus, the new approach towards international collaboration introduced by the European Commission in 2014, has significantly impacted India´s participation in Horizon 2020. The policy changes introduced some challenges for the STI collaboration between India and the European Union, but the INDIGO POLICY was well prepared to deal with them. Some modifications were introduced to properly address the main objectives of the project.
Therefore, INDIGO POLICY focused its efforts on four main objectives throughout the project:
1. To support the EU-India STI policy dialogue, in particular to provide support to the INNO INDIGO Platform for Funders;
2. To provide analysis and monitoring of the current state of STI cooperation, providing evidence-based analytic intelligence for supporting informed decision-making;
3. To set up joint activities (Pilot Actions, expert workshops, matchmaking events), to forward and to follow-up the strategic STI dialogue between the EU and India;
4. To ensure outreach and sustainability of the project through targeted dissemination activities, networking events such as the 2014, 2015 and 2016 STI Days in India and in Europe, as well as trainings, including the establishment and training of Horizon 2020 focal points in India.
Supporting the EU-India STI policy dialogue, in particular providing support to the INNO INDIGO Platform for Funders, became a major objective of INDIGO POLICY. Over the years, INDIGO POLICY operationally supported STI policy initiatives between India and the European Union. Since the SFIC India Pilot Initiative (SFIC-IPI) was a very successful forum for the integration and coordination of EU-India activities of Member States and the European Commission, meetings were held between the European Commission and the India desk officers of EU MS/AC research ministries. More recently, and due to a change of policy framework, INDIGO POLICY has supported a more practical approach, namely the endorsement of the Platform for Funders, in the form of the organisation of meetings and provision of analytical input to discuss thematic priorities for future joint calls for proposals between India and the European Union, respectively the EU Member States.
In addition to providing support to the EU-India STI policy dialogue, INDIGO POLICY supported the European science organisations and European industries in India, with the aim of aligning their efforts and of creating synergies. As part of INDIGO POLICY’s core mission, the “European Science, Technology and Innovation Platform in India” was formed by a group of interested European organisations established in India and played a substantial role in enabling the sharing of information, knowledge and experiences between its members. Several meetings and conferences were organised. Research and innovation achievements were shared, policy was advocated and case studies from India and the EU were examined to inspire future collaborative research on e.g. smart cities and project implementation, among other topics. The workshops proved to be extremely successful, providing a suitable platform for constructive discussions towards collaborative visions and programmatic plans between India and the European Union in the field of STI.
The second objective was to support the EU-INDIA policy dialogue by providing an evidence base for decision-making. Since April 2013, INDIGO POLICY has delivered several analyses on India’s participation in FP7 and H2020, as well as analyses assessing the impacts of Indo-European collaboration. Several policy papers, policy briefs and interactive data visualisations were produced to inform policy-makers on the current status of STI cooperation between India and the European Union. These analyses covered a wide range of policy areas in the field of STI: co-publications, co-patents between India and the EU, technology transfer; frugal innovation, migration and mobility, as well as the outcomes of the Indo-European collaboration in the framework of FP7, etc. All the reports and policy papers are available for the Indian and European STI policy makers and constitute an excellent analytical collection for understanding the current status of STI collaboration between India and the European Union. Moreover, the main results of the analytical work produced between 2015 and 2017 bring to light that adequate policy and framework conditions are considered to be key issues for the enhancement of EU-India STI collaboration in the years to come.
As one of the key activities decided with the European Commission after the amendment of INDIGO POLICY on July 2016, the focus was placed on the analysis of Technology Transfer (TT) between India and the European Union. This policy analysis contributed to the general understanding of the state-of-the-art in the field of TT in a bi-regional India-Europe setting. Additionally, in this report INDIGO POLICY also analysed the challenges to and opportunities for bi-regional technology transfer. All these publications are available online on the INDIGO POLICY website: https://indigoprojects.eu/news-events/indigo-publications
Thirdly, it is crucial to mention that INDIGO POLICY implemented concrete joint activities within the STI policy dialogue. The main objective of the “INDIGO POLICY Linking Programme” was to support the establishment of multilateral virtual laboratories, involving a minimum of two European and one Indian research teams aiming to establish sustainable cooperation in the field of Biotechnology.
Additionally, INDIGO POLICY contributed to the development of the India-EU Roadmap on Water issues. Tackling Water challenges in Europe and India has been the common goal of the Water activities since the very beginning of the project, which started in 2014, with a joint expert meeting in Delhi for developing the India-EU Water Roadmap and later a pilot action on “Water & Industry” within the context of the “India- EU Water Partnership” (IEWP). More recently, INDIGO POLICY helped to build a common ‘Water vision’ by putting forward policy and technical suggestions to all levels of public governance and industry sector on the subject of water.
As result of structured follow up between India and the European stakeholders, Indian representatives also showed interest in two specific EU JPI initiatives: the Joint Programming Initiative (JPI) entitled “Water challenges for a changing world” and the JPI on “Antimicrobial Resistance”. In July 2017, the Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance (JPIAMR) welcomed India as a new member of the groups of European and third countries which have joined forces across nations to fight Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) through effective collaborative actions in areas of unmet needs. The JPIAMR is a unique international collaborative platform that coordinates national funding and supports collaborative action for filling knowledge gaps on antimicrobial resistance with a one-health perspective.
Last but not least, the INDIGO POLICY project implemented a coherent set of dissemination and communication actions with the objective of ensuring the visibility of the project and of its impact on EU-India STI cooperation. In that connection, a website (https://indigoprojects.eu) was established with the aim to provide information to interested parties and to the general public on the project’s activities and news and developments in the EU-India STI cooperation.
In terms of outreach and multi-stakeholder engagement, INDIGO POLICY also played a pivotal role in implementing and coordinating three EU-INDIA STI Cooperation Days. More than 600 participants attended the events over the years and key areas of future collaboration were also explored. The STI Days were also an excellent forum for fostering new partnerships and showcasing the success of Indian and Europeans teams involved in a range of projects (FP7, H2020, bilateral programmes, etc.).
Project Results:
The main results of INDIGO POLICY cover the following areas:
▪ Endorsing the Platform for Funders, as part of support the advancement of the STI policy dialogue between India and the European Union;
▪ Supporting India’s participation in European funding schemes beyond the framework of Horizon 2020: the Joint Programming Initiatives;
▪ Reinforcing the linkage between India and the EU in the field of Biotechnology (the Linking Programme);
▪ Providing constant monitoring analysis and analytical evidence for sustainable STI policy dialogue;
▪ Reinforcing different communities and bringing India and Europe together in the field of STI;
▪ Fostering new partnerships and showcasing success of the Indo-European collaboration in the field of Science, Technology and Innovation;
▪ Supporting STI policy making between India and the European Union;
▪ Training the next generation of scientists of the Indo-European collaboration in the field of Science, Technology and Innovation
▪ Providing information and support to STI Indian and Europeans communities;
▪ Optimizing channels for information about Horizon 2020 through the Indian Focal Points;
▪ Implementing the EU and India STI platform in India: a single point of entry for European industries and public organizations wishing to establish a presence in India;
▪ Setting up a Water Technology Platform in India;
▪ Reaching out to the different communities and ensuring the visibility of the impact of the EU- INDIA STI cooperation.
Policy Dialogue: since the beginning of the project, INDIGO POLICY has supported the advancement of the EU-INDIA STI policy dialogue between the two regions through:
The GSO process and the endorsement of the Platform for Funders (PfF)
Since the SFIC-IPI was a very successful forum for the integration and coordination of EU-India activities of the Member States and the EC, INDIGO POLICY organized a meeting between the European Commission and the India desk officers of EU MS/AC research ministries in Brussels in May 2015. Fourteen representatives from 13 EU MS/AC took part in the meeting. The EC was represented by Ms. Maria Cristina Russo, Director for International Cooperation DG-RTD, Mr. Konstantinos Glinos, Head of Unit for Asia and Mr. Florent Bernard, India Country Officer. More recently (in July 2016), in response to a call for more efficiency, the GSO Working Group and GSO Thematic Working Groups were replaced by a simplified structure with a larger role for the INNO INDIGO Platform for Funders (PfF). The objective was for the PfF to act as a link between the policy level represented in the GSO and the funding agencies, which in some countries are not obliged to implement the decisions.
The main results of the GSO process and the endorsement of the Platform for Funders (PfF)
▪ Updating Strategic Research and Innovation Agendas (SRIAs);
▪ Identifying possible new areas of cooperation between India and the European Union;
▪ Connecting policy makers and funding agencies in relation to the EU-India STI collaboration.
Supporting India’s participation in European funding schemes beyond the framework of Horizon 2020: the Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs)
The collaboration between India and the European in the field of STI is not limited to EU framework programmes. As of September 2015, INDIGO POLICY has given high priority to the interests of India in the JPIs. Some JPIs are open to international cooperation and India was considered a key scientific player for strategic areas, such as “Antimicrobial Resistance” and “Water”. Within this framework, INDIGO POLICY implemented a structured consultation on the strategic initiatives that are important to India. In both cases, India has shown interest in close cooperation with the representatives of Member States within the framework of the JPIs. Under this framework, INDIGO POLICY has helped both counterparts by providing a structured dialogue between various Indian and European institutions.
As of July 2017, and as a result of structured follow up provided by INDIGO POLICY, India is a new member of JPIAMR which is a very positive outcome from the Task 2.5 of the INDIGO POLICY project, as it was considered necessary to broaden the participation of India in strategic European initiatives. As a result of months of follow up, India will be able to participate in transnational research calls and collaborate jointly, aligning collaboration and coordination of research programmes that can benefit both Europe and India. India, as a leading scientific power, will certainly contribute towards expanding the basis of the joint programming activities and assume a more global approach.
Main results of this particular task:
▪ Possibility of STI policy reflections and formulations of recommendations on the enhancement of the STI cooperation in addressing societal challenges;
▪ Addressing specific problems that India and EU face and that are of mutual interest and benefit;
▪ Increasing the understanding of the Indian stakeholders on strategic EU initiatives;
▪ Broadening the understanding of Antimicrobial Resistance on a global perspective by adding international partners such as India.
Reinforcing the linkage between India and the EU in the field of Biotechnology (the Linking Programme)
INDIGO POLICY enabled the implementation of the Linking Programme between India and the European Union. Three multilateral projects in the field of Biotechnology have been selected for funding by INDIGO POLICY from a total of 18 projects. The selected research teams from both India and the European Union worked together on different thematic areas such as: development of drugs to fight tuberculosis; photoacoustic imaging of vascular abnormalities for near-future application in oncology; and organelle dynamics in apicomplexan parasites to identify novel drug targets.
About eleven research teams, with members from both European and Indian renowned scientific institutions jointly tackled and developed solutions in the field of Biotechnology applied to Health field. The three areas of scientific expertise mentioned above encompass a wide range of procedures for modifying living organisms with the aim of finding applications in areas such as research and development of pharmaceutical drugs.
The Linking Programme allowed Indian institutions such as the Indian International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) working together with the Europeans, to develop a long-term international partnership between EU and Indian research and innovation communities. One example of the results of the Linking Programme was that India and the EU helped to strengthen the critical understanding of the diseases studied and reinforced the institutional linkage between both regions. Several scientific workshops were organized during the project’s lifetime and mobility in both directions was also promoted. The Linking Programme proved to be a successful tool, permitting the opening of bilateral cooperation to new partners, the formalisation of pre-existing multilateral networks and thereby the enhancement of EU-India relations in the field of Biotechnology.
Main results of this particular task:
▪ Reinforcement of scientific networks in the field of Biotechnology between India and the European Union by involving eleven research teams from India and the European Union;
▪ Consolidated networks for tackling diseases, using a global and multilevel approach. The three consortiums continued working together after the completion of the funding scheme provided by INDIGO POLICY. Currentely, the three consortiums are implementing other research programmes between India and the European Union in their respective field of expertise;
▪ Proven advancement of knowledge in their respective fields of expertise and strengthening of potential innovation capital, as several scientific publications were produced.
Providing constant monitoring analysis and analytical evidence for sustainable STI policy dialogue
Considerable work was accomplished under the Monitoring and Analysis framework, covering topics of great relevance for the policy dialogue between India and the European Union. Starting with the most recent policy analysis (2017), INDIGO POLICY looked at tangible and intangible outcomes of the collaboration within the umbrella of Indo-European STI collaboration. INDIGO POLICY conducted an analysis entitled “In depth analysis of the outcomes of collaboration within the framework of FP7 and bilateral programmes”. The results show very positives outcomes in terms of advancement of knowledge, both at bilateral and European level in the fields of Water, Energy, Health, Social Sciences and Humanities, as well as the enhancement of EU-India international research collaboration. Conversely, the economic outcomes and the level of policy uptake can be considered to be very limited. The key findings of the qualitative outcomes’ assessment study suggest that the Indo-European collaboration within FP7 framework was a very relevant experience for both regions in terms of exchange of knowledge. Our analysis also identified a number of challenges that need to be addressed by policymakers, such as featuring local engagement in future collaborations and avoiding multiple funding sources, as this tends to considerably delay the implementation of the projects. Among other suggestions, the policy recommendations urge the European Commission to better assess the STI collaboration projects and impacts which it finances.
Another report worth mentioning for its relevance for future EU-India STI collaboration is the technology transfer report. The aim of that policy paper was to gauge the perceptions of the diverse stakeholders of the current challenges and opportunities involved in the process of TT between India and the European Union. The results of this study show that these challenges are mainly related to a lack of law enforcement as well as lack of technically trained staff. As regards the opportunities, the semi-structured interviews carried out under the study emphasise the huge potential of the Indian consumer market as well as the reinforcement of scientific, industrial and commercial ties between both regions. The study concludes that TT between India and the EU is already occurring through different channels and it could be further enhanced by an adequate policy framework between both regions.
It is reasonable to envisage that this analysis provides to the Indian and European stakeholders a substantive overview of the challenges and opportunities involved. As a matter of fact, INDIGO POLICY was a constant source of policy analysis on request of Indian and European stakeholders. It was suggested by the European Commission that the topic of TT should be investigated further within the project framework.
Along with the analysis of outcomes of collaboration and framework conditions on both a quantitative and qualitative level, INDIGO POLICY also conducted a flow analysis as a method of monitoring India’s participation in FP7 and H2020. INDIGO POLICY published in 2016 and 2017 an interactive visualisation of funding flows within the EC framework programmes FP7 and H2020, providing a general review of the Member States’ partnering with India by thematic area of cooperation. As evidenced by the participation figures, India and the EU have become important research and innovation partners. India participated in 181 FP7 projects and the European Commission’s contribution to Indian participants under FP7 was approximately €35.8 million. India’s participation in the 7th Framework Programme increased significantly compared to previous frameworks. The number of Indian participants rose to 142 in FP6 (2002-2006), and more than doubled in FP7 (2007-2013), with 305 participants.
However, under the current policy framework, Indian participation in the collaborative projects of Horizon 2020 — the successor to FP7 — has dropped significantly thus far. While individual Indian participants remain eligible for funding in components of Horizon 2020 such as the European Research Council (ERC) and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), Indian participants are no longer eligible for automatic funding in the classic collaborative projects. The interactive funding flow visualisation data have been used several times in official meetings both by representatives of the European Commission and of Indian authorities, as well as by the coordinator of the project, e.g. for scientific conferences in the field of STI. Overall, with these figures there are no doubts as to the strong areas of collaboration. The highest degree of cooperation is in the Health and Knowledge-Based Bio-Economy areas. Other active cooperation areas are Environment, Security and Social Sciences and Humanities.
In 2016, INDIGO POLICY also published a comprehensive report that outlined a variety of possible paths forward for Indian ministries and their respective counterparts in the European Commission, with the aim of considering how to restore the Indian Framework Programme participation. The report first focused on India’s significant participation in FP7 and its minimal participation in Horizon 2020. It then analysed a number of case studies of participation in the EU Framework Programme practiced in industrialized countries which never benefitted from automatic funding, as well as emerging economies i.e. India’s peer countries that have also been removed from the list of automatic funding under the new Horizon 2020 programme.
INDIGO POLICY also prepared assessments on STI policy processes in India-EU cooperation. A series of policy briefs were drafted on the development of EU-India STI cooperation supporting systems, especially in the prioritized India-EU thematic cooperation fields of Energy, Health and Water.
Main results of supporting STI policy making between India and the EU:
▪ Launching of a number of case studies aimed at better exploring the different options in terms of international collaboration between India and the EU; this material constitute a collection of suggestions in which the European Commission can find analytical evidence on different subjects and therefore implement STI policies on an informed basis;
▪ Providing advice on ways to implement joint future actions;
▪ Promoting a common understanding of the challenges and the opportunities for STI collaboration between India and the EU. New policies in the field of STI can be better defined taking into account the challenges identified. The European Commission and others main stakeholders are now aware about some specific challenges within the Indo-European STI collaboration (tangibles and intangibles outcomes of the collaboration, ect.).
▪ Identifying measures and support mechanisms that could be further developed in order to further enhance the collaboration between India and the European Union;
▪ Designing programmes and projects for greater impact in the field of STI. The European Commission is now aware of the impacts of FP7 projects with India;
▪ Identifying innovation alternatives suitable for decision-making;
▪ Possibility of STI policy reflections and formulation of recommendations on the enhancement of STI cooperation addressing societal challenges.
Reinforcing different communities and bringing India and Europe together in the field of STI
With the objective of reinforcing cooperation in research and innovation between India and the European Union, the EU India STI Cooperation Days were organized alternately in Europe and India and focused on thematic priorities of joint interest. Over the years, they have become a significant forum for stakeholders to discuss ongoing and future cooperation in the fields of STI.
The first event was organized in New Delhi in 2009 under the former New INDIGO project and supported bi-regional cooperation in the fields of Food, Agriculture, Fisheries, and Health. The fifth STI days was the first one organised by INDIGO POLICY and INNO INDIGO together. It was held in Chennai in 2014 and focused on Energy. The sixth event was held in Rome in 2015 in the field of Water for Health. The seventh event was held in Goa in 2016 and brought together experts in the thematic areas of Bioeconomy, including Marine and Maritime research.
The EU-India STI Cooperation Days aimed at being a forum to bring together the various types of stakeholders involved in STI cooperation between India and the EU. As a result, different actors were participated, ranging from high-level policymakers at Department Secretary or ambassador level or even governmental scientific adviser level, through to funding agencies from multiple European countries and India, scientists from universities and research centres, PhD students, and research managers. INNO INDIGO and INDIGO POLICY, following the model created by New INDIGO, conceived the EU-India STI Cooperation Days as a mix of plenary and parallel sessions with plenty of opportunities for networking. This kind of forum proved to be of the great externalities of INDIGO POLICY. The content analysis of the survey answered by the participants showed there is general agreement that the networking effects and the inspiration received from others members of the different networks served to enhance researchers’ own activities, and they are one of the most important and positive effects of participating in the STI Days (more than 600 participants attended EU-India STI Cooperation Days over the years).
Fostering new partnerships and showcasing success between India and the European Union
INDIGO POLICY also played a unique role in showcasing successful examples of research and innovation projects between India and the European Union. During the STI Days, thirty projects were presented during the sessions and researchers had the chance to present the main results of their projects and the impact of the Indo-European STI collaboration.
Supporting STI policy making between India and the European Union
The EU-India STI Cooperation Days were also the proper forum for keeping the research and innovation communities informed of the latest policy developments and for seeking informed scientific contributions to further develop STI high-level dialogue. In this regard, the most important input from the conference participants was their help in identifying topics and research lines of common priority. A series of thematic priorities could be identified through roundtables and Open Space sessions (a highly participatory process, where participants create a self-organizing agenda and work on it together). Some of these were then used by policymakers and funding agencies to develop joint activities and joint calls for proposals for bilateral cooperation, such as the IPP INNO INDIGO Partnership Programme or the EU-Government of India dialogue. Discussions on specific aspects of STI cooperation between Europe and India were also organised, for instance on factors for successful EU-India STI collaboration or research gaps and barriers to fruitful cooperation.
Training the next generation of scientists of the Indo-European collaboration in the field of Science, Technology and Innovation
The EU-India STI Cooperation Days targeted not only established researchers, but also young scientists. During the first events, poster competitions were organised. The INDIGO Young Scientist Competition (YSC) was launched in 2014 and continued until 2016. The aim was to give young researchers from India and Europe a suitable podium for promoting their research projects and ideas for cooperation between India and Europe. Through such competitions, young scientists gained enormous exposure (2000 likes in Facebook and Twitter) not only to their peers on social media platforms, but also to the scientific community as a whole.
The competition was set up to find scientifically excellent and innovative projects, demonstrating a sophisticated approach to solving a global or societal challenge and with the potential to act as a basis for research cooperation between the EU and India. Competition entries were in the form of a video. Finalists were selected after being assessed by an expert panel, and social media voting, where INDIGO Facebook fans voted over 2000 times each year. The final decision on the winner was taken by the audience of the EU-India STI Days after presentations of projects and project ideas by the finalists. The winner was awarded an all-expenses-paid trip to a scientific conference of his or her choice in Europe or in India.
The YSC developed from being a competition open only to young academics working on projects funded through the INNO INDIGO Partnership Programme (IPP), to a competition open to young academics working in selected thematic fields, whether or not they were working on an IPP-funded project. The quality of the entries (more than 60 young scientists from Europe and India submitted their ideas over the project lifetime) presented in the finals also increased over years, as more emphasis was placed on the scientific excellence of projects.
The three winners of the INDIGO YSC have a lot in common: their work demonstrates scientific excellence, has potential for market application, and can help to tackle societal challenges.
Winning prizes for one’s research is not new. But linking the online community with the scientific community and the broader audience of policymakers, administrators and businesses is a rather innovative approach. Through competitions such as the YSC, competition entrants gain experience in all kinds of areas, including:
▪ Making their ideas visible and attractive by transforming complex research results into an easy-to-understand video;
▪ Through this visibility, gaining exposure and establishing valuable contacts even outside their own scientific community;
▪ Through the competition, showing their own convincing ideas and thus attracting businesses with a view to commercialisation and/or meeting representatives of funding agencies.
▪ All in all, such events boost the winner 's career, as they had the possibility to get connected with scientists in their field of expertise. Through such a competition, young scientists gained enormous exposure not only from their peers on social media platforms, but also from the scientific community.
Providing information and support to STI Indian and Europeans communities
Funding opportunities supporting STI cooperation between India and Europe are numerous and highly diverse in their targets, formats, scales and procedures. The EU-India STI Days gave participants the opportunity not only to learn about the various aspects of the funding opportunities from the programme managers, but to directly interact with them during Q&A sessions or an Open House session with small group interactions. The conference also gave great visibility to several projects and initiatives supporting the cooperation in its different aspects: researcher mobility, grant application, partner search etc. The EU-India STI Cooperation Days were often organised together with other such projects and initiatives. Since the beginning of the project, valorization workshops became part of the event: these went even further in supporting European and Indian scientists and SMEs (small and Medium Enterprises who wanted to advance their project’s results along the innovation chain and towards commercialisation. The involvement of experts and the interactive format ensured that the workshops were a resounding success.
Main results of reinforcing different communities and bringing India and Europe together in the field of STI:
▪ A global networking sessions in which several different Indian and EU funding agencies and government and embassy representatives shared information with attendees on various initiatives and funding mechanisms supporting bilateral research cooperation. Over the years, the EU member states represented in the STI days included France, Italy, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Turkey, Norway, Denmark, Portugal, Austria, etc.;
▪ Showcasing significant outcomes of EU-India Research and Innovation projects as well as potential collaboration opportunities;
▪ Getting to know significant outcomes and collaboration potential of EU-India Research and Innovation projects;
▪ Contributing to definition of future research topics of mutual interest between India and the EU;
▪ Getting to know scientific references in the field of Water, Energy and Health (in the context of areas of STI dialogue between India and the EU).
Optimizing channels for information about Horizon 2020 through the Indian Focal Points
INDIGO POLICY also played an important role in optimizing the channels for information about Horizon 2020 (H2020) in India. This constitutes a substantial result of the project. Considering the new rules and opportunities under the current Framework Programme for research and innovation, as well as the level of research capacity around the country, there was a need for informing Indian researchers about new opportunities under H2020, and to support them in finding partners if they are willing to participate in EU (or EU-Indian) projects. Indeed, the development of Focal Points in India offered practical assistance to stakeholders wishing to take part in European-funded projects. The main idea was to build on already existing expertise in India gained by people who have already participated in FP7 projects, to expand the Focal Points in India and give them the tools to support other stakeholders in H2020.
INDIGO POLICY’s Focal Points were mid-level scientists and researchers in public and private institutions in India. The rationale behind this profile was that more senior individuals might have the relevant experience but not the necessary time to devote to a voluntary activity. INDIGO POLICY organised 11 trainings with more than 75 Indian scientists willing to participate in the calls of Horizon 2020 since 2011.These trainings have allowed Indian researchers to learn more about European collaboration opportunities directly from European experts and to take this knowledge back to their home institutions to spread awareness. Training topics have covered a wide number of opportunities for collaboration and gave the participants a very valuable package of information on the following issues:
▪ Identifying and spreading information about HORIZON 2020 calls for proposals;
▪ Existing partner search tools and techniques;
▪ European tools such as the CORDIS Participant Portal, EPSS (Electronic Proposal Submission Service), etc;
▪ Describing the process from work programme development to call publication, proposal submission, through to negotiation and project implementation;
▪ General advice on legal, administrative and budgetary issues;
▪ Directing participants to the most relevant external support available.
INDIGO POLICY attempted to cover not only important topics on the preparation and submission of EU projects within the framework of H2020 — it also went to the most important cities in India, such as New Delhi, Chandigarh and Goa, as hosts for the trainings sessions. Moreover, the Focal Points Network was very well linked with the EU-India STI platform, as a way of accessing key players both in Europe and India. Overall, the Focal Point Network training has certainly proven to be a useful and important knowledge-sharing platform.
Implementing the EU & INDIA STI Platform in India: a single point of entry for European industries and public organizations wishing to establish a presence in India
INDIGO POLICY implemented the EU-STI Platform in India. Throughout the years, and particularly between 2013 and 2017, the Platform has managed to hold ten formal and informal meetings and annual events, where strategic subjects were discussed. In fact, the annual events of the INDIGO policy platform were attended by more than 100 participants from both India and Europe. As a consortium of European organizations wishing to establish a presence in India, the STI Platform played a crucial role in sharing of information, knowledge and experience and increasing the collective and individual visibility of its members. The sessions served as forums for sharing research and innovation achievements, advocating policy and examining case studies from the EU and India to inspire future collaborative research on different areas such as Smart Cities, Mobility and Infrastructures, and project implementation. The workshops proved to be extremely successful, as they provided a suitable platform for constructive discussions focusing on collaborative plans between Indian and European stakeholders.
Setting up a Water Technology Platform in India
INDIGO POLICY also contributed to strengthening the dialogue between India and the EU in the field of Water. Between 2013 and 2017, INDIGO POLICY organised four workshops and targeted sessions at which several experts gathered together to share best practices on Water field issues. Different challenges, policy measures and technology developments were discussed from the EU and the Indian perspective. A major result of this work was INDIGO POLICY’s contribution to:
▪ Sharing best practices on Water and industry between different stakeholders, both Europeans and Indians;
▪ Clear and meaningful insights for industry, researchers and policy makers on water and industry (in this case the paper industry and the sugar industry) and how to reach a sustainable water situation in relation to the Kali River and the Hindon River;
▪ Introducing the EU water platforms such as WssTP (Water Supply and Sanitation Technology Platform) and the European Innovation Partnerships on Water and the India-EU Water Partnership (IEWP) to the Indian counterpart;
▪ Raising awareness of the research & innovation part of the IEWP (as the emphasis at EIWP so far had been on policy measures).
Reaching out to the different communities and ensuring the visibility of the impact of the EU- INDIA STI cooperation through the following set of activities
INDIGO POLICY ensured smooth implementation of the main web-portal (with a set of useful tools and the main website (https://indigoprojects.eu/) and utilization of an internal platform for communication among and coordination between the project partners.
Below are the main results of the https://indigoprojects.eu/ website:
▪ The website was the only online platform specifically dedicated to EU-India STI cooperation that not only provided background information, but also offered up-to-date information on news, calls and events, etc;
▪ User feedback has proven that the website and newsletter were perceived as a reliable and sought-after source for a small target audience looking for very specific information. It thus contributed to strengthening EU-India STI cooperation; the website has experienced a continuous increased in traffic and in 2016 showed some 30,000 visits per year;
▪ Considerable gains in reach were made through Facebook (VIP URL www.facebook.com/INDIGOProjects) and Twitter (VIP URL www.twitter.com/Indigo EU and @ Indigo_EU);
▪ INDIGO projects have about 3400 Facebook fans and more than 420 Twitter followers as well as about 750 Tweets. The rapidly-increasing follower base was made possible by successful social media campaigns tied to INNO INDIGO Calls announcements and the annual EU-India STI Cooperation Days as well as the Young Scientist Competition video series in 2014, 2015 and 2016, promoting young talents in the field of STI;
▪ The portal provided up-to-date information, which is hard to find elsewhere. The calls section pages were the most popular sub-pages of the web portal;
▪ India and EU country reports on the national STI landscape were updated yearly, which provided up-to-date information about scientific policies, funding mechanisms, and technology and innovation status, in both India and in the EU.;
▪ News and articles were diverse and covered many aspects of STI developments both in India and the EU;
▪ Scientific articles were also published at Tecnhmonitor, Asian Pacific Centre for Technology Transfer of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, September 2016.
▪ The following data were provided: funding, cooperation platforms, EU-India STI cooperation, news and events.
Below are the main results of the joint website of the project:
▪ The website provided a compact and up-to-date overview of project activities. Public deliverables (ten policy briefs) were published there, allowing all interested parties to gain an insight into the achievements and progress of the project;
▪ It contained valuable information about all activities conducted during the project lifetime and included all necessary documents such as Policy Papers, Analysis, Deliverables, calls announcement, etc.;
▪ The INDIGO POLICY and INNO INDIGO joint project website was a very valuable tool for disseminating project activities and results as well as assisting in increasing cooperation between both regions.
Potential Impact:
INDIGO POLICY has contributed to the creation of stronger links among EU and INDIA STI policy stakeholders, and overall, to the aims of reinforcing the Strategic Partnership between India and the EU in the field of STI.
Over the years, INDIGO POLICY worked closely with different stakeholders both in Europe and in India, gathering substantial expertise and knowledge resulting in a beneficial impact on EU-INDIA STI cooperation, including:
1. INDIGO POLICY has positioned itself as the primary source of constant monitoring and analytical evidence feeding the STI policy debate between the EU and India;
2. The establishment of a pool of Indian and European experts keen to support and share their views on strategic topics of mutual interest within the STI dialogue such as Energy, Water and Health;
3. Bringing together a large community of researchers, business leaders, policy makers, and PhD students contributing to the ongoing EU-STI collaboration and developing new axes of collaboration for the future.
INDIGO POLICY accomplished five main strategic impacts listed below:
1) Strong working partners equally positioned in the project: within the project framework, Indians and Europeans worked on an equal basis and shared their views on how to design and implement diverse activities. An experienced consortium implemented well-defined activities and substantially contributed to the advancement of EU-India STI cooperation. Indeed, one should mention that Indians and Europeans worked very well together and developed a genuine interest in sustaining the cooperation beyond the lifetime of the project.
2) INDIGO POLICY engaged the main STI policy stakeholders, both in Europe and in India: in terms of the Indian stakeholders, INDIGO POLICY worked in close collaboration with representatives from the Indian Ministry of Science and Technology (DST and DBT), who were on INDIGO POLICY’s Advisory Board. Moreover, the coordinator of INDIGO POLICY kept very close contact and suggested to key interlocutors of the ministry that they become involved in specific activities of strategic importance for India, in relation to the European Union. A good example of this is the support for India’s participation in European funding schemes beyond the framework of H2020, in particular the JPIs. This concrete task of WP2 requested from the part of the coordinator of the project a close follow-up of the negotiations between the European and Indian sides. Whenever negotiations became stuck or simply did not seem to advance any further, it was the role of the coordinator to find subjects of common interest to both parties and to advance to a formal agreement.
Moreover, INDIGO POLICY also reached out to the industrial sector as part of the project’s strategic objective. This was facilitated by the European Business and Technology Centre (EBTC), which was also on the Advisory Board. The EBTC’s contribution was very valuable as they brought a business and innovation perspective to the project. They were especially strong in providing useful insights on different topics, such as: Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property, as well as having extensive knowledge in areas such as Biotechnology, Energy and Health. Their participation in the consortium was very valuable, as was their shared knowledge of the Indian industrial sector which stimulated cross-border collaboration between both India and the EU.
Additionally, the Indian Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), known for its cutting edge R&D knowledge base in diverse S&T areas is part of the INDIGO POLICY consortium, and it played an essential role in the project, as it was a constant source of proposals and it was also able to mobilize research teams that substantially supported the implementation of project activities, mainly related to the thematic areas of Health, Water and Energy.
INDIGO POLICY received also support of several European funding agencies throughout the project lifetime; notably: Austria, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the UK. Moreover, INDIGO POLICY was supported by EURAXESS Links Indian information and networking tool for European researchers working outside Europe and non-European researchers wishing to collaborate on and/or pursue a research career in Europe.
3) INDIGO POLICY relies on established experience and good embeddedness: throughout the project’s lifetime, the consortium was able to count on experienced partners and used tried-and-tested, proven formats such as the EU-India STI Cooperation Days. The Italian partners, the Agency for the Promotion of European Research (APRE), were the main organizers of the three main editions of the STI Cooperation Days. The format, the contents, the scope and the participants proved to be an excellent basis for broadening collaboration between India and the European Union. Over the years, the STI Cooperation Days have become a crucial forum for multi-level stakeholders to discuss ongoing and future cooperation in the fields of STI.
4) INDIGO POLICY strived for an innovative focus: several project partners were involved in activities linked to industry. One of the great examples of this approach were the so called Valorisation Workshops in different fields such as frugal innovation, valorisation and market uptake, valorisation practices and their implementation, and the potential for frugal innovation joint initiatives. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency, a project partner, selected established scientists from India and the EU. The sessions (six sessions were implemented) focused on sharing knowledge on valorisation & transfer of knowledge. Over the years, several policy researchers from top level European and Indian universities, as well as business leaders and consultants shared their views and experiences on many different subjects (e.g. the role of the private financial sector in India in research and innovation; market and valorisation strategy, etc.).
5) INDIGO POLICY applied a flexible approach to a moving policy environment: overall, INDIGO POLICY acted as a “policy dialogue bridge” between the two sub-continents through its cumulative activities: workshops, trainings sessions, evidence-based support; networking events, follow-up negotiations and linking different stakeholders, striving for policy impact in the short and the long term. Several partners, and notably the German Aerospace Centre (DLR); the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and Indogenius were deeply involved on key above mentioned targeted initiatives.
INDIGO POLICY planned its activities to reach the following expected impacts:
INDIGO POLICY supported the policy dialogue mechanism mainly by providing a secretariat function to the Working Group. During the project lifetime, meetings and the review of the implementation of the Joint Strategic Agenda on Research and Innovation (SRIA) were implemented. In this regard, the review of the implementation of the SRIA highlighted some gaps that still exist and further activities that would likely be required to implement in order to enhance the Indo-European STI collaboration in the years to come. Moreover, the endorsement of the PfF proved to be useful for the STI dialogue between India and the European Union as there is now a clear link between the policy and more technical/operational level.
Within the policy dialogue framework, INDIGO POLICY also provided valuable impact by providing analytical input in order to facilitate evidence-based policy making. Under WP3, several analyses were published and, although the impact of these analytical works is certainly difficult to assess straight away, they ultimately informed different stakeholders on the level of cooperation, outcomes of the collaboration, and areas of potential strategic interest in the near future. In this connection, twelve papers were drafted covering a wide range of subjects of importance both for India and the EU. It is worth mentioning that most of the reports/papers produced were requested by the European Commission and therefore it is expected that the requested analysis will constitute valuable material for the policy dialogue between India and the EU in the immediate and long term perspective.
The European Framework H2020 led to an altered funding situation. INDIGO POLICY provided substantial information on how other Third Countries in a similar situation (removal of automatic funding) have reacted: INDIGO POLICY developed a few good practice examples on how to get the most for the Indian STI community in this situation. It is worth mentioning that that the information provided received positive comments from the main stakeholders and caught-up interest from specialized media journalists.
INDIGO POLICY also tackled the issue of an increase of cooperation in research and innovation, especially by providing a structured outreach to potential future stakeholders. In this regard, the JPI consultations and negotiations are an excellent example of the work supported by INDIGO POLICY, as India is now an approved and full member of the JPI AMR.
INDIGO POLICY also played a substantial role in increasing the level of cooperation through the whole research to innovation chain, by engaging in research and industry partnerships. The EU-India STI Cooperation Days showed unequivocally that they were the tool very well suited to bring various stakeholders together to initiate and enhance partnerships.
Moreover, the Platform for European STI organisations in India also greatly contributed to achieving this impact as well as the Pilot Action on reinforcing the linkage between India and the EU in the field of Biotechnology (the Linking Programme). In this particular task, the three selected projects connecting India and the EU have managed to continue the collaboration after the completion of the INDIGO POLICY project. It is worth mentioning that these three projects were equally supported by the Indian Ministry of Science and Technology (DBT). They submitted several proposals, including some in the framework of H2020. The format of collaboration within the framework of INDIGO POLICY proved to have a very positive impact for all three consortiums from India and the EU, as they are now continuing the collaboration in larger frameworks (H2020; ITN/Marie Curie; CEFIPRA Collaborative Research Program).
As part of the strategic objective of increasing the level of cooperation through the whole research to innovation chain, concrete links were established between research communities in the fields of Water, Energy and Health and the business and private sector through valorisation workshops. Several good practices were identified and a wide range of evidence-based material in the field of innovation and research was collected that will probably prove to be very beneficial for future STI collaboration between India and the EU.
As business and innovation cooperation and partnership were strategically targeted impacts of INDIGO POLICY, the Pilot action B, i.e. establishment of a Water Technology Platform in India, gathered several business and innovation experts in the field of Water, both from India and the EU. In terms of impact, it is worth mentioning that a list of technical and non-technical recommendations was compiled by a large group of experts.
Finally, INDIGO POLICY also investigated the innovation issues for EU-India Cooperation in a fact sheet. This fact sheet is a collection of data on initiatives related to innovation in support of EU-India cooperation, providing information on the EU-STI landscape (relevant policy initiatives, programmes and financial instruments). The fact sheet outlines the India-STI landscape with particular emphasis on policies, framework and programmes. Undoubtedly, these evidence-based materials will probably prove to be very beneficial for future STI collaboration between India and the EU.
Dissemination activities: number of visits to INDIGO Website: from the beginning of the project, INDIGO POLICY developed a Communication and Dissemination Strategy to make the results of the project widely visible and available to all relevant stakeholders and to enhance their exploitation and implementation. The strategy defined the target groups and specified communication channels. To provide for efficient dissemination, the INDIGO POLICY project used various tools, including a website targeting a wide range of stakeholders.
In addition to the website, electronic newsletters and other information materials (project brochures, etc) about the project and its deliverables ensured a broad dissemination of information on the project’s activities and results.
The distribution list included the most important stakeholders in the field of STI both in India and the EU (funding agencies, ministries, embassies, official EU delegations, etc). “INDIGO News”, whereby partners disseminated a total of five volumes with more than 1800 subscribers through internal and external channels such as mailing lists, the social networks of INNO INDIGO & INDIGO POLICY partner organisations and selected channels from Indian and European sources.
The website includes several news features and databases in areas such as events, funding opportunities, documents, organisations and infrastructure such as Indo-European collaboration support initiatives. The website has experienced a continuous increase in traffic and in 2016 showed some 30,000 visits per year.
In addition to this main communication platform, a social media presence was established on a wide range of channels such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, reaching out with different elocutions of communication for diverse target audiences, taking into account the cultural nuances of stakeholders (such as young innovators and researchers) and regions.
Considerable gains in outreach were made through Facebook (VIP URL www.facebook.com/INDIGOProjects) and Twitter (VIP URL www.twitter.com/Indigo EU and @ Indigo_EU). This was done as a joint effort of INNO INDIGO & INDIGO POLICY. Both INDIGO projects have about 3400 Facebook fans and more than 420 Twitter followers as well as about 750 Tweets. The rapidly-increasing followers base was made possible by successful social media campaigns tied to INNO INDIGO Calls announcements and the annual EU-India STI Cooperation Days as well as the Young Scientist Competition video series in 2014, 2015 and 2016, promoting young talents in the field of STI.
The suite of INDIGO family projects visibility materials included a wide range of media: pull-up banners, project brochures (one for INNO INDIGO and one for INDIGO Projects), project business cards, a newsletter template; presentation templates, and report templates. Task-related dissemination material was also compiled, including an information sheet on the INNO INDIGO Partnership Programme and a postcard on the “Database on bilateral programmes between EU Member States and India” which can be downloaded from the website.
Outreach activities were an important part of the project’s Work Package 5. Throughout the project, project partners gave presentations on various project-related topics at conferences including the Open Evaluation - Research, technology and innovation policy evaluation conference, held in Vienna, Austria in 2016, which was visited by 250 scholars from all over the world.
Through a set of various INDIGO POLICY project dissemination activities, the project supported EU-India policy dialogue, increased the level of STI cooperation between these regions, promoted the development of joint research projects under H2020 and consolidated the research communities in India, which are interested to work with researchers from the EU, through capacity-building actions.
The INDIGO POLICY project identified and addressed the following target groups by means of different communication and dissemination activities:
- Policy-making: European and Indian policy stakeholders as well as international policy committees and bodies (relevant EC Directorates, European Parliament), national ministries and research and innovation councils in India and EU MS/AC;
- Policy-delivery: funding bodies, intermediary organisations and programme managing authorities, in both Europe and India;
- Research organisations: Researchers and research managers from the academic sector both in the EU (incl. JRC) and in India with a focus on the three selected societal challenges;
- Funding agencies in both India and the EU;
- Research-based companies: Researchers and research managers from the industrial sector in both India and in the EU, with a focus on the three selected societal challenges;
- Indian and European project participants under the 7th Framework programme and bilateral programmes;
- NCPs: NCP systems both in Europe and key relevant stakeholders in India (focal points)
- General Public: media and the public at large
- Project related boards: project Advisory Board
List of Websites:
Website: https://indigoprojects.eu/
Scientific coordinator:
Teresa de Oliveira — Centre for Social Innovation, Vienna, Austria
https://www.zsi.at/
Address of project public website and relevant contact details
Unit Research Policy & Development / Bereich Forschung & Entwicklung
ZSI - Centre for Social Innovation
Linke Wienzeile 246
A1150 Vienna, Austria
Tel.: +43-1-4950442-0
Fax: +43-1-495044240
Email: deoliveira@zsi.at
INDIGO POLICY´s major objective was to further enhance EU-INDIA STI by supporting STI dialogue structures, both in India and the European Union.
Over the years, INDIGO POLICY has positioned itself as the primary source of constant monitoring and analytical evidence, feeding the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) policy dialogue between India and the European Union.
INDIGO POLICY also gathered together an important pool of Indian and European experts keen to support and share their views on strategic topics of mutual interest within the STI dialogue such as Energy, Water and Health, areas considered high priority within the India-EU-STI dialogue.
Ultimately, INDIGO POLICY assembled a large community of researchers, business leaders, policy makers, and young scientists contributing to the ongoing EU-STI collaboration between India and the EU and developing a new axis of collaboration for the future.
This final report summarises the contribution of INDIGO POLICY on several fronts.
INDIGO POLICY has contributed to supporting of the policy dialogue by producing several policy analyses on the current status of EU-INDIA cooperation at EU and Member State level, as part of WP3. These analyses covered a wide range of policy areas in the field of STI: co-publications, co-patents, technology transfer; frugal innovation, migration and mobility, as well as the outcomes of the Indo-European collaboration in the framework of FP7, etc. Moreover, the bibliometric studies of INDIGO POLICY have also shown that the annual number of India-Europe co-publications has increased steeply over the last decade. In fact, this figure has quadrupled during this time and Europe became the most important co-publication partner for India, even ahead of the US.
All the reports and policy papers are available for the Indian and European STI policy makers and constitute an excellent analytical collection for understanding the current status of STI collaboration between India and the European Union.
In terms of outreach and multi-stakeholder engagement, INDIGO POLICY also played a pivotal role in implementing and coordinating three EU-INDIA STI Cooperation Days, under the general objective of WP5.
With the objective of reinforcing cooperation in research and innovation between Europe and India, the EU India STI Cooperation Days were organized alternately in Europe and India and focused on thematic priorities of common interest. Over the years, they have become a crucial forum for stakeholders to discuss ongoing and future cooperation in the field of STI. More than 600 participants attended the events over the years and key areas of future collaboration were also explored.
As part of WP 2, INDIGO POLICY was also essential for implementing and reinforcing the EU-STI platform in India with the aim of it becoming a single point of entry for European industries and public organisations wanting to establish a presence in India. Optimising channels for information about Horizon 2020 through the Indian Focal Points was a major responsibility of INDIGO POLICY from 2013 to 2017. In fact, several networking events were held, aimed at triggering new collaborations and facilitating knowledge transfer by pooling resources and expertise between India and the EU (WP5, WP2, WP4).
Supporting India’s participation in European funding schemes beyond the framework of Horizon 2020 by ensuring structured consultation between European and Indian representatives was also one the objectives of INDIGO POLICY under the specific objectives of WP2. As result of structured follow up between India and the European stakeholders, Indian representatives showed interest in two specific EU JPI initiatives. In July 2017, the Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance (JPIAMR) welcomed India as a new member of the groups of European and third countries which have joined forces across nations to fight Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) through effective collaborative actions in areas of unmet needs.
Finally, INDIGO POLICY also helped to set up a Water Technology Platform in India, as part of the strategic objective of WP4. In this connection, expert meetings and industry-focused workshops were held in India, as this constitutes a strategic area of collaboration for India-EU-STI dialogue.
Moreover, INDIGO POLICY played a role on allowing the full implementation of three selected projects in the field of Biotechnology between India and the European Union. The Linking Programme proved to be a successful tool, permitting the opening of bilateral cooperation to new partners, the formalisation of pre-existing multilateral networks and thereby the enhancement of EU-India relations in the field of biotechnology.
Overall, INDIGO POLICY has played a pivotal role in linking different communities, both in India and in the European Union, thus contributing to the enhancement of STI cooperation between both regions.
Project Context and Objectives:
INDIGO POLICY context:
INDIGO POLICY has been selected to answer the major concern of the European Commission on supporting the advancement of policy cooperation between India and the European Union in the field of Science, Tecnolology and Innovation.
The case of EU-India STI collaboration surely is one of the most interesting in the field. Scale and potential are two key reasons. First, Europe is undoubtedly a world leader in research and innovation, boasting 24% of the world’s expenditure on research, 32% of high-impact publications, and 32% of patent applications despite having only 7% of the world’s population . India’s research and innovation system warrants respect in its own right, ranking ninth in the world according to the SCImago Journal & Country Rank, behind only the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Italy (in terms of Europe) . And, with the world’s fastest-growing economy , it is expected that India’s contributions to the global research and innovation ecosystem grow at a similarly fast pace.
India-EU relations date back to the early 1960s . Since then, the partnership has grown extensively and resulted in a strategic partnership which covers numerous areas. One of the most important areas of cooperation is Science, Technology and Innovation . Several bibliometric studies have shown that the annual number of India-Europe co-publications has increased steeply over the last decade. In fact, this figure has quadrupled in this time. Europe is the most important co-publication partner for India, even ahead of the US .
Over time, the international research collaboration between India and the EU has been taking place through different channels, such as exchange of researchers, establishment of formal intergovernmental agreements on scientific cooperation, meetings and workshops, access to international large-scale facilities, many collaborative projects, publications, and the establishment of joint laboratories. In the case of India and the EU, formal collaboration in Science and Technology began with the signature of the European Community–India Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement (STCA) on 23 November 2001, establishing the EU–India Joint Steering Committee on Science and Technology.
The STCA, which was renewed in 2007, indicated that efforts should aim to create a joint infrastructure for advanced research and funding systems for the promotion of Science and Technology (S&T) collaboration. In the STCA, leaders also welcomed efforts to strengthen partnership initiatives such as joint projects with co-investment of resources in selected fields of mutual priority. The scope of EU–India scientific cooperation was further broadened in 2009 with the signature of the bilateral agreement between EURATOM and India in the field of fusion energy research. At the December 2010 EU–India Summit, leaders recognised the importance of a more coordinated approach in research and innovation. The Summit welcomed the new dynamic of the India–EU and Member States Research and Innovation Partnership for more coordinated cooperation in tackling major societal challenges, aligning FP7 and India’s own national science and innovation programmes.
INDIGO POLICY objectives:
INDIGO POLICY, a Coordination and Support action (CSA), supported the policy dialogue in the field of Science, Technology and Innovation between India and the European Union. Since the beginning of the project in 2013, the funding framework in which the collaboration took place has changed. Under FP7, India—like China, Russia, Brazil and Mexico—was one of 139 International Cooperation Partner Countries (ICPC) that received automatic funding for successful EU collaborative projects. However, participation rules for these five countries (BRIC+Mexico) have changed under Horizon 2020. While all countries are free to take part in Horizon 2020, India was no longer eligible to receive EU funding. As per INDIGO POLICY analysis, not surprisingly, most if not all of the countries included in this policy change have experienced negative consequences in terms of their overall participation in Horizon 2020. India had the largest percentage drop among BRIC+Mexico countries in the following categories:
▪ Number of projects with at least 1 Indian participant: from 42 to 6 in Horizon 2020;
▪ Total cost of projects with at least 1 Indian participant: from €175 million to €19 million;
▪ Number of Indian participants in all projects: from 58 to 7 .
India has also seen the number of participants receiving EC funding drop from 11 to 6, and the EC contribution to those participants has fallen from €2.2 million to €1.1 million. Thus, the new approach towards international collaboration introduced by the European Commission in 2014, has significantly impacted India´s participation in Horizon 2020. The policy changes introduced some challenges for the STI collaboration between India and the European Union, but the INDIGO POLICY was well prepared to deal with them. Some modifications were introduced to properly address the main objectives of the project.
Therefore, INDIGO POLICY focused its efforts on four main objectives throughout the project:
1. To support the EU-India STI policy dialogue, in particular to provide support to the INNO INDIGO Platform for Funders;
2. To provide analysis and monitoring of the current state of STI cooperation, providing evidence-based analytic intelligence for supporting informed decision-making;
3. To set up joint activities (Pilot Actions, expert workshops, matchmaking events), to forward and to follow-up the strategic STI dialogue between the EU and India;
4. To ensure outreach and sustainability of the project through targeted dissemination activities, networking events such as the 2014, 2015 and 2016 STI Days in India and in Europe, as well as trainings, including the establishment and training of Horizon 2020 focal points in India.
Supporting the EU-India STI policy dialogue, in particular providing support to the INNO INDIGO Platform for Funders, became a major objective of INDIGO POLICY. Over the years, INDIGO POLICY operationally supported STI policy initiatives between India and the European Union. Since the SFIC India Pilot Initiative (SFIC-IPI) was a very successful forum for the integration and coordination of EU-India activities of Member States and the European Commission, meetings were held between the European Commission and the India desk officers of EU MS/AC research ministries. More recently, and due to a change of policy framework, INDIGO POLICY has supported a more practical approach, namely the endorsement of the Platform for Funders, in the form of the organisation of meetings and provision of analytical input to discuss thematic priorities for future joint calls for proposals between India and the European Union, respectively the EU Member States.
In addition to providing support to the EU-India STI policy dialogue, INDIGO POLICY supported the European science organisations and European industries in India, with the aim of aligning their efforts and of creating synergies. As part of INDIGO POLICY’s core mission, the “European Science, Technology and Innovation Platform in India” was formed by a group of interested European organisations established in India and played a substantial role in enabling the sharing of information, knowledge and experiences between its members. Several meetings and conferences were organised. Research and innovation achievements were shared, policy was advocated and case studies from India and the EU were examined to inspire future collaborative research on e.g. smart cities and project implementation, among other topics. The workshops proved to be extremely successful, providing a suitable platform for constructive discussions towards collaborative visions and programmatic plans between India and the European Union in the field of STI.
The second objective was to support the EU-INDIA policy dialogue by providing an evidence base for decision-making. Since April 2013, INDIGO POLICY has delivered several analyses on India’s participation in FP7 and H2020, as well as analyses assessing the impacts of Indo-European collaboration. Several policy papers, policy briefs and interactive data visualisations were produced to inform policy-makers on the current status of STI cooperation between India and the European Union. These analyses covered a wide range of policy areas in the field of STI: co-publications, co-patents between India and the EU, technology transfer; frugal innovation, migration and mobility, as well as the outcomes of the Indo-European collaboration in the framework of FP7, etc. All the reports and policy papers are available for the Indian and European STI policy makers and constitute an excellent analytical collection for understanding the current status of STI collaboration between India and the European Union. Moreover, the main results of the analytical work produced between 2015 and 2017 bring to light that adequate policy and framework conditions are considered to be key issues for the enhancement of EU-India STI collaboration in the years to come.
As one of the key activities decided with the European Commission after the amendment of INDIGO POLICY on July 2016, the focus was placed on the analysis of Technology Transfer (TT) between India and the European Union. This policy analysis contributed to the general understanding of the state-of-the-art in the field of TT in a bi-regional India-Europe setting. Additionally, in this report INDIGO POLICY also analysed the challenges to and opportunities for bi-regional technology transfer. All these publications are available online on the INDIGO POLICY website: https://indigoprojects.eu/news-events/indigo-publications
Thirdly, it is crucial to mention that INDIGO POLICY implemented concrete joint activities within the STI policy dialogue. The main objective of the “INDIGO POLICY Linking Programme” was to support the establishment of multilateral virtual laboratories, involving a minimum of two European and one Indian research teams aiming to establish sustainable cooperation in the field of Biotechnology.
Additionally, INDIGO POLICY contributed to the development of the India-EU Roadmap on Water issues. Tackling Water challenges in Europe and India has been the common goal of the Water activities since the very beginning of the project, which started in 2014, with a joint expert meeting in Delhi for developing the India-EU Water Roadmap and later a pilot action on “Water & Industry” within the context of the “India- EU Water Partnership” (IEWP). More recently, INDIGO POLICY helped to build a common ‘Water vision’ by putting forward policy and technical suggestions to all levels of public governance and industry sector on the subject of water.
As result of structured follow up between India and the European stakeholders, Indian representatives also showed interest in two specific EU JPI initiatives: the Joint Programming Initiative (JPI) entitled “Water challenges for a changing world” and the JPI on “Antimicrobial Resistance”. In July 2017, the Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance (JPIAMR) welcomed India as a new member of the groups of European and third countries which have joined forces across nations to fight Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) through effective collaborative actions in areas of unmet needs. The JPIAMR is a unique international collaborative platform that coordinates national funding and supports collaborative action for filling knowledge gaps on antimicrobial resistance with a one-health perspective.
Last but not least, the INDIGO POLICY project implemented a coherent set of dissemination and communication actions with the objective of ensuring the visibility of the project and of its impact on EU-India STI cooperation. In that connection, a website (https://indigoprojects.eu) was established with the aim to provide information to interested parties and to the general public on the project’s activities and news and developments in the EU-India STI cooperation.
In terms of outreach and multi-stakeholder engagement, INDIGO POLICY also played a pivotal role in implementing and coordinating three EU-INDIA STI Cooperation Days. More than 600 participants attended the events over the years and key areas of future collaboration were also explored. The STI Days were also an excellent forum for fostering new partnerships and showcasing the success of Indian and Europeans teams involved in a range of projects (FP7, H2020, bilateral programmes, etc.).
Project Results:
The main results of INDIGO POLICY cover the following areas:
▪ Endorsing the Platform for Funders, as part of support the advancement of the STI policy dialogue between India and the European Union;
▪ Supporting India’s participation in European funding schemes beyond the framework of Horizon 2020: the Joint Programming Initiatives;
▪ Reinforcing the linkage between India and the EU in the field of Biotechnology (the Linking Programme);
▪ Providing constant monitoring analysis and analytical evidence for sustainable STI policy dialogue;
▪ Reinforcing different communities and bringing India and Europe together in the field of STI;
▪ Fostering new partnerships and showcasing success of the Indo-European collaboration in the field of Science, Technology and Innovation;
▪ Supporting STI policy making between India and the European Union;
▪ Training the next generation of scientists of the Indo-European collaboration in the field of Science, Technology and Innovation
▪ Providing information and support to STI Indian and Europeans communities;
▪ Optimizing channels for information about Horizon 2020 through the Indian Focal Points;
▪ Implementing the EU and India STI platform in India: a single point of entry for European industries and public organizations wishing to establish a presence in India;
▪ Setting up a Water Technology Platform in India;
▪ Reaching out to the different communities and ensuring the visibility of the impact of the EU- INDIA STI cooperation.
Policy Dialogue: since the beginning of the project, INDIGO POLICY has supported the advancement of the EU-INDIA STI policy dialogue between the two regions through:
The GSO process and the endorsement of the Platform for Funders (PfF)
Since the SFIC-IPI was a very successful forum for the integration and coordination of EU-India activities of the Member States and the EC, INDIGO POLICY organized a meeting between the European Commission and the India desk officers of EU MS/AC research ministries in Brussels in May 2015. Fourteen representatives from 13 EU MS/AC took part in the meeting. The EC was represented by Ms. Maria Cristina Russo, Director for International Cooperation DG-RTD, Mr. Konstantinos Glinos, Head of Unit for Asia and Mr. Florent Bernard, India Country Officer. More recently (in July 2016), in response to a call for more efficiency, the GSO Working Group and GSO Thematic Working Groups were replaced by a simplified structure with a larger role for the INNO INDIGO Platform for Funders (PfF). The objective was for the PfF to act as a link between the policy level represented in the GSO and the funding agencies, which in some countries are not obliged to implement the decisions.
The main results of the GSO process and the endorsement of the Platform for Funders (PfF)
▪ Updating Strategic Research and Innovation Agendas (SRIAs);
▪ Identifying possible new areas of cooperation between India and the European Union;
▪ Connecting policy makers and funding agencies in relation to the EU-India STI collaboration.
Supporting India’s participation in European funding schemes beyond the framework of Horizon 2020: the Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs)
The collaboration between India and the European in the field of STI is not limited to EU framework programmes. As of September 2015, INDIGO POLICY has given high priority to the interests of India in the JPIs. Some JPIs are open to international cooperation and India was considered a key scientific player for strategic areas, such as “Antimicrobial Resistance” and “Water”. Within this framework, INDIGO POLICY implemented a structured consultation on the strategic initiatives that are important to India. In both cases, India has shown interest in close cooperation with the representatives of Member States within the framework of the JPIs. Under this framework, INDIGO POLICY has helped both counterparts by providing a structured dialogue between various Indian and European institutions.
As of July 2017, and as a result of structured follow up provided by INDIGO POLICY, India is a new member of JPIAMR which is a very positive outcome from the Task 2.5 of the INDIGO POLICY project, as it was considered necessary to broaden the participation of India in strategic European initiatives. As a result of months of follow up, India will be able to participate in transnational research calls and collaborate jointly, aligning collaboration and coordination of research programmes that can benefit both Europe and India. India, as a leading scientific power, will certainly contribute towards expanding the basis of the joint programming activities and assume a more global approach.
Main results of this particular task:
▪ Possibility of STI policy reflections and formulations of recommendations on the enhancement of the STI cooperation in addressing societal challenges;
▪ Addressing specific problems that India and EU face and that are of mutual interest and benefit;
▪ Increasing the understanding of the Indian stakeholders on strategic EU initiatives;
▪ Broadening the understanding of Antimicrobial Resistance on a global perspective by adding international partners such as India.
Reinforcing the linkage between India and the EU in the field of Biotechnology (the Linking Programme)
INDIGO POLICY enabled the implementation of the Linking Programme between India and the European Union. Three multilateral projects in the field of Biotechnology have been selected for funding by INDIGO POLICY from a total of 18 projects. The selected research teams from both India and the European Union worked together on different thematic areas such as: development of drugs to fight tuberculosis; photoacoustic imaging of vascular abnormalities for near-future application in oncology; and organelle dynamics in apicomplexan parasites to identify novel drug targets.
About eleven research teams, with members from both European and Indian renowned scientific institutions jointly tackled and developed solutions in the field of Biotechnology applied to Health field. The three areas of scientific expertise mentioned above encompass a wide range of procedures for modifying living organisms with the aim of finding applications in areas such as research and development of pharmaceutical drugs.
The Linking Programme allowed Indian institutions such as the Indian International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) working together with the Europeans, to develop a long-term international partnership between EU and Indian research and innovation communities. One example of the results of the Linking Programme was that India and the EU helped to strengthen the critical understanding of the diseases studied and reinforced the institutional linkage between both regions. Several scientific workshops were organized during the project’s lifetime and mobility in both directions was also promoted. The Linking Programme proved to be a successful tool, permitting the opening of bilateral cooperation to new partners, the formalisation of pre-existing multilateral networks and thereby the enhancement of EU-India relations in the field of Biotechnology.
Main results of this particular task:
▪ Reinforcement of scientific networks in the field of Biotechnology between India and the European Union by involving eleven research teams from India and the European Union;
▪ Consolidated networks for tackling diseases, using a global and multilevel approach. The three consortiums continued working together after the completion of the funding scheme provided by INDIGO POLICY. Currentely, the three consortiums are implementing other research programmes between India and the European Union in their respective field of expertise;
▪ Proven advancement of knowledge in their respective fields of expertise and strengthening of potential innovation capital, as several scientific publications were produced.
Providing constant monitoring analysis and analytical evidence for sustainable STI policy dialogue
Considerable work was accomplished under the Monitoring and Analysis framework, covering topics of great relevance for the policy dialogue between India and the European Union. Starting with the most recent policy analysis (2017), INDIGO POLICY looked at tangible and intangible outcomes of the collaboration within the umbrella of Indo-European STI collaboration. INDIGO POLICY conducted an analysis entitled “In depth analysis of the outcomes of collaboration within the framework of FP7 and bilateral programmes”. The results show very positives outcomes in terms of advancement of knowledge, both at bilateral and European level in the fields of Water, Energy, Health, Social Sciences and Humanities, as well as the enhancement of EU-India international research collaboration. Conversely, the economic outcomes and the level of policy uptake can be considered to be very limited. The key findings of the qualitative outcomes’ assessment study suggest that the Indo-European collaboration within FP7 framework was a very relevant experience for both regions in terms of exchange of knowledge. Our analysis also identified a number of challenges that need to be addressed by policymakers, such as featuring local engagement in future collaborations and avoiding multiple funding sources, as this tends to considerably delay the implementation of the projects. Among other suggestions, the policy recommendations urge the European Commission to better assess the STI collaboration projects and impacts which it finances.
Another report worth mentioning for its relevance for future EU-India STI collaboration is the technology transfer report. The aim of that policy paper was to gauge the perceptions of the diverse stakeholders of the current challenges and opportunities involved in the process of TT between India and the European Union. The results of this study show that these challenges are mainly related to a lack of law enforcement as well as lack of technically trained staff. As regards the opportunities, the semi-structured interviews carried out under the study emphasise the huge potential of the Indian consumer market as well as the reinforcement of scientific, industrial and commercial ties between both regions. The study concludes that TT between India and the EU is already occurring through different channels and it could be further enhanced by an adequate policy framework between both regions.
It is reasonable to envisage that this analysis provides to the Indian and European stakeholders a substantive overview of the challenges and opportunities involved. As a matter of fact, INDIGO POLICY was a constant source of policy analysis on request of Indian and European stakeholders. It was suggested by the European Commission that the topic of TT should be investigated further within the project framework.
Along with the analysis of outcomes of collaboration and framework conditions on both a quantitative and qualitative level, INDIGO POLICY also conducted a flow analysis as a method of monitoring India’s participation in FP7 and H2020. INDIGO POLICY published in 2016 and 2017 an interactive visualisation of funding flows within the EC framework programmes FP7 and H2020, providing a general review of the Member States’ partnering with India by thematic area of cooperation. As evidenced by the participation figures, India and the EU have become important research and innovation partners. India participated in 181 FP7 projects and the European Commission’s contribution to Indian participants under FP7 was approximately €35.8 million. India’s participation in the 7th Framework Programme increased significantly compared to previous frameworks. The number of Indian participants rose to 142 in FP6 (2002-2006), and more than doubled in FP7 (2007-2013), with 305 participants.
However, under the current policy framework, Indian participation in the collaborative projects of Horizon 2020 — the successor to FP7 — has dropped significantly thus far. While individual Indian participants remain eligible for funding in components of Horizon 2020 such as the European Research Council (ERC) and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), Indian participants are no longer eligible for automatic funding in the classic collaborative projects. The interactive funding flow visualisation data have been used several times in official meetings both by representatives of the European Commission and of Indian authorities, as well as by the coordinator of the project, e.g. for scientific conferences in the field of STI. Overall, with these figures there are no doubts as to the strong areas of collaboration. The highest degree of cooperation is in the Health and Knowledge-Based Bio-Economy areas. Other active cooperation areas are Environment, Security and Social Sciences and Humanities.
In 2016, INDIGO POLICY also published a comprehensive report that outlined a variety of possible paths forward for Indian ministries and their respective counterparts in the European Commission, with the aim of considering how to restore the Indian Framework Programme participation. The report first focused on India’s significant participation in FP7 and its minimal participation in Horizon 2020. It then analysed a number of case studies of participation in the EU Framework Programme practiced in industrialized countries which never benefitted from automatic funding, as well as emerging economies i.e. India’s peer countries that have also been removed from the list of automatic funding under the new Horizon 2020 programme.
INDIGO POLICY also prepared assessments on STI policy processes in India-EU cooperation. A series of policy briefs were drafted on the development of EU-India STI cooperation supporting systems, especially in the prioritized India-EU thematic cooperation fields of Energy, Health and Water.
Main results of supporting STI policy making between India and the EU:
▪ Launching of a number of case studies aimed at better exploring the different options in terms of international collaboration between India and the EU; this material constitute a collection of suggestions in which the European Commission can find analytical evidence on different subjects and therefore implement STI policies on an informed basis;
▪ Providing advice on ways to implement joint future actions;
▪ Promoting a common understanding of the challenges and the opportunities for STI collaboration between India and the EU. New policies in the field of STI can be better defined taking into account the challenges identified. The European Commission and others main stakeholders are now aware about some specific challenges within the Indo-European STI collaboration (tangibles and intangibles outcomes of the collaboration, ect.).
▪ Identifying measures and support mechanisms that could be further developed in order to further enhance the collaboration between India and the European Union;
▪ Designing programmes and projects for greater impact in the field of STI. The European Commission is now aware of the impacts of FP7 projects with India;
▪ Identifying innovation alternatives suitable for decision-making;
▪ Possibility of STI policy reflections and formulation of recommendations on the enhancement of STI cooperation addressing societal challenges.
Reinforcing different communities and bringing India and Europe together in the field of STI
With the objective of reinforcing cooperation in research and innovation between India and the European Union, the EU India STI Cooperation Days were organized alternately in Europe and India and focused on thematic priorities of joint interest. Over the years, they have become a significant forum for stakeholders to discuss ongoing and future cooperation in the fields of STI.
The first event was organized in New Delhi in 2009 under the former New INDIGO project and supported bi-regional cooperation in the fields of Food, Agriculture, Fisheries, and Health. The fifth STI days was the first one organised by INDIGO POLICY and INNO INDIGO together. It was held in Chennai in 2014 and focused on Energy. The sixth event was held in Rome in 2015 in the field of Water for Health. The seventh event was held in Goa in 2016 and brought together experts in the thematic areas of Bioeconomy, including Marine and Maritime research.
The EU-India STI Cooperation Days aimed at being a forum to bring together the various types of stakeholders involved in STI cooperation between India and the EU. As a result, different actors were participated, ranging from high-level policymakers at Department Secretary or ambassador level or even governmental scientific adviser level, through to funding agencies from multiple European countries and India, scientists from universities and research centres, PhD students, and research managers. INNO INDIGO and INDIGO POLICY, following the model created by New INDIGO, conceived the EU-India STI Cooperation Days as a mix of plenary and parallel sessions with plenty of opportunities for networking. This kind of forum proved to be of the great externalities of INDIGO POLICY. The content analysis of the survey answered by the participants showed there is general agreement that the networking effects and the inspiration received from others members of the different networks served to enhance researchers’ own activities, and they are one of the most important and positive effects of participating in the STI Days (more than 600 participants attended EU-India STI Cooperation Days over the years).
Fostering new partnerships and showcasing success between India and the European Union
INDIGO POLICY also played a unique role in showcasing successful examples of research and innovation projects between India and the European Union. During the STI Days, thirty projects were presented during the sessions and researchers had the chance to present the main results of their projects and the impact of the Indo-European STI collaboration.
Supporting STI policy making between India and the European Union
The EU-India STI Cooperation Days were also the proper forum for keeping the research and innovation communities informed of the latest policy developments and for seeking informed scientific contributions to further develop STI high-level dialogue. In this regard, the most important input from the conference participants was their help in identifying topics and research lines of common priority. A series of thematic priorities could be identified through roundtables and Open Space sessions (a highly participatory process, where participants create a self-organizing agenda and work on it together). Some of these were then used by policymakers and funding agencies to develop joint activities and joint calls for proposals for bilateral cooperation, such as the IPP INNO INDIGO Partnership Programme or the EU-Government of India dialogue. Discussions on specific aspects of STI cooperation between Europe and India were also organised, for instance on factors for successful EU-India STI collaboration or research gaps and barriers to fruitful cooperation.
Training the next generation of scientists of the Indo-European collaboration in the field of Science, Technology and Innovation
The EU-India STI Cooperation Days targeted not only established researchers, but also young scientists. During the first events, poster competitions were organised. The INDIGO Young Scientist Competition (YSC) was launched in 2014 and continued until 2016. The aim was to give young researchers from India and Europe a suitable podium for promoting their research projects and ideas for cooperation between India and Europe. Through such competitions, young scientists gained enormous exposure (2000 likes in Facebook and Twitter) not only to their peers on social media platforms, but also to the scientific community as a whole.
The competition was set up to find scientifically excellent and innovative projects, demonstrating a sophisticated approach to solving a global or societal challenge and with the potential to act as a basis for research cooperation between the EU and India. Competition entries were in the form of a video. Finalists were selected after being assessed by an expert panel, and social media voting, where INDIGO Facebook fans voted over 2000 times each year. The final decision on the winner was taken by the audience of the EU-India STI Days after presentations of projects and project ideas by the finalists. The winner was awarded an all-expenses-paid trip to a scientific conference of his or her choice in Europe or in India.
The YSC developed from being a competition open only to young academics working on projects funded through the INNO INDIGO Partnership Programme (IPP), to a competition open to young academics working in selected thematic fields, whether or not they were working on an IPP-funded project. The quality of the entries (more than 60 young scientists from Europe and India submitted their ideas over the project lifetime) presented in the finals also increased over years, as more emphasis was placed on the scientific excellence of projects.
The three winners of the INDIGO YSC have a lot in common: their work demonstrates scientific excellence, has potential for market application, and can help to tackle societal challenges.
Winning prizes for one’s research is not new. But linking the online community with the scientific community and the broader audience of policymakers, administrators and businesses is a rather innovative approach. Through competitions such as the YSC, competition entrants gain experience in all kinds of areas, including:
▪ Making their ideas visible and attractive by transforming complex research results into an easy-to-understand video;
▪ Through this visibility, gaining exposure and establishing valuable contacts even outside their own scientific community;
▪ Through the competition, showing their own convincing ideas and thus attracting businesses with a view to commercialisation and/or meeting representatives of funding agencies.
▪ All in all, such events boost the winner 's career, as they had the possibility to get connected with scientists in their field of expertise. Through such a competition, young scientists gained enormous exposure not only from their peers on social media platforms, but also from the scientific community.
Providing information and support to STI Indian and Europeans communities
Funding opportunities supporting STI cooperation between India and Europe are numerous and highly diverse in their targets, formats, scales and procedures. The EU-India STI Days gave participants the opportunity not only to learn about the various aspects of the funding opportunities from the programme managers, but to directly interact with them during Q&A sessions or an Open House session with small group interactions. The conference also gave great visibility to several projects and initiatives supporting the cooperation in its different aspects: researcher mobility, grant application, partner search etc. The EU-India STI Cooperation Days were often organised together with other such projects and initiatives. Since the beginning of the project, valorization workshops became part of the event: these went even further in supporting European and Indian scientists and SMEs (small and Medium Enterprises who wanted to advance their project’s results along the innovation chain and towards commercialisation. The involvement of experts and the interactive format ensured that the workshops were a resounding success.
Main results of reinforcing different communities and bringing India and Europe together in the field of STI:
▪ A global networking sessions in which several different Indian and EU funding agencies and government and embassy representatives shared information with attendees on various initiatives and funding mechanisms supporting bilateral research cooperation. Over the years, the EU member states represented in the STI days included France, Italy, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Turkey, Norway, Denmark, Portugal, Austria, etc.;
▪ Showcasing significant outcomes of EU-India Research and Innovation projects as well as potential collaboration opportunities;
▪ Getting to know significant outcomes and collaboration potential of EU-India Research and Innovation projects;
▪ Contributing to definition of future research topics of mutual interest between India and the EU;
▪ Getting to know scientific references in the field of Water, Energy and Health (in the context of areas of STI dialogue between India and the EU).
Optimizing channels for information about Horizon 2020 through the Indian Focal Points
INDIGO POLICY also played an important role in optimizing the channels for information about Horizon 2020 (H2020) in India. This constitutes a substantial result of the project. Considering the new rules and opportunities under the current Framework Programme for research and innovation, as well as the level of research capacity around the country, there was a need for informing Indian researchers about new opportunities under H2020, and to support them in finding partners if they are willing to participate in EU (or EU-Indian) projects. Indeed, the development of Focal Points in India offered practical assistance to stakeholders wishing to take part in European-funded projects. The main idea was to build on already existing expertise in India gained by people who have already participated in FP7 projects, to expand the Focal Points in India and give them the tools to support other stakeholders in H2020.
INDIGO POLICY’s Focal Points were mid-level scientists and researchers in public and private institutions in India. The rationale behind this profile was that more senior individuals might have the relevant experience but not the necessary time to devote to a voluntary activity. INDIGO POLICY organised 11 trainings with more than 75 Indian scientists willing to participate in the calls of Horizon 2020 since 2011.These trainings have allowed Indian researchers to learn more about European collaboration opportunities directly from European experts and to take this knowledge back to their home institutions to spread awareness. Training topics have covered a wide number of opportunities for collaboration and gave the participants a very valuable package of information on the following issues:
▪ Identifying and spreading information about HORIZON 2020 calls for proposals;
▪ Existing partner search tools and techniques;
▪ European tools such as the CORDIS Participant Portal, EPSS (Electronic Proposal Submission Service), etc;
▪ Describing the process from work programme development to call publication, proposal submission, through to negotiation and project implementation;
▪ General advice on legal, administrative and budgetary issues;
▪ Directing participants to the most relevant external support available.
INDIGO POLICY attempted to cover not only important topics on the preparation and submission of EU projects within the framework of H2020 — it also went to the most important cities in India, such as New Delhi, Chandigarh and Goa, as hosts for the trainings sessions. Moreover, the Focal Points Network was very well linked with the EU-India STI platform, as a way of accessing key players both in Europe and India. Overall, the Focal Point Network training has certainly proven to be a useful and important knowledge-sharing platform.
Implementing the EU & INDIA STI Platform in India: a single point of entry for European industries and public organizations wishing to establish a presence in India
INDIGO POLICY implemented the EU-STI Platform in India. Throughout the years, and particularly between 2013 and 2017, the Platform has managed to hold ten formal and informal meetings and annual events, where strategic subjects were discussed. In fact, the annual events of the INDIGO policy platform were attended by more than 100 participants from both India and Europe. As a consortium of European organizations wishing to establish a presence in India, the STI Platform played a crucial role in sharing of information, knowledge and experience and increasing the collective and individual visibility of its members. The sessions served as forums for sharing research and innovation achievements, advocating policy and examining case studies from the EU and India to inspire future collaborative research on different areas such as Smart Cities, Mobility and Infrastructures, and project implementation. The workshops proved to be extremely successful, as they provided a suitable platform for constructive discussions focusing on collaborative plans between Indian and European stakeholders.
Setting up a Water Technology Platform in India
INDIGO POLICY also contributed to strengthening the dialogue between India and the EU in the field of Water. Between 2013 and 2017, INDIGO POLICY organised four workshops and targeted sessions at which several experts gathered together to share best practices on Water field issues. Different challenges, policy measures and technology developments were discussed from the EU and the Indian perspective. A major result of this work was INDIGO POLICY’s contribution to:
▪ Sharing best practices on Water and industry between different stakeholders, both Europeans and Indians;
▪ Clear and meaningful insights for industry, researchers and policy makers on water and industry (in this case the paper industry and the sugar industry) and how to reach a sustainable water situation in relation to the Kali River and the Hindon River;
▪ Introducing the EU water platforms such as WssTP (Water Supply and Sanitation Technology Platform) and the European Innovation Partnerships on Water and the India-EU Water Partnership (IEWP) to the Indian counterpart;
▪ Raising awareness of the research & innovation part of the IEWP (as the emphasis at EIWP so far had been on policy measures).
Reaching out to the different communities and ensuring the visibility of the impact of the EU- INDIA STI cooperation through the following set of activities
INDIGO POLICY ensured smooth implementation of the main web-portal (with a set of useful tools and the main website (https://indigoprojects.eu/) and utilization of an internal platform for communication among and coordination between the project partners.
Below are the main results of the https://indigoprojects.eu/ website:
▪ The website was the only online platform specifically dedicated to EU-India STI cooperation that not only provided background information, but also offered up-to-date information on news, calls and events, etc;
▪ User feedback has proven that the website and newsletter were perceived as a reliable and sought-after source for a small target audience looking for very specific information. It thus contributed to strengthening EU-India STI cooperation; the website has experienced a continuous increased in traffic and in 2016 showed some 30,000 visits per year;
▪ Considerable gains in reach were made through Facebook (VIP URL www.facebook.com/INDIGOProjects) and Twitter (VIP URL www.twitter.com/Indigo EU and @ Indigo_EU);
▪ INDIGO projects have about 3400 Facebook fans and more than 420 Twitter followers as well as about 750 Tweets. The rapidly-increasing follower base was made possible by successful social media campaigns tied to INNO INDIGO Calls announcements and the annual EU-India STI Cooperation Days as well as the Young Scientist Competition video series in 2014, 2015 and 2016, promoting young talents in the field of STI;
▪ The portal provided up-to-date information, which is hard to find elsewhere. The calls section pages were the most popular sub-pages of the web portal;
▪ India and EU country reports on the national STI landscape were updated yearly, which provided up-to-date information about scientific policies, funding mechanisms, and technology and innovation status, in both India and in the EU.;
▪ News and articles were diverse and covered many aspects of STI developments both in India and the EU;
▪ Scientific articles were also published at Tecnhmonitor, Asian Pacific Centre for Technology Transfer of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, September 2016.
▪ The following data were provided: funding, cooperation platforms, EU-India STI cooperation, news and events.
Below are the main results of the joint website of the project:
▪ The website provided a compact and up-to-date overview of project activities. Public deliverables (ten policy briefs) were published there, allowing all interested parties to gain an insight into the achievements and progress of the project;
▪ It contained valuable information about all activities conducted during the project lifetime and included all necessary documents such as Policy Papers, Analysis, Deliverables, calls announcement, etc.;
▪ The INDIGO POLICY and INNO INDIGO joint project website was a very valuable tool for disseminating project activities and results as well as assisting in increasing cooperation between both regions.
Potential Impact:
INDIGO POLICY has contributed to the creation of stronger links among EU and INDIA STI policy stakeholders, and overall, to the aims of reinforcing the Strategic Partnership between India and the EU in the field of STI.
Over the years, INDIGO POLICY worked closely with different stakeholders both in Europe and in India, gathering substantial expertise and knowledge resulting in a beneficial impact on EU-INDIA STI cooperation, including:
1. INDIGO POLICY has positioned itself as the primary source of constant monitoring and analytical evidence feeding the STI policy debate between the EU and India;
2. The establishment of a pool of Indian and European experts keen to support and share their views on strategic topics of mutual interest within the STI dialogue such as Energy, Water and Health;
3. Bringing together a large community of researchers, business leaders, policy makers, and PhD students contributing to the ongoing EU-STI collaboration and developing new axes of collaboration for the future.
INDIGO POLICY accomplished five main strategic impacts listed below:
1) Strong working partners equally positioned in the project: within the project framework, Indians and Europeans worked on an equal basis and shared their views on how to design and implement diverse activities. An experienced consortium implemented well-defined activities and substantially contributed to the advancement of EU-India STI cooperation. Indeed, one should mention that Indians and Europeans worked very well together and developed a genuine interest in sustaining the cooperation beyond the lifetime of the project.
2) INDIGO POLICY engaged the main STI policy stakeholders, both in Europe and in India: in terms of the Indian stakeholders, INDIGO POLICY worked in close collaboration with representatives from the Indian Ministry of Science and Technology (DST and DBT), who were on INDIGO POLICY’s Advisory Board. Moreover, the coordinator of INDIGO POLICY kept very close contact and suggested to key interlocutors of the ministry that they become involved in specific activities of strategic importance for India, in relation to the European Union. A good example of this is the support for India’s participation in European funding schemes beyond the framework of H2020, in particular the JPIs. This concrete task of WP2 requested from the part of the coordinator of the project a close follow-up of the negotiations between the European and Indian sides. Whenever negotiations became stuck or simply did not seem to advance any further, it was the role of the coordinator to find subjects of common interest to both parties and to advance to a formal agreement.
Moreover, INDIGO POLICY also reached out to the industrial sector as part of the project’s strategic objective. This was facilitated by the European Business and Technology Centre (EBTC), which was also on the Advisory Board. The EBTC’s contribution was very valuable as they brought a business and innovation perspective to the project. They were especially strong in providing useful insights on different topics, such as: Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property, as well as having extensive knowledge in areas such as Biotechnology, Energy and Health. Their participation in the consortium was very valuable, as was their shared knowledge of the Indian industrial sector which stimulated cross-border collaboration between both India and the EU.
Additionally, the Indian Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), known for its cutting edge R&D knowledge base in diverse S&T areas is part of the INDIGO POLICY consortium, and it played an essential role in the project, as it was a constant source of proposals and it was also able to mobilize research teams that substantially supported the implementation of project activities, mainly related to the thematic areas of Health, Water and Energy.
INDIGO POLICY received also support of several European funding agencies throughout the project lifetime; notably: Austria, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the UK. Moreover, INDIGO POLICY was supported by EURAXESS Links Indian information and networking tool for European researchers working outside Europe and non-European researchers wishing to collaborate on and/or pursue a research career in Europe.
3) INDIGO POLICY relies on established experience and good embeddedness: throughout the project’s lifetime, the consortium was able to count on experienced partners and used tried-and-tested, proven formats such as the EU-India STI Cooperation Days. The Italian partners, the Agency for the Promotion of European Research (APRE), were the main organizers of the three main editions of the STI Cooperation Days. The format, the contents, the scope and the participants proved to be an excellent basis for broadening collaboration between India and the European Union. Over the years, the STI Cooperation Days have become a crucial forum for multi-level stakeholders to discuss ongoing and future cooperation in the fields of STI.
4) INDIGO POLICY strived for an innovative focus: several project partners were involved in activities linked to industry. One of the great examples of this approach were the so called Valorisation Workshops in different fields such as frugal innovation, valorisation and market uptake, valorisation practices and their implementation, and the potential for frugal innovation joint initiatives. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency, a project partner, selected established scientists from India and the EU. The sessions (six sessions were implemented) focused on sharing knowledge on valorisation & transfer of knowledge. Over the years, several policy researchers from top level European and Indian universities, as well as business leaders and consultants shared their views and experiences on many different subjects (e.g. the role of the private financial sector in India in research and innovation; market and valorisation strategy, etc.).
5) INDIGO POLICY applied a flexible approach to a moving policy environment: overall, INDIGO POLICY acted as a “policy dialogue bridge” between the two sub-continents through its cumulative activities: workshops, trainings sessions, evidence-based support; networking events, follow-up negotiations and linking different stakeholders, striving for policy impact in the short and the long term. Several partners, and notably the German Aerospace Centre (DLR); the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and Indogenius were deeply involved on key above mentioned targeted initiatives.
INDIGO POLICY planned its activities to reach the following expected impacts:
INDIGO POLICY supported the policy dialogue mechanism mainly by providing a secretariat function to the Working Group. During the project lifetime, meetings and the review of the implementation of the Joint Strategic Agenda on Research and Innovation (SRIA) were implemented. In this regard, the review of the implementation of the SRIA highlighted some gaps that still exist and further activities that would likely be required to implement in order to enhance the Indo-European STI collaboration in the years to come. Moreover, the endorsement of the PfF proved to be useful for the STI dialogue between India and the European Union as there is now a clear link between the policy and more technical/operational level.
Within the policy dialogue framework, INDIGO POLICY also provided valuable impact by providing analytical input in order to facilitate evidence-based policy making. Under WP3, several analyses were published and, although the impact of these analytical works is certainly difficult to assess straight away, they ultimately informed different stakeholders on the level of cooperation, outcomes of the collaboration, and areas of potential strategic interest in the near future. In this connection, twelve papers were drafted covering a wide range of subjects of importance both for India and the EU. It is worth mentioning that most of the reports/papers produced were requested by the European Commission and therefore it is expected that the requested analysis will constitute valuable material for the policy dialogue between India and the EU in the immediate and long term perspective.
The European Framework H2020 led to an altered funding situation. INDIGO POLICY provided substantial information on how other Third Countries in a similar situation (removal of automatic funding) have reacted: INDIGO POLICY developed a few good practice examples on how to get the most for the Indian STI community in this situation. It is worth mentioning that that the information provided received positive comments from the main stakeholders and caught-up interest from specialized media journalists.
INDIGO POLICY also tackled the issue of an increase of cooperation in research and innovation, especially by providing a structured outreach to potential future stakeholders. In this regard, the JPI consultations and negotiations are an excellent example of the work supported by INDIGO POLICY, as India is now an approved and full member of the JPI AMR.
INDIGO POLICY also played a substantial role in increasing the level of cooperation through the whole research to innovation chain, by engaging in research and industry partnerships. The EU-India STI Cooperation Days showed unequivocally that they were the tool very well suited to bring various stakeholders together to initiate and enhance partnerships.
Moreover, the Platform for European STI organisations in India also greatly contributed to achieving this impact as well as the Pilot Action on reinforcing the linkage between India and the EU in the field of Biotechnology (the Linking Programme). In this particular task, the three selected projects connecting India and the EU have managed to continue the collaboration after the completion of the INDIGO POLICY project. It is worth mentioning that these three projects were equally supported by the Indian Ministry of Science and Technology (DBT). They submitted several proposals, including some in the framework of H2020. The format of collaboration within the framework of INDIGO POLICY proved to have a very positive impact for all three consortiums from India and the EU, as they are now continuing the collaboration in larger frameworks (H2020; ITN/Marie Curie; CEFIPRA Collaborative Research Program).
As part of the strategic objective of increasing the level of cooperation through the whole research to innovation chain, concrete links were established between research communities in the fields of Water, Energy and Health and the business and private sector through valorisation workshops. Several good practices were identified and a wide range of evidence-based material in the field of innovation and research was collected that will probably prove to be very beneficial for future STI collaboration between India and the EU.
As business and innovation cooperation and partnership were strategically targeted impacts of INDIGO POLICY, the Pilot action B, i.e. establishment of a Water Technology Platform in India, gathered several business and innovation experts in the field of Water, both from India and the EU. In terms of impact, it is worth mentioning that a list of technical and non-technical recommendations was compiled by a large group of experts.
Finally, INDIGO POLICY also investigated the innovation issues for EU-India Cooperation in a fact sheet. This fact sheet is a collection of data on initiatives related to innovation in support of EU-India cooperation, providing information on the EU-STI landscape (relevant policy initiatives, programmes and financial instruments). The fact sheet outlines the India-STI landscape with particular emphasis on policies, framework and programmes. Undoubtedly, these evidence-based materials will probably prove to be very beneficial for future STI collaboration between India and the EU.
Dissemination activities: number of visits to INDIGO Website: from the beginning of the project, INDIGO POLICY developed a Communication and Dissemination Strategy to make the results of the project widely visible and available to all relevant stakeholders and to enhance their exploitation and implementation. The strategy defined the target groups and specified communication channels. To provide for efficient dissemination, the INDIGO POLICY project used various tools, including a website targeting a wide range of stakeholders.
In addition to the website, electronic newsletters and other information materials (project brochures, etc) about the project and its deliverables ensured a broad dissemination of information on the project’s activities and results.
The distribution list included the most important stakeholders in the field of STI both in India and the EU (funding agencies, ministries, embassies, official EU delegations, etc). “INDIGO News”, whereby partners disseminated a total of five volumes with more than 1800 subscribers through internal and external channels such as mailing lists, the social networks of INNO INDIGO & INDIGO POLICY partner organisations and selected channels from Indian and European sources.
The website includes several news features and databases in areas such as events, funding opportunities, documents, organisations and infrastructure such as Indo-European collaboration support initiatives. The website has experienced a continuous increase in traffic and in 2016 showed some 30,000 visits per year.
In addition to this main communication platform, a social media presence was established on a wide range of channels such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, reaching out with different elocutions of communication for diverse target audiences, taking into account the cultural nuances of stakeholders (such as young innovators and researchers) and regions.
Considerable gains in outreach were made through Facebook (VIP URL www.facebook.com/INDIGOProjects) and Twitter (VIP URL www.twitter.com/Indigo EU and @ Indigo_EU). This was done as a joint effort of INNO INDIGO & INDIGO POLICY. Both INDIGO projects have about 3400 Facebook fans and more than 420 Twitter followers as well as about 750 Tweets. The rapidly-increasing followers base was made possible by successful social media campaigns tied to INNO INDIGO Calls announcements and the annual EU-India STI Cooperation Days as well as the Young Scientist Competition video series in 2014, 2015 and 2016, promoting young talents in the field of STI.
The suite of INDIGO family projects visibility materials included a wide range of media: pull-up banners, project brochures (one for INNO INDIGO and one for INDIGO Projects), project business cards, a newsletter template; presentation templates, and report templates. Task-related dissemination material was also compiled, including an information sheet on the INNO INDIGO Partnership Programme and a postcard on the “Database on bilateral programmes between EU Member States and India” which can be downloaded from the website.
Outreach activities were an important part of the project’s Work Package 5. Throughout the project, project partners gave presentations on various project-related topics at conferences including the Open Evaluation - Research, technology and innovation policy evaluation conference, held in Vienna, Austria in 2016, which was visited by 250 scholars from all over the world.
Through a set of various INDIGO POLICY project dissemination activities, the project supported EU-India policy dialogue, increased the level of STI cooperation between these regions, promoted the development of joint research projects under H2020 and consolidated the research communities in India, which are interested to work with researchers from the EU, through capacity-building actions.
The INDIGO POLICY project identified and addressed the following target groups by means of different communication and dissemination activities:
- Policy-making: European and Indian policy stakeholders as well as international policy committees and bodies (relevant EC Directorates, European Parliament), national ministries and research and innovation councils in India and EU MS/AC;
- Policy-delivery: funding bodies, intermediary organisations and programme managing authorities, in both Europe and India;
- Research organisations: Researchers and research managers from the academic sector both in the EU (incl. JRC) and in India with a focus on the three selected societal challenges;
- Funding agencies in both India and the EU;
- Research-based companies: Researchers and research managers from the industrial sector in both India and in the EU, with a focus on the three selected societal challenges;
- Indian and European project participants under the 7th Framework programme and bilateral programmes;
- NCPs: NCP systems both in Europe and key relevant stakeholders in India (focal points)
- General Public: media and the public at large
- Project related boards: project Advisory Board
List of Websites:
Website: https://indigoprojects.eu/
Scientific coordinator:
Teresa de Oliveira — Centre for Social Innovation, Vienna, Austria
https://www.zsi.at/
Address of project public website and relevant contact details
Unit Research Policy & Development / Bereich Forschung & Entwicklung
ZSI - Centre for Social Innovation
Linke Wienzeile 246
A1150 Vienna, Austria
Tel.: +43-1-4950442-0
Fax: +43-1-495044240
Email: deoliveira@zsi.at