Commissioner Carlos Moedas discussing Startup Europe at South Summit.
South Summit’s first day just came to an end, and what a day!
The Startup Europe booth has been very busy from very early in the morning: many people seemed to be attracted to the European Commission logo, and to what the EU has to offer to the startup ecosystem.
In the early afternoon, a very special guest came to our booth: Carlos Moedas, the European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation. He was kind enough to spare some of his very short time in Madrid to engage in a brief discussion on Startup Europe with us.
Some of the main points discussed were the need to share best practices and improve interaction amongst the EU Member States. Moedas argued how important it is to keep Startup Europe an umbrella initiative, where individuals are directly involved and can actually see what is happening and how. People need to be actively aware of what is taking place at European level, and need to establish a direct contact with the European initiatives to feel part of them. Without a doubt, getting startups in the political agenda is crucial.
We need to bear in mind that the end-user is our main objective.
Carlos Moedas, EC Commissioner, discussing Startup Europe with Matevz Gantar, Welcome project coordinator, at South Summit.
About South Summit:
South Summit is a leading startup conference in Europe aimed at showing to the world the talent, innovation and opportunity of the South.
Special announcement for the setting-up of a High Level Group of Innovators to provide expert advice to the European Commission.
The European Commission attaches great importance to generating high impact from public investments in support of innovation at EU level. In the words of Commissioner Moedas, “Europe does not yet have a world class scheme to support the very best innovations in the way the European Research Council is the global reference for supporting excellent science. So I would like us to take stock of the various schemes to support innovation and SMEs under Horizon 2020, to look at best practice internationally, and to design a new European Innovation Council.” In order to ensure the Commission can benefit from high level advice from active innovators in taking forward this ambitious political initiative, the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD) intends to establish a High Level Group of Innovators. This Group is expected to play a crucial role in providing a user perspective on EU innovation support and advise the Commission on potential reforms.
If you want to learn more about this initiative, you can visit the official European Innovation Council page.