LOCATION
The Egg, Brussels
Rue Bara 175, 1070 Bruxelles
WHEN
5th & 6th February 2024
TIMING
08:00 - 18:00
PRICE
FREE
Event programme
Welcome to the Belgian Presidency Event: From Research to Reality – digital solutions for European challenges.
An event dedicated to explore the dynamic interplay between cutting-edge research in digital technologies under Horizon Europe and the impactful digitalization initiatives within the Digital Europe Programme.
Discover how the complementarities and synergies between both programmes, and their position within the wider European landscape of R&I funding, are working out to support Europe’s digital ambitions. Have your say in what needs to be done to bring these elements closer together during the breakout sessions. Discover the full program below.
Timetable
DAY 1
Morning
8:00 – 09:00
Welcome coffee
09:00 – 10:30
Opening session
10:45 – 12:15
Roads from Research to Reality
12:15 – 13:30
Networking lunch
Afternoon
13:30 – 14:50
Building Technological Leadership
& Strategic autonomy
15:00 – 16:15
Funding Strategies
Coffee break
16:45 – 18:10
Closing session
18:10 – 20:00
Networking reception
Opening session
09:00 - 10:30
Session 1
10:45 - 12:15
Session 2
13:30 - 14:50
Session 3
15:00 - 16:15
Closing session
16:45 - 18:10
09:00 - 10:30
Opening session
Get up-to-date on the day's agenda at our opening session! Join us for a warm welcome and a policy keynote on the need to bring research and implementation of digital technologies closer together.
Get to know the actions of the EU that stimulate digitalisation. And discover where you can get funding for research first-hand.
Luc Van den Hove
CEO of imec, pioneering leader in semiconductor R&D and professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Leuven.
Roberto Viola
Director-General of DG CONNECT, European Commission, with a distinguished career in telecommunications regulation and digital policy.
Ana Barjasic
CEO Connectology and EIC Board Member
Session 1: 10:45 - 12:15
Roads from Research to Reality
During these sessions we will focus on how digital technologies can have an impact in the fields of agriculture and health but also what stops research results to find there way to the economy and society in the context of cybersecurity. Lastly, in the session on ‘Unlocking Synergies’ the focus will lay on the concrete stumbling blocks that remain for materialising the connection between research and deployment, and how these can be tackled:
OPTION 1
Digitising the Agrifood sector
Focus on how to find synergies in European funding programmes to digitalise the agricultural sector.
OPTION 2
European Cybersecurity
Focuses on the critical challenge of bridging the gap between cybersecurity research and its practical implementation in the market.
OPTION 3
AI in
healthcare
How is Artificial Intelligence used today in the world of healthcare? What is important in the world of healthcare to know to make digitalisation work for all patients?
OPTION 4
Unlocking
Synergies
Stimulating and making use of synergies between European funding programmes, such as Digital Europe and Horizon Europe, but also between European and national or regional funding is essential to make use of the programmes’ full potential.
Session 2: 13:30 - 14:50
Building technological leadership & strategic autonomy
These breakout session delves into Europe's critical digital technologies, such as Virtual Worlds (AR/VR/XR), Artificial Intelligence and Semiconductors. Explore the challenges and opportunities in operationalizing specific technology strategies, objectives and action plans in Europe that have been recently provided by the European Commission. In the fourth breakout session, ‘the Digital Europe Programmes’ achievements & implementation’, we zoom in on the inner workings and future of the programme and what is the ideal setup to garnish strategic autonomy for Europe.
OPTION 1
Virtual Worlds
& Web4.0
What will it take for Europe to succeed in the metaverse where human-centricity, tech integration and cross-disciplinarity are of the essence?
OPTION 2
Semiconductors
The European Chips Act has set ambitious targets and a roadmap to meet them. How can Horizon Europe and the Digital Europe Programme best support these policy ambitions?
OPTION 3
Artificial
intelligence
AI in Europe gets a lot of attention, both in research but also in deployment actions. With the coming of the AI Act we can start to ask ourselves if this legal framework can act as a guiding start for our actions.
OPTION 4
The DEP implementation
We are halfway through the Digital Europe Program (DEP) implementation. This is the right time to assess the first results of the program, identify its good practices, provide feedback on experiences including obstacles and drivers.
Session 3: 15:00 - 16:15
Funding Strategies
In these breakout sessions there will be discussion held on the clarity and productivity of aligning overarching digital strategies with calls and actions in funding programs like Horizon Europe and the Digital Europe programme. This third block of breakout sessions is also an occasion to bring some of the most recent additions to the toolbox of instruments for funding into the spotlight. Like the European Digital Innovation Hubs, Testing and Experimentation Facilities and European Digital Infrastructure Consortia.
OPTION 1
Digital Innovation
& Testing Facilities
New instruments for digital deployment. How do they operate and how can they be optimally used and combined? Especially when it comes to taking up research results of the newest technologies.
OPTION 2
Human Centric
Twin Transition
To be successful, the Twin Transition requires concrete action and coordination across funding programmes. How is this done and what can we improve?
OPTION 3
Infrastructures
& EDICs
Complex digital technologies require infrastructures to be deployed at scale. EDICs are a new instrument to pool investments for this.
OPTION 4
Data Governance in Data Science and Innovation
Data is a cornerstone of digital innovation. Collecting and using data across programmes would help research and deployment alike.
16:45 - 18:10
Closing session
After a day dedicated to delving into mid-term strategies, this session is designed to elevate your digital perspective beyond 2030. We're excited to share a forward-looking final panel session that aims to extract the key findings from the day.
Head of R&T Lab at Thales
Patricia Besson
Manager of AI & Robotics Estonia (AIRE), Estonian European Digital Innovation Hub
Kirke Maar
Professor Université de Louvain – TRAIL institute
Benoît Macq
Director at DG CNECT, responsible for the Digital Europe Programme
Thibault Kleiner
Board Member of the European Youth Forum, expert on digitalisation policy
Ismael Paez Civico
Timetable
DAY 2
12:00 – 13:00
Travel to the chosen company
Depart from The EGG by bus for imec and Buildwise,
or by train for FARI.
13:00 – 16:00
Lunch and company visit
16:00 – 17:00
Return transport to Brussels
Central location
08:30 – 09:00
Welcome coffee
The EGG - Riverside
09:00 – 10:15
Brokerage event and workshops
The EGG - Riverside
Break
10:45 – 12:00
Brokerage event and workshops
The EGG - Riverside
09:00 - 10:15
Brokerage event & workshops
OPTION 1
Evaluation
in HE
Over a thousand experts from over 50 countries with diverse expertise across technologies and application areas were involved in the process of evaluating the digital part of Horizon Europe. The workshop will bring together these experts for an exchange of experience and recommendations on how proposals can be improved.
OPTION 2
Building
Synergies
While synergies is the new buzzword across EU programmes, Digital partnerships are building a strategies and communities, work programmes and modalities of implementation in their own areas, while activities bringing them together are ever more far and in between.
OPTION 3
HE & DEP Synergies in Practice
This workshop organized in collaboration by Horizon Europe and Digital Europe NCPs will demonstrate how synergies work in practice via 3 case studies: AI & data spaces, cybersecurity, High Performance Computing.
Organised by Ideal-ist
10:45 - 12:00
Brokerage event & workshops
OPTION 1
Evaluation
in DEP
Over a thousand experts from over 50 countries with diverse expertise across technologies and application areas were involved in the process of evaluating Digital Europe projects. The workshop will bring together these experts for an exchange of experience and recommendations on how proposals can be improved.
OPTION 2
Impact Pathways
on the Horizon
Horizon Europe has challenged European academic and industrial communities to change their mind set: put innovation & impact in focus by building impact pathways. This workshop will bring together a diverse set of experts - the European Commission, expert evaluators, and successful coordinators.
OPTION 3
Cascading
grants
Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP) – also known as Cascading Grants – can be found in topics from cloud, edge and IoT, artificial intelligence, smart networks and services, next generation internet to flagship initiatives. And it doesn't stop there. Complex terms, a multitude of initiatives, yet so many opportunities!
Organised by Ideal-ist
13:00 - 16:00
Lunch & company visit
Day 2 of Research to Reality offers the unique opportunity to visit key companies at the forefront of innovation, each contributing to the digital landscape in their own distinctive way.
Exclusively available to participants attending both days.
Location
Leuven
Specialization
Research centre for semiconductors and other digital systems
Location
Limelette
Specialization
Chosen as Walloon European Digital Innovation Hub focusing on digitising the construction sector
Location
Brussels
Specialization
Research institute and EDIH focusing on the use of AI for the public good in Brussels
