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Expert article 873 Baltic Rim Economies, 21.12.2011 Quarterly Review 5�2011
Foresight for EU-Russia S&T and innovation cooperation
By Vicente Carabias, Karel Haegeman, Alexander Sokolov, Manfred Spiesberger, Klaus Schuch, and Irina
R. Kuklina
Science and Technology (S&T) and Innovation cooperation
between the EU, its Member States (MS), Countries
Associated (AC) to the EU’s 7th Framework Programme for
RTD (FP7), and Russia is developing dynamically at the
multilateral as well as bilateral levels. In this context and in
the frame of the EU-FP7 funded ERA.Net RUS project, a
foresight exercise is being implemented. Structural and
thematic scenarios for a sustainable S&T and Innovation
(STI) cooperation between the countries involved are
currently being developed with the time perspective 2020.
Foresight results shall provide a basis for a joint STI
funding programme and will be fed into the policy making
process on STI cooperation between EU MS/AC and
Russia.
EU-Russia S&T and innovation cooperation
Support for innovation has come high on the policy agenda
both in the European Union (e.g. Europe 2020 Flagship
Initiative Innovation Union), as well as within Russia (e.g.
Skolkovo Innovation Center near Moscow). While the EU
strives to further strengthen its innovative capacities,
Russia needs to catch up on innovation and acquire related
know-how. At the same time cooperation in STI has been
developing dynamically over the past years between
Russia, the EU, its Member States, and Associated
Countries to the FP7. Cooperation is ongoing on a broad
scale both multilaterally and bilaterally.
At the multilateral EU level, the EU’s Framework
Programme encompassing research as well as innovation
and the EURATOM Framework Programme (FPs) are the
main cooperation forums. Russia has consistently been
one of the most active non-EU and non-AC participants in
the FPs. Through joint calls for research and innovation
projects launched by the EU and Russia within the FPs
(“coordinated calls”) in various scientific fields (e.g.
aeronautics, biotechnology, energy, health,
nanotechnology, nuclear fission), cooperation has been
intensified. Russia has funded in these projects its
participating teams from own national resources.
The further development of the cooperation process is
fraught with uncertainty. While there are positive signals
indicating a dynamic development of cooperation, such as
new funding schemes within the ERA.Net RUS project, the
strengthening of bilateral cooperation and the trend of
Russia opening up to international STI cooperation, we
also observe some signs of stagnation. This concerns, for
example, the decision of the EU to not open negotiations
on the possible association of Russia to the FP7; instead a
new strategic partnership in S&T shall be built, which is still
vague. Moreover, uncertainties of politics within the EU and
Russia, as well as international politics always have the
potential for disrupting a further rapprochement.
Foresight exploring future EU-Russia relationships
In this context of developing EU-Russia STI relationships, a
foresight exercise running from 2010-2012 is being
implemented in the frame of the ERA.Net RUS project. The
foresight activities will provide an analytical basis for a
future sustainable cooperation policy in STI between EU
MS/AC and Russia. At the core of the foresight process is
the preparation of structural and thematic scenarios for STI
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cooperation with a time perspective up to 2020. The
development of this cooperation will be directed towards
addressing societal and economic challenges that both the
EU and Russia are most likely to face in the future.
In the first phase of the ERA.Net RUS project from
2009-2010, substantial analytical work was performed by
the project consortium, including reports on the Russian
S&T system and its funding, on experience of Russian
participation in ERA.Nets and on an analysis of bilateral
cooperation. The analytical work was supported through a
focus group meeting with scientists, which tested for
strengths and weaknesses of the Russian S&T funding
system. In addition a comprehensive survey was
conducted among the most relevant European and Russian
funding organisations to take stock of the substance of
bilateral STI funding instruments that are already in place.
The mentioned ERA.Net RUS analytical reports can be
accessed through www.eranet-rus.eu.
This preparatory work provided a solid basis and
valuable input for starting up the ERA.Net RUS foresight
exercise: In the framework of the structural scenario
development, a “Creativity Workshop” gave room to
discussing the critical variables and defining the underlying
dimensions allowing to differentiate scenarios. The
ERA.Net RUS foresight partners selected four scenarios for
EU-Russia STI cooperation in 2020 and elaborated them in
more detail: They outlined one optimistic (“R&D policy
paradise”), one pessimistic (“Lost in diverging priorities”)
and two intermediate (“Isolated R&D excellence”, “Empty
cooperation programming shell”) scenarios through
storytelling, collection of main arguments, assessment of
impact variables and drafting of roadmaps necessary to
make the scenarios happen. The resulting scenarios were
then validated and further developed through expert
workshops with policy makers, representatives of funding
organisations and researchers. Additional feedback will be
gathered from the participants of the initial creativity
workshop.
In an online survey European and Russian scientists
will be addressed to validate thematic priorities, which have
been identified as relevant for future EU-Russia STI
cooperation. In addition, this expert assessment will help to
single out more specific topics under the broader priorities.
By cross-checking the EU and Russian thematic S&T
priorities, one can confirm that priorities are evolving in the
same direction, especially with regard to S&T programmes
in the fields of energy, health, nanotechnology, transport. It
is worth mentioning that the comparison of priorities
revealed a strong focus on technological implementation
(incl. biotechnology). While the EU emphasizes thematic
fields supporting a sustainable development, i.e. food,
water and energy security, climate change, the Russian
Federation highlights apart from the similar topics
environment, life sciences and nature management also
information and telecommunication systems.
Furthermore, in a broad Delphi survey the resulting
structural and thematic scenarios will be assessed on
probability and desirability as well as on their relevance for
value creation, for policy development and for
advancement in STI.
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