Open Innovation 2.0 Yearbook 2013 - European Commission - Europa

10 O P E N I N N O V A T I O N 2 0 1 3
Figure 1: Innovation Union commitments
In Figure 1, one can see the 34 Innovation Union
commitments, which are all part of creating the new
set of innovation instruments and ecosystems in
Europe. Some of the instruments are more closely
related to research funding, and some, for example,
to the new regional policies. When analysing the
objectives more in detail, we see how they are interdependent
and some are clearly critical infrastructures
for an innovation society with strong horizontal
links across disciplines and the stakeholders.
Some instruments fuel innovation take-up and its
wider deployment (e.g. No 17, Pre-commercial procurement).
Some tackle special segments, for example
the SME instruments (Nos 7, 11) as well as in socalled
smart specialisation (No 24), where the regional
strengths are the base for innovation activities.
It is also essential to inject new means for the innovation
process and create interlinkages between
the available instruments.
For the European Commission’s Directorate-
General for Communications Networks, Content
and Technology, the Digital Agenda for Europe
(DAE) is very important. It integrates policies, regulation
and research by bringing forward the knowledge
society for all. Actions range from infrastructure
regulation to privacy and, of course, it sets
research priorities as well. DAE actions can be seen
as the critical enablers for innovation, jobs and
growth in an inclusive society.
In the DAE, the following seven pillars are described,
giving a good overview of the approach fostering
innovation [2].
• Pillar 1: A vibrant digital single market
• Pillar 2: Interoperability and standards
• Pillar 3: Trust and security
• Pillar 4: Fast and ultra-fast Internet access
• Pillar 5: Research and innovation
• Pillar 6: Enhancing digital literacy, skills and
inclusion
• Pillar 7: ICT-enabled benefits for EU society
To follow the progress of the various actions
under the pillars (101 altogether), a scoreboard
metrics has been developed. The scoreboard covers
not only the topical aspects, but also monitors
the various countries’ actual situation on
particular actions. This best practice sharing and
benchmarking is a good tool to learn from each
other. It also speeds up the general development
by identifying the bottlenecks in the process.
As can be seen from Figure 2 ( 1 ), the use of the
Internet has developed relatively well, as has
also the basic connectivity. The change from fixed
networks to mobile broadband networks might
( 1 ) More information is available online on the DAE
website, section Scoreboard (http://ec.europa.eu/
digital-agenda/).