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European Commission The European Union is lucky to be packed with brilliant minds that are eager to tackle all the great forthcoming challenges. 16 ISSUE 2014
Greetings Dr. Johannes Hahn European Commissioner for Regional Policy Though, on the way to turning an ambitious idea into a tangible achievement, even the most brilliant minds might need to encounter the right person and to find the fitted support. Though at different levels, this is exactly what iconvienna – the European Business and Investment Forum – has been successfully doing for the last ten years, and this is also exactly what cohesion policy does: providing this support and making those encounters happen. Helping brilliant ideas come true. Without any doubt, some of the greatest challenges we have to face together today relate to cities: it is all about finding out ways to make them smarter and greener, all about coming up with solutions to improve the quality of life they offer. Cities account for 85 % of Europe‘s GDP. They are home to more than two thirds of European citizens. They are more and more attractive to people and businesses. This attractiveness is not only an incredible strength for Europe, but also a unique opportunity to develop innovative and visionary projects. Without a true involvement of cities, the objectives set by the Europe 2020 Strategy to achieve a smart, sustainable and inclusive growth will never be reached. We need buildings that use energy more efficiently for citizens to live and work in. We need smarter development schemes to host the increasing urban population, and smarter transportation maps to let them go wherever they want. I know that all the brilliant ideas to address these major challenges are out there. They just need a helping hand. Bearing that in mind, the main reason why I decided to put forward a structural reform of cohesion policy is precisely so that it can support smarter projects in a smarter way. The new investment priorities set for the European Regional Development Fund will allow cohesion policy assistance to be even more focussed and more strategic. In the most developed regions, over 80 % of the ERDF will be dedicated to four objectives that are critical to urban development: research and innovation, information and communication technologies, competitiveness of SMEs and low carbon economy. Besides, between 2014 and 2020, 330 million Euros will fund innovative actions in the field of sustainable urban development. A network will review the on-the-ground deployment of European funds as well as support the sharing of experience between cities involved. Last but not least, I am truly convinced that there is an even greater cause why both cohesion policy and iconvienna must keep on helping people turn their plans into achievements: the brain drain challenge. If young and bright minds do not trust Europe to be the best place for them to carry out their ambitious projects, they will just carry them out elsewhere. They already do. Today, one researcher in Science and Technology from Austria out of eight is living in the US. Depending on the framework, the strength of the upcoming challenges to come might act as a deterrent or as an incentive to more creativeness and boldness – precisely what Europe and cities in Europe need. Reforming regional policy was a way of better shaping this framework; in the next ten years to come, let us carry on improving it together. iconannual - The European Business and Investment Magazine 19 17
Page 1 and 2: Issue 2014 Official Magazine 10th a
Page 3 and 4: Editorial KR DI Dr. Gerhard Hrebice
Page 5 and 6: Table of content Forewords 7 Greeti
Page 7 and 8: Foreword KR Dr. René Alfons Haiden
Page 9 and 10: City of Vienna Foreword Dr. Michael
Page 11 and 12: Vienna Economic Chamber Foreword KR
Page 13 and 14: Wien Holding Foreword KR Peter Hank
Page 15: Austrian Federal Economic Chamber F
Page 19 and 20: iconvienna Vision iconvienna - the
Page 21 and 22: Slovakia Greetings H. E. Mr. Juraj
Page 23 and 24: Romania Greetings H. E. Mrs. Silvia
Page 25 and 26: Bulgaria Greetings H. E. Mrs. Elena
Page 27 and 28: Russian Federation Greetings H. E.
Page 29 and 30: Dominican Republic Greetings H. E.
Page 31 and 32: Mexico Greetings H. E. Mr. Luis Alf
Page 33 and 34: United States of America Greetings
Page 35 and 36: Statements from previous years 2013
Page 37 and 38: Innovation and Technology China unt
Page 39 and 40: Innovation and Technology Niki Laud
Page 41 and 42: Diehl Metering Innovation and Techn
Page 43 and 44: London ÖBB Energy and Infrastructu
Page 45 and 46: Energy and Infrastructure Verkehrsa
Page 47 and 48: Elk Energy and Infrastructure Erich
Page 49 and 50: Smart Cities and Regions 2020 Wisse
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Page 57 and 58: Smart Cities and Regions 2020 How t
Page 59 and 60: International Finance and Projects
Page 65 and 66: Branding & Europe What is Europe bu
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Branding & Europe Vienna’s highli
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auMax bauMax feiert das Fertigwerde
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April 21 - 23, 2010 Austrian Federa
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2005 - 2014 iconvienna Gallery Impr
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eurobrand is the exclusive valuatio
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