Draft Report of the Expert Group on International STI Cooperation to ...

ERA was discussed as part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> process <strong>of</strong> preparing <strong>the</strong> Communication on <strong>the</strong> ERA
Framework. Second, a dedicated workshop for <strong>the</strong> industry and innovation dimension <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
EG’s work was arranged on <strong>the</strong> 17 th April, with several industrial representatives present.
This workshop provided useful contributions to <strong>the</strong> group’s work.
Since <strong>the</strong> SMEs were not presented at <strong>the</strong> industry workshop, and <strong>the</strong> EG considered <strong>the</strong>
SME input important to <strong>the</strong> group’s work, semi-structured interviews were carried as a
complementary activity out with 10 SMEs from <strong>the</strong> ICT industry in Germany, and 14 SMEs
from different industries in Bulgaria. The findings are reflected in <strong>the</strong> report and summarized
in annex 5.
Understanding international STI cooperation
A strategy for international cooperation relates to <strong>the</strong> broader process <strong>of</strong> internationalization
<strong>of</strong> STI which <strong>the</strong> EG defines on two levels:
1) Generation <strong>of</strong> knowledge and innovation:
• All international cooperation and coordination, inward and outward investment,
inward and outward transfer <strong>of</strong> knowledge including inward and outward mobility,
international use and cost sharing <strong>of</strong> data and infrastructure;
• by public and private researchers, public organisations, civil society, and private
firms;
2) Policy, frameworks and funding to support 1) above which involves activities and
measures such as cooperation, coordination, integration <strong>of</strong> policy and funding bodies
(including foundations) in various forms (between and across levels), regulatory issues,
removing barriers to internationalization.
International cooperation as such can be understood as all cooperative relationships between
STI performers in non-equity relationships. Hence, international cooperation is primarily
driven by “bottom up” priorities <strong>of</strong> individual researchers, research organisations or R&I
performing enterprises: STI cooperation includes informal and formal agreements that
involve exchanges <strong>of</strong> knowledge on a systematic basis between R&D actors that are
organisationally separate. A strategy for international cooperation for <strong>the</strong> EU will hence
include public policy priorities, actions and resources aimed at influencing international
cooperation in accordance with given objectives. The EU may enter into cooperative
agreements, typically bilateral STI agreements, which define <strong>the</strong> incentives and constraints
for <strong>the</strong> cooperation <strong>of</strong> R&D performers. National governments may also enter into
programme cooperation through for example Joint Programming in <strong>the</strong> ERA-case, or joint
bilateral programmes and calls for proposals.
It is useful to bear in mind <strong>the</strong> fact that policies and frameworks are <strong>of</strong>ten negotiated results
<strong>of</strong> cooperative processes between governmental actors or o<strong>the</strong>r public bodies. In addition,
frameworks for STI cooperation in this manner constitute a certain level <strong>of</strong> coordination
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