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

and lead to a significantly more attractive Europe for both STI and investments.
The implication is that international cooperation, guided by <strong>the</strong>matic priorities,
should concentrate on countries and regions with clear excellence, such as US and
o<strong>the</strong>r industrialised countries, pockets <strong>of</strong> excellence in countries that are o<strong>the</strong>rwise
not broadly excellent, countries and regions with market growth to ensure
synergies with <strong>the</strong> strategic interests <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> business community, and sectors and
countries with high levels <strong>of</strong> frugal innovation.
3) General opening: This is <strong>the</strong> basic, strategic principle <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Frameworks
Programmes, and <strong>the</strong> EG supports this as <strong>the</strong> key vehicle by which European
research performers can cooperate with those partners globally that <strong>the</strong>y see
beneficial and necessary for <strong>the</strong>ir research.
4) Flexibility: A key principle <strong>of</strong> a new strategy needs to be <strong>the</strong> ability to allocate
significant resources to emerging opportunities, e.g. larger targeted actions.
5) A knowledge based policy: A more focused strategy along <strong>the</strong> principles above
needs to be built on a solid knowledge and evidence base. Intelligence and
analytical efforts need to underpin <strong>the</strong> priority setting process more than is <strong>the</strong>
case today. This concerns not least forward-looking intelligence to improve <strong>the</strong>
effectiveness <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> priority setting process.
6) Improved coordination with (i) o<strong>the</strong>r EU policies and programmes (Development
and Cooperation, Regional Policy), (ii) international organizations (such as UN
and WB) and (iii) international research agencies.
7) Research infrastructures need to be an integral part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> EU Strategy for
International Cooperation in STI. RI need to be in <strong>the</strong> focus <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> future
negotiations and agreements on international STI collaboration.
Streng<strong>the</strong>ning policies for industry and innovation 10
The need to differentiate between research performers
In improving <strong>the</strong> competitiveness and level <strong>of</strong> scientific excellence <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> EU STI
community, it is important to distinguish between three primary sets <strong>of</strong> actors – firms, nonpr<strong>of</strong>it
research organisations (PROs) and universities. Each <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se three actors have
different sets <strong>of</strong> motives, priorities and objectives when engaging in STI cooperation, and
<strong>the</strong>refore require an explicitly nuanced approach to priority setting and instruments.
Universities, for instance, tend to engage in more ‘science’ based activities (see figure 4), and
are <strong>of</strong>ten engaged in a broader range <strong>of</strong> disciplines and technologies than PROs which tend to
be focused on specific subject areas. PROs may <strong>of</strong>ten be dedicated to specific industries, and
while <strong>the</strong>y may engage in basic research (depending upon <strong>the</strong> maturity <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> dominant
10 Former work by expert groups on international cooperation in STI has not covered industry and innovation in
any comprehensive way. Hence, this report seeks to give a dedicated treatment to this, not least due to <strong>the</strong>
increasing weight given to innovation in European STI policy.
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