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The
quickening pace and growing integration of science
and technology has generated multi-disciplinary
fields of growing technical and conceptual complexity,
often characterised by capital-intensive research.
This, coupled with the limited funds available
for science and technology, resulted in the
growing demand for "public
accountability" and "value
for money" research focusing
on fields able to combine intellectual merit
with the promise of socio-economic benefits.
In addition, government longer-term research
planning has been recognised as unavoidable
in the arena of global competition given the
increasing networking, strategic alliances,
and worldwide co-operation that take place between
firms. This lead to the realisation that the
trend for "globalisation"
called for a new concept of relationships between
European policies, national government policies
and firms with the characteristics of an increased
collaboration and interactivity.
The above multi-factor and multi-actor environment
requires considerable breadth and depth of knowledge
to make the future policy choices required.
In addition, the ever-increasing number of choices
and uncertainty associated with the formulation
of science and technology policy imply continual
reassessment of potential scientific and technological
trajectories, their validation, and the evaluation
of their consequences for the economy and society.
The importance of Foresight in mobilising broad
sets of stakeholders to give collective thought
on priorities, and thus to engage in a societal
debate and alignment of strategies goes beyond
the national level. In March 2000, a common
vision for economic and social development in
Europe was agreed by the Heads of State or Government
and the European Commission, the so-called Lisbon
Strategy aiming to make the EU
by 2010 'the most
competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy
in the world, capable of sustainable economic
growth with more and better jobs and greater
social cohesion'. Given the importance
of research and innovation in moving towards
this ambitious target and their link with future
visions of science, technology and society,
a High Level Expert Group was set up by the
European Commission to provide options for Foresight
activities at a European level under
the framework of the Lisbon strategy as well
as the creation of the ERA, the reform of European
Governance and the preparation of the next Intergovernmental
Conference (through the setting up of the Convention
of the Future of Europe).
In its report, "Thinking,
debating and shaping the future: Foresight for
Europe", 2002, the High Level
Expert Group identified research and innovation
policies as key instruments in pursuing the
Lisbon goals and considered transnational co-operation
in Foresight as an important element to strengthen
the strategic basis of the European Research
Area by raising systematically the ability of
a broad spectrum of societal actors to anticipate
and develop shared views of research and innovation-related
issues at stake for Europe as a whole. Specific
functions were proposed at trans-national European
level mainly focusing on the creation of a 'learning
and experience-sharing space', the open co-ordination
of foresight activities and the dissemination
of the results. Under this scope, the exchange
of the national experiences gained so far and
the constructive discussion and review of the
issues and characteristics of each particular
case are valuable in supporting European integration
especially in view of the enlarged EU.
In parallel, the regional dimension
of Foresight is equally important.
On one hand, science, technology and innovation
have changed from being an exogenous to an endogenous
regional-development concern and on the other,
the European Research Area approach to EU RTD
policy places significant importance on the
regional aspects. Moving towards the Lisbon
goals, requires to strengthen the involvement
of the regions in science, technology and innovation
in the EU, and to adopt original and innovative
approaches with a long-term horizon. In 2001,
the Commission established a high level expert
group on Mobilising the Regional Foresight
Potential for an Enlarged EU, to contribute
to the debate on a new European Governance,
to the involvement of the Candidate Countries
in the European integration process, and to
the success of the "Lisbon Strategy".
The role that Foresight can play for the development
of the European Research and Innovation Area
and in view of the enlargement of the European
Union along with the potential for implementation
at different levels (regional, national, European,
international) were first analytically discussed
at the conference on the "Role
of Foresight in the selection of research policy
priorities" organised under
the Spanish Presidency in Seville in May 2000.
Additionally, another conference took place
in September 2002 in Brussels focusing on the
regional aspect of Foresight, "Europe's
Regions Shaping the Future-The Role of Foresight",
organised by the Science and Technology Foresight
Unit of DG Research. In the meantime several
national as well as regional Foresight activities
were carried out in EU Member States and pre-accession
countries and the networking and knowledge sharing
activities have been strengthened considerably
with the support of the European Commission.
In parallel, the growing importance of Foresight
in policy-making made several related aspects
emerge during the recent years as worthy of
further examination:
a)
Assessing foresight exercises aiming at more
effective foresight in all countries.
b) Foresight, science and society relationships
to contribute to informed policy-making and
increase social acceptance of policy related
proposals.
c) Expanding co-operation on foresight to neighbouring
countries and regions to facilitate their contribution
to a commonly-built European future.
d) Guiding Small and Medium Entreprises (SMEs)
and technologically laggard regions in assessing
continuously changing technologies and their
impact on economic and social activities.
e) Managing foresight knowledge pool to establish
of a European - wide platform exploiting national
systems and assuring dissemination of best practices
and basis for know-how transfer to new comers.
f) Mapping competences in Higher Education and
Human Resources to identify and further develop
a critical mass for teaching and research in
foresight.
It is this cumulative experience and new emerging
questions about foresight and its role, that
the conference organised under the Hellenic
Presidency of the European Union on "Foresight
in the Enlarged European Research and Innovation
Area" aims to exploit. The conference will
build on the Sevilla and the Brussels conferences'
results, the recommendations of the EC HLEGs
on European and Regional foresight, as well
as on available input on completed or undergoing
foresight activities, and will promote new proposals
and ideas for action at European level. |
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