The role of research and innovation in building the smart cities of the future
Máire GEOGHEGAN-QUINN
European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science:
"Mr O Neill, Dr Kelly, ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you very much for the invitation to address IBM's Science of Cities Colloquium.
It is a pleasure to be back in Ireland with IBM. Last November I was very pleased to attend the IBM SmartCamp World Finals in Dublin that rewarded and celebrated the most innovative entrepreneurs and start-ups.
It is very appropriate to discuss the Science of Cities in Dublin, the host city for the European City of Science in 2012 – the largest science and research gathering in Europe. This will give Dublin and Ireland a wonderful opportunity to showcase the best research that is being performed in Ireland and to lead the European-wide debate on the most important research and science issues.
Over the two days of this IBM colloquium you are discussing the most pressing issues of urban development and urban living. These issues touch on some of the greatest challenges facing us in Europe: the economy, climate change, energy and resources and the ageing of our population.
I am convinced that both research and innovation are crucial in facing and solving these challenges.
The Member States of the European Union and the European institutions are, quite correctly, currently focusing on the urgent task of securing economic stability. But that is only the beginning. We also need, urgently, to promote growth. And that is why we are putting research, innovation and science at the heart of our fight for jobs and prosperity.
The Europe 2020 Strategy adopted last year by the EU Member States is firmly based on the conviction that we need to innovate to get Europe back on the path to growth and jobs. Innovation Union - launched by me a little over a year ago - aims to improve the basic conditions that let entrepreneurs and companies in Europe flourish.
So, Innovation Union concentrates on putting in place the conditions that will smooth the path from lab to market, from excellent research to new products that people will want to buy and use. We need, for example, faster standard-setting in Europe, cheaper and easier patenting, more public procurement of innovative products and services, and better access to venture capital.
We make specific commitments in Innovation Union on how to achieve these objectives within clearly defined timescales. And after just over a year, I am pleased to say that we are meeting our Innovation Union commitments. We have already tabled proposals for the creation of a single European patent - that will end the current costly lack of an internal market for patent protection – and on speeding up standard setting at an EU level.
In September we launched a major public consultation on the remaining obstacles to be removed to complete the European Research Area, and by the end of this year, we will make a proposal for an EU-wide venture capital scheme.
As well as being responsible for steering Europe's innovation agenda, my role as the European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science means that I am also in charge of the Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development – better known as FP7. This is the largest publicly-funded research programme in the world and is valued at 55 billion Euro during the period 2007 to 2013. IBM is an active participant in FP7 - taking part in 63 collaborative research projects, and receiving over 35 million Euro in European Union funding.
FP7 supports the goals of Innovation Union, and finances collaborative research projects across Europe in areas such as information and communication technologies, transport, energy, environment, nanotechnology, biotechnology, agriculture, fisheries and food, health, climate change, SMEs, security and space.
Europe's future still depends on competitive industries that are able to grow and create jobs. This means investing in research and in new technologies and in creating a climate that boosts innovation.
This is why the European Commission has proposed a shift in resources towards more research and innovation for the next EU budget - to finance the next programme for research and innovation - Horizon 2020. Our strategy fits with the approach currently being taken in many of the Member States to invest now in education, R&D and innovation as the routes to future growth.
If our economy is to survive and emerge stronger from the current crisis, we must choose "smart" fiscal consolidation - while cutting public deficits and implementing structural reforms, we must try as far as possible to preserve and boost our future sources of growth and jobs. While cutting costs, we must also safeguard our ability to compete.
Under Horizon 2020 we will make our support for research and innovation simpler, more efficient, and more effective at delivering the bigger impacts needed to sustain growth and tackle societal challenges such as climate change, health, energy and food security.
Our legislative proposals for Horizon 2020 will appear at the end of this year. It will be structured around three distinct pillars, in line with our Europe 2020 priorities and in support of the goals of Innovation Union.
The first pillar 'Excellence in the science base' will strengthen excellence in science, particularly through a significant reinforcement of the spectacularly successful European Research Council.
The second pillar 'Creating industrial leadership and competitive frameworks' will support business research and innovation. Actions will cover: increasing investment in enabling and industrial technologies and supporting innovation in SMEs with high growth potential.
The third pillar 'Tackling societal challenges' will respond directly to challenges identified in Europe 2020. Its focus will be on the challenges of: health, demographic change and well-being; food security and the bio-based economy; energy; transport; supply of raw materials; resource efficiency and climate action; inclusive, innovative and secure societies. I see from the agenda of this colloquium that you are also addressing the issues facing cities from a challenge perspective.
Horizon 2020 will be a "balanced" programme: a balance in our proposals between fundamental and applied research; a balance between a top down approach where goals are fixed in advance and a bottom up approach were research themes are not pre-determined; and a balance between the second pillar which is technology or industry-driven, and the third which is challenge-driven.
This 'balance' extends to ensuring that Horizon 2020 helps to bring excellence in research, innovation and science to parts of the Union where it does not currently exist. To achieve this, we are improving the synergies between Horizon 2020 and EU Structural Funds. It is likely that the Horizon 2020 programme will operate to identify potential centres of excellence and offer them policy advice and support.
Upgrading research infrastructure and equipment, on the other hand, will come under the remit of the Structural Funds. Ensuring that we have modern research infrastructures is very important if we are to become more competitive and they are essential in developing science-based innovation. World-class research infrastructures play a crucial role in enabling ground-breaking research and innovation.
This is just one reason why I applaud the decision of IBM last year to locate its 66 million Euro Smart Cities Research Centre here in Dublin. Yes, this is a major contribution to our research and innovation infrastructure. But in these difficult economic times, it is also both a welcome and an important vote of confidence in Ireland, and indeed in Europe, as a destination for cutting edge research investment.
The European Commission is currently developing its proposals for Horizon 2020, that will be presented before the end of the year. However, it is very likely that a large component of Horizon 2020 will be to support Key Enabling Technologies, or KETs, including Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), Nanotechnologies, Advanced Materials, Biotechnology, Advanced Manufacturing and Processing and Space.
It will be a priority of Horizon 2020 to ensure that Europe remains a world leader in developing these technologies. Besides the economic imperative to stay ahead in new technologies, they are also vital to finding high-tech solutions to many of our societal challenges, including those that are important for our cities, such as sustainable transport, energy, climate change and food security. As recommended by the High-Level Expert Group on Key Enabling Technologies, we will ensure an integrated approach to KETs across Horizon 2020, but particularly under the second pillar on “Creating industrial leadership and competitive frameworks”.
Europe must have strong ambitions for its businesses, governments, R&D centres and universities to lead developments in ICT, to grow new business, and to invest more in ICT innovations that will make Europe more competitive.
I hope that in the rest of your discussions today you will pay close attention to how Information and Communication technologies and other Key Enabling Technologies can help boost Europe's competitiveness and address the real challenges faced by our cities, and our society, in the 21st century.
Cities are the key to addressing societal challenges such as climate mitigation, resource efficiency, sustainable economic activity and social cohesion in the European Union.
Around three quarters of the EU's population live in or around cities. Cities are responsible for 80% of energy consumption in the EU and around the same proportion of greenhouse gas emissions.
To maintain and build up sustainable cities requires continuous and long-term efforts. We are taking important steps at the EU level. For instance, in 2008, a public/private partnership on Energy Efficiency in Buildings was launched with a budget of 1 billion Euro under the European Economic Recovery Plan. It aims to speed up research on key technologies and develop a competitive industry in the construction sector with the focus on energy-efficient processes, products and services. Cities are prime examples of where the public and private worlds interact to tackle issues such as waste management, energy, environment and transport. So I want Horizon 2020 to do much more to encourage public private partnerships in different sectors.
The Framework Programme is financing research on a very wide range of issues that can improve city living and the urban environment. CONCERTO, for example, has supported the implementation of energy efficiency measures and renewable energy technology in some 70 cities, leading to an annual reduction in greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to the entire population of Athens switching to a CO2-neutral electricity supply.
CORFU is an interdisciplinary, international project with European and Asian partners looking at new measures to improve flood management in cities, while the Hybrid Commercial Vehicle project aims to replace traditional buses and trucks with hybrid technology in urban areas, reducing noise and pollution and increasing energy efficiency by at least 20%. To pave the way for market introduction, the project is looking at ways to reduce production costs of the necessary technology, analyse market obstacles and promote public acceptance. I should also add here that Dublin is due to host the next Intelligent Transport Systems European Congress in June 2013.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to congratulate IBM on its 100th anniversary this year. In economically challenging times, this is a reminder that there can be both continuity and growth even during difficult times. Your centenary also shows that it is the company that constantly changes and innovates, that stays relevant, that survives and flourishes.
Cities are where we use the most energy, consume the most resources and produce the most greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants. It is where social problems are very visible. Cities are also crucibles of ideas, the birthplaces of new movements and sources of creative energy and innovation. And this has been the case since the Renaissance, through the Industrial Revolution and right up to today – the era of the knowledge based economy.
Our European cities have been to the forefront of many of the political and social movements that have changed the world. Now, we need Europe's cities to the forefront of the fight to regain Europe's competitiveness, and to solve the many challenges that our society faces. I am convinced that Europe's talented researchers and scientists, working together with industry and with local authorities, can help us all to find the answers.
Thank you."