1 Strengthening innovation in chemical clusters Andrea Tilche European Commission DG Research Head of the Unit « Environmental Technologies and Pollution.

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Strengthening innovation in chemical clusters

Andrea Tilche

European CommissionDG Research

Head of the Unit « Environmental Technologies and Pollution Prevention »

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The current economic downturn

• Not a cyclic crisis

• Need for a more strategic approach to design the recovery path

• Combination with the need to build a low-C economy

• Environmental Technologies and Eco-innovation become the key elements for future growth

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• All industry becomes “green”!

• eco-innovation, environmental technologies across all sectors

• Need fundamental transformations – not just “add ons”

• Make use of ecological principles: life-cycle, diversity, symbiosis, resilience, bio-compatible, networking, etc.

• All in all, in the future all innovation should also be eco-innovation

Vision for TomorrowVision for Tomorrow

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From Eco-Innovation to Innovation:From Eco-Innovation to Innovation:assuring that green is really greenassuring that green is really green

The potential environmental impacts of an innovation should be already assessed at the phase of conceptual development (eco-design). This require the implementation of specific evaluation criteria based on Life Cycle Thinking.

Before an innovation is scaled-up from pilot to demonstration scale, an assessment based on robust Life Cycle Assessment methodologies should be carried out in order to verify if the innovation is an eco-innovation.

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Huge challenges for the European Chemicals

Industry

• International competition

• Costs of feedstock

• Climate change

• Creating skills

• Financial markets

• ...

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What to do in Europe

• The Chemicals Industry in Europe is still the larger in terms of world market share with respect to other competing areas, but...

• Its market share is decreasing

• It is relocating in other parts of the world

• Its competitiveness is at stake

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What is our competitive advantage

• Europe cannot compete for lower salaries, for cheap resources or for relaxed environmental quality standards

• Europa can compete for its knowledge base, its research potential, its skills, its potential of growing new skills, its organisational capability at regional level and along the value chain, its first class infrastructures

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How to reverse the trend?

• INNOVATION is the only European asset that can make the difference

• More investments in high-tech sectors• Start-up programmes in Universities linked to

chemical entrepreneurship programmes• Promotion of Public-Private-Partnerships and

Open innovation schemes• Better exploitation of funding opportunities along

the innovation chain• Focus on excellence – clusters and regions

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The importance of clustering/networking

• 3 main types of innovation clusters and networks may exist:– At thematic level

– At regional/local level

– Along the value chain

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Thematic clusters

• To share basic research costs• To share costs of development in

open innovation schemes• To promote and share logistics• To share production facilities• …

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Regional/local clusters

• To develop “industrial Ecology” schemes

• To improve energy and resource efficiency

• To share logistics• To make better use of local/regional

high education, training and research facilities and infrastructures

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Clusters along the value chain

• To better target the specific needs• To ensure product sustainability• To maximise the resource use• To ensure efficiency at all levels• To maximise quality through

specialisation

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Is innovation facilitated by clustering?

• Succesful innovation is a complex process, based on a combination of factors where clustering may play a major role:– Scientific and Technological developments– Availability of skills– Market conditions– Regulatory environment– Business models– Risk capital availability

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A new model: the EIT

• The European Institute of Innovation and Technology proposes a model of full integration of the “knowledge triangle” of research, innovation and education

• First Knowledge and Innovation Clusters (KICs) – on energy, climate change and ICT - to be launched within 2009, and new ones after 2012

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Thanks for your attention!

[email protected]