Innovative Actions Network for the Information Society - PLUS IANIS + was coordinated by The European Regional Information Society Association IANIS +

Innovative Actions Network for the Information Society - PLUS

IANIS+ was coordinated by

The European Regional Information Society Association

IANIS+ was co-financed by the European Commission (DG Regional Policy)

+REGIONS for ECONOMIC CHANGE - Sharing Excellence

Brussels, 25-26 February 2008

SUPPORTING INNOVATION THROUGH ICT:

Sharing Good Practices – Benefits & Challenges

by

Gareth Hughes

(Project Director, IANIS+)







IANIS+

• Initiative of 44 regions (including 5 NMS regions as associate members)







IANIS+








IANIS+








IANIS+


• €2.068 mill, co-financed by the EC (DG Regional Policy)

• Led by the Free State of Saxony (Managing Authority)

• Managed by a Steering Committee (of the regions – 9 meetings) and coordinated by eris@

• Mar 05 – Nov 07: follow-up to IANIS (2002-04) – aiming to

provide more effective mechanisms to facilitate sharing information, experience and good practice between regions – both by face-to-face meetings and virtual exchanges;

build a bridge between EU-15 regions and regions of the NMS; and

undertake analyses of regional good practices in terms of innovative projects, programming, processes and organisation

to help accelerate regional development and cohesion







4.2

Regional Good Practice Research &

Peer Reviews

4.1

Annual Conferences & Policy Seminars

4.4

Thematic Work Groups

4.5

Dissemination Activities

4.3

Intensive Training Course

Case Study Reports Case Study Reports

Guides

GuidesGuides

Case Study Reports Case Study Reports

Training Materials

Conference Proceedings

Main Elements of the Work Programme







Action Line 1: Conferences & Policy Seminars

Lille, June 2005 Blekinge, June 2006 Bilbao, June 2007

Conclusions disseminated and communicated to the EC







Action Line 1: Conferences & Policy Seminars

1. Infrastructure (Broadband & the Digital Divide)

2. Networks of Research, Innovation & Deployment

3. From eBusiness to Smart Business

4. Regions and eHealth

5. eLearning for Regional Development

6. Infrastructure & Next Generation Networks

7. Indicators & benchmarking

8. eGovernment for Regions

Conclusions disseminated and communicated to the EC







Action Line 2: Regional Good Practice Research & Peer Reviews

• More than 140 project case studies were submitted by regional experts

• 60 selected for publication

• Thematic Analysis

• 9 Peer Review Visits







Action Line 3: Summer School

• Call for students and faculty

• Consultation about curriculum content

• 5-day programme (Torino – Oct 06)

• 38 students from 23 regions

• 21 faculty

• Teaching & learning materials available at the eRegion Hub







Action Line 4: Thematic Work Groups

• 6 Groups (Infrastructure, eBusiness, eGovernment, eLearning, eHealth, Indicators & Benchmarking)

• Chaired by a regional expert and supported by the Coordination Unit

• 23 meetings took place + virtual collaborative work through forum etc.

• Collection of project case studies

• Publication of 6 Guides to Good Practice







Action Line 5: Dissemination

• Web portal (eRegion Hub at www.ianis.net)

• 3,500 registered users

• 1750+ events

• 2250+ news items

• Web 2.0 tools (wiki, forums, etc.)







Action Line 5: Dissemination - 2

• Monthly Newsletter

33 editions

171 contributions from regions

Focus on good practice projects

4000+ downloads per month







Good Practice by the Infrastructure Work GroupWork Group

Survey of regions in 2006 (with DG Infso and CoR)

Report published Jan 2007

With eris@ provided support to EC for the exhibition of the ‘Bridging the Broadband Gap’ conference, May 2007

eris@ has won the service contract to launch a web portal (European Broadband Exchange) to support stakeholders in their efforts to overcome market failure in under-served territories BridgingtheBroadbandGap

www.broadband-europe.eu








• Stakeholders/users Public authorities Policy makers Industry Academics / consultants

• Content / databases GP projects Strategies & action plans Calls for tender Industry notices Decisions and legal cases









• Stakeholders/users Public authorities Policy makers Industry Academics / consultants

• Content / databases GP projects Strategies & action plans Calls for tender Industry notices Decisions and legal cases

EXPECTED LAUNCH

June 2008








Benefits & Challenges

• Avoid re-inventing the wheel

• Accelerate development, encourage innovation

• Reduce/share risks – avoid mistakes and blind alleys

• Reduce wasteful duplication (Europe does not need 150,000 CRM systems !!) – get better value for money

• Cooperation and collaboration – rather than competing.







Benefits & Challenges

• The NIH Syndrome …. but, equally, the need to adapt (not copy blindly)

• How to find effective ways to capture, store, disseminate and use good practice solutions – need for a solutions sharing network (policies, programmes, projects and even systems)

• Coping with differences of language and diverse ‘cultures’

• Identifying and reporting good practices is an art form – not everyone has the skills (training). It’s not easy and … it’s not cheap either.

• Motivating successful projects/implementations to document their successes.

• The difficulty of finding and reporting ‘failures’ and ‘bad practices’.

• The VITAL importance of inter-regional networking, and regional networking strategies – and the ongoing need for EC support.







Thank you for your attention

[email protected]

Innovative Actions Network for the Information Society - PLUS IANIS + was coordinated by The European Regional Information Society Association IANIS +

Documents

regional policy

sharing information

european commission

regional development

nms regions

regional experts

regions conclusions

innovative actions network