Steering Committee meeting of the Smart Specialisation Platform for Industrial Modernisation

The first Steering Committee meeting of the Smart Specialisation Platform for Industrial Modernisation took place on 17 March 2017. It gathered 16 EU regions, Commission services and the Committee of the Regions. They discussed the way forward for strategic inter-regional collaboration.

The 16 lead regions came together for the first time. The meeting took place at the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs in Brussels. The 16 lead regions represent 51 participant regions across the EU. They work together under 8 thematic areas so far. Established under the Thematic Smart Specialisation Platform for Industrial Modernisation.

The platform comprises the following themes:

• advanced manufacturing for energy applications .
• bio-economy .
• efficient and sustainable manufacturing .
• 3D printing .
• industry 4.0 .
• innovative textiles .
• nano-enabled products .
• production performance monitoring systems.

The regions propose and manage the themes themselves. New themes are currently under preparation.

Several Commission services and the Committee of the Regions presented their support activities at the meeting.  The lead regions presented the stay of play of their partnerships. They also outlined their specific needs for support to create investment projects. These projects focus on shared smart specialisation areas to foster industrial modernisation. Participants also discussed financial possibilities for investment projects and the Steering Committee's role.  One of the lead regions will host the next Steering Committee meeting, foreseen to take place in 6 months.