"An interactive forum on the power of innovation to transform industry and accelerate growth"

Smart value chains involve the introduction of new processes or solutions, so as to save a least one step. This leads to enhanced productivity and cost savings; reduced time-to-market and environmental impact; and better quality output. Ultimately, a smart value chain makes solid business sense by delivering better value for companies, intermediaries and consumers.

This conference served as an interactive forum to examine the power of innovation to sustain, fuel and accelerate the development of such smart value chains, in the EU.

Innovative smart materials, machines, devices and objects are already transforming value chains across a wide range of sectors. New materials and processes are drivers of change in manufacturing, for example in the automotive industry. Lighter, more efficient and fully connected, they save time, raw materials and energy and define new industrial standards.

At the same time, the Internet of Things (the phenomenon in which all sorts of devices with embedded computing capacity are interconnected) is revolutionising industries, such as healthcare, mobility and mobile services.

At the conference entrepreneurs, CEOs, policy makers, industry experts and investors had the opportunity to draw upon concrete case studies and trends, identified by the Business Innovation Observatory; and discuss the specific framework conditions, skills requirements and financial models required, so as to better support the development of smart value chains in the future.

Agenda (514 KB) 

Stay tuned!

To find out more about the Business Innovation Observatory you can visit our webpages. Engage with European innovation stakeholders and join the new Business Innovation Observatory LinkedIn Group!