Smart Specialisation (S3) Forum 2023

Catherine Wendt is currently head of unit for Smart and Sustainable Growth in the European Commission’s Directorate General for Regional and Urban policy. She moved back to regional policy after some years working on EU external relations, negotiating EU accession with candidate countries, and working in the private office of the EU Trade Commissioner. During the first part of her EU career, she worked on the UK regional policy programmes for the European Commission, and was also the head of the Merseyside Regional Office in Brussels.

She was born in Sant Martí de Tous in 1979. She has a degree in Business Administration and Management and in International Trade from Pompeu Fabra University. She has a master's degree in European Economics from the College of Europe (Bruges, Belgium) and a master's degree in Economic Policy from Columbia University (United States).

She is the first woman to be responsible for the Department of Economic and Finance of the Generalitat. She has extensive experience both as an economist in the European field and in the Government. Between 2004 and 2015 she worked at the European Central Bank, first as an economist in the General Directorates of Economy (Division of Foreign Affairs) and Statistics (Division of Monetary and Financial Statistics) and, since 2010, as Financial Stability expert in the general direction of Macroprudential Policy and Financial Stability.

In the area of the Government of the Generalitat of Catalonia, she has been Director General of Industry of the Department of Business and Work. And, between 2019 and May 2021, she was Secretary of the Economy of the Department of the Vice Presidency and of Economy and Finance.

Throughout his 30-year professional career, Fernando has carried out tasks in different disciplines and subjects, working in the analysis, design, coordination and evaluation of policies, strategies and processes in Research & Innovation. These tasks have been carried out within different positions within Spanish Administration and in the Joint Research Center of the European Commission.

More recently, Fernando has managed and coordinated initiatives with a multilevel dimension, mainly in the field of European Regional Policy and the H2020 and Horizon Europe, with special dedication to Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialization (RIS3), and the Startup Villages Forum initiative.

He has acted acted as a Spanish National representative to different international organizations, including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the European Commission and the United Nations. He is currently in the cabinet of the State Secretary in the Spanish Ministry of Science.

Mr. Manuel Szapiro is currently Director of the European Commission Representation in Barcelona.

Previously, he was deputy Head of Cabinet of Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič. As such, he took a lead on: EU-UK negotiations, inter-institutional negotiations, strategic programming (Commission Work Programme coordination) and foresight.

From 2014-2019, he was – as member of Cabinet of Vice-President Šefčovič – in charge of delivering on the Energy Union strategy, which entailed launching and steering the European Battery Alliance, the European Raw Materials Alliance, the Coal Regions in Transition initiative and Breakthrough Energy Europe (public-private-partnership with Bill Gates Ventures to invest into clean-tech projects), amongst others.

Manuel Szapiro joined the European Commission back in March 2003 as member of the Task Force on the Future of the Union (i.e. European Convention and Treaty changes), placed under the authority of the President. In 2008, he was appointed deputy Head of Unit for Institutional Issues and Better Regulation in the European Commission Secretariat General. He was then leading teams responsible for, respectively: European Citizens Initiatives, EU decentralised agencies, EU Treaties implementation, delegated and implementing acts (comitology) and expert groups. For three years, Manuel also helped set up the European Joint Undertaking for ITER (Fusion for Energy) in Barcelona (Spain).

Before joining the European Commission, Manuel Szapiro worked as a Senior Lecturer with the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) in Maastricht, and an International Adviser to Business Europe in Brussels.

He holds postgraduates in economics-finance-energy (University Paris-Dauphine), public policy (Science Po Paris) and EU affairs (College of Europe in Bruges).

Manuel is a former academic assistant and student at the College of Europe in Bruges (promotion Leonardo da Vinci) – and has been a Professor in its European Political and Governance Studies Department for the past 18 years. For some years, he was also 'maître de conférences' and Director of studies in Sciences Po (Paris). His publications to date include a reference book (John Harper Publishing, London, 2013) on the European Commission and latest articles on geopolitics and strategic autonomy.

Maialen Perez is the Deputy Project Manager of S3 CoP and is an expert in public policies with a particular interest in regional and innovation policies. She has been involved in stakeholder engagement and management activities, as well as secretariat support, in the Intelligent Cities Challenge (ICC), CircLean – the European network of businesses and SMEs for industrial symbiosis, and European Resource Efficiency Knowledge Centre (EREK). She has also been supporting regions through the European Entrepreneurial Regions (EER) initiative. Previously, Maialen Perez worked for the Delegation of the Basque Country to the EU in Brussels, where she dealt with European Policies on Research and Development, Innovation Economy and Industry. She holds MSc in European Integration, an MBA, and a BA in Business Administration.

Before joining the Catalan Government, Aleix Cubells was a business consultant for 13 years, with a specific focus on SMEs and MNEs. He has an Executive Master in Operations, Organizational Models and Innovation Processes from the ESADE Business & Law School, and a MSc in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya.

Thomas Wobben was born in 1965 in Germany. After studying Economics and Politics in Cologne he began his professional career representing the interests of social sector organisations and youth organisations in Brussels.

He joined the services of the Land Saxony-Anhalt in 1993 where he was responsible for business co-operation within the European Union, innovation and interregional co-operation.

In 1995 he was sent to the Liaison Office of Saxony-Anhalt in Brussels mainly in charge for regional policy and the developing European co-operation projects.

Between September 1999 and March 2012 he was the director of the Representation of Saxony-Anhalt to the European Union.

He joined the European Committee of the Regions in 2012 as Director for Horizontal Policies and Networks and is currently the Director of Legislative Works for the COTER, ECON and SEDEC commissions.

Elisabetta Marinelli is a principal consultant at Technopolis Group and currently the Knowledge Manager of the S3 CoP Secretariat.

She is an economist by training, specialised in regional development and research, higher education and innovation policy.

She has experience in the academic, public and private sectors. As a consultant she has been supporting regional governments, universities and international organisations (OECD, EC and United Nations) in their efforts related to knowledge-based development and capacity building therein, in Europe and Latin America.

Between 2011 and 2020 she worked for the European Commission Joint Research Centre, supporting regions and member states in the implementation of Smart Specialisation Strategies, with particular emphasis on monitoring & evaluation, governance and stakeholders engagement.

She has published numerous policy reports, as well as scientific articles in among the others, in Regional Studies, Technovation, Environment and Planning, Industry and Higher Education.

She holds a PhD from the London School of Economics, an MSc from the University of Sussex and a degree from La Sapienza, University of Rome.

Dr. Els Van de Velde is Senior Expert in the field of 'Competitiveness and Innovation'. She has extensive experience in the deployment of green and digital technologies, smart specialisation strategies, and value chain analyses. As a project manager she has led and participated in various European and regional projects. She has advanced skills in qualitative and quantitative analysis, evaluation of European policies, survey set-up and implementation, and workshop moderation. Els has a PhD in Applied Economics, at the Ghent University. She holds a master’s degree in civil engineering.

She has extensive experience with innovation policies on national and European level, and with funding opportunities for R&D and innovation. She is leading the Mutual Learning Exercise on R&I Foresight as part of the PSF Challenge. She acts as expert in an ongoing study on “Support to Assessment and Monitoring of Industrial Research, Innovation and Technologies in the field of energy intensive industries, circular economy, and clean and renewable energy in relation to the European Green Deal and the green transition” and the study ““Monitoring the performance of EU industry and industrial ecosystems”. She offered expert support to various S3 thematic partnerships, targeted at supporting the development of a cross-regional partnership for co-investment. As part of this support, she organised a series of workshops with the aim to bring together relevant stakeholders along specific topical focus areas.

Pirkko Taskinen has M.Sc in Electrical Engineering. She has 25 years of experience in the business development of telecommunication solutions working for Alcatel, Ericsson, and Nokia. In her different roles she was collaborating with major European mobile operators.

After working in the telecommunication, she founded consulting company Lavango Oy to support start-up and SMEs. She was also a co-founder in a start-up company.

In 2018 Pirkko Taskinen created a Water Ecosystem at the University of Oulu, Finland. The ecosystem is driving the digitalisation of water processes in industries and water utilities in collaboration of companies and research.

In 2022 Pirkko Taskinen took the coordinator role for Thematic Smart Specialisation Partnerships of the Wireless ICT. This partnership helps to develop and implement a common strategy enabling investments in the field of fast and energy- and resource-efficient wireless ICT. The focus is on Health, Sustainable industry, Autonomous vehicles, and Smart Cities.

Claire’s main areas of research and expertise relate to analysis, evaluation and policy advice about research and innovation systems, in response to the needs of the European Commission, national and regional authorities. She is one of the leading experts on Smart Specialisation Strategies and is working on Innovation-led Green Transition and on transformative innovation policies notably in the field of climate change adaptation. She was co-lead of the DG Regio project on ‘regions in industrial transition’ and currently acts as rapporteur of the S3CoP Working Group on Interregional collaboration.

Luis Goñi Navarro has been working since 2009 supporting the regional government of Navarra on Smart Specialization Strategies and Cluster Policy, having participated in three regional strategies and the creation of 8 cluster organisations, along the design and implementation of many strategic projects in innovation, competitiveness, green and digital transition areas. He started his career as an independent business lawyer, and later in a NGO, where he worked as a family mediator in a social service, member of the Board and CFO.

Marek Przeor, Team Leader, Industrial Forum, Alliances, Clusters (GROW.D.2), DG GROW, European Commission

Since May 2020, Marek Przeor has served as a team leader responsible for cluster policy within the Directorate for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship, and SMEs (DG GROW). In his previous roles, he led a team focused on Smart Growth from 2013 to 2020 and served as a program manager for national and regional operational programs from 2009 to 2013 within the Directorate for Regional Policy. His journey with the European Commission began in 2004 when he joined as a policy officer in DG ENTR.

Marek's professional background extends beyond his work in the European Commission. Prior to his EC career, starting in 1996, he accumulated experience in the banking sector and held positions in top-management consulting services. He is an alumnus of the Warsaw School of Economics, where he earned his degree in finance and banking and specialised in international economic and political relations in 1997. Additionally, he holds a Master of Business Administration from Warsaw University and the Free University of Brussels. Furthermore, he pursued a doctoral study program in the Faculty of Management at Warsaw University.

Yari Borbon has more than 10 years of experience in developing and managing large-scale international, national, and regional projects together with international/regional authorities, universities, business and other institutions. He is specialised in research, innovation, industrial, and advanced technologies policies. Before joining the Technopolis Group, he worked at the Science Policy Research Unit of the University of Sussex (SPRU) as an Innovation and Policy Analyst Research Assistant, and at Massachusets Institute of Technology (MIT)-Zaragoza Logistics Center (ZLC) on sustainability, security, resilience, and digitalisation of firms operations. He was also a Senior Researcher at the Cattaneo University from 2018 to 2022.

Cristian is the Head of the Department for Smart Specialization, State Aid and Financial Instruments at NW RDA and has been working in the last 12 years in the implementation, and management of EU funding and for the recent 5 years on coordinating the first S3 for the North West Region in Romania. He's got a good glimpse of what are the strong points and what should be improved in the national and regional innovation ecosystem, being part also from the National S3 Committee. His belief is that the transformation of the ecosystem consists of two keys: a change of culture and a dynamic policy mix of support.

Elfi Goesaert holds a doctoral degree in Psychology, doing research in the field of neuroscience on visual perception at KU Leuven. After a couple of years as a postdoc looking at the organization of the visual cortex using machine learning techniques, she switched tracks and started at Domus Medica on out-of-hours care. In 2016, she became project manager ICT and eHealth, and worked on several federal and Flemish projects on eHealth and the digitization of healthcare (e.g. medication scheme, GDPR and secure communication in health, eHealth training for health care professionals,… ). In 2021, she joined the VITO Datascience Hub to further develop projects on a citizen-centric data platform (We Are), to put health data back under control of the citizen.

Rasmus Bergander is responsible for policy, advocacy, and project support in the area of innovation with a focus on smart specialisation and cohesion policy. Before becoming a policy advisor at the Central Sweden European Office, he worked as an EU Affairs development leader at Region Örebro County and as an information officer at Region Östergötland EU-office. In the last 1,5 years he has particularly been focusing on Partnerships for Regional Innovation (PRI) and the Regional Innovation Valleys call to support the innovation methods and interregional collaboration within the Mid Sweden PRI-consortium.

Tomas is Head of S3 Strategy Unit at the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic. He is responsible for updating and implementation of the National Research and Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialization (RIS3). His current work primarily focuses on design of RIS3 missions that direct selected R&D and innovation capacities to sustainability and address societal challenges. His team is cooperating with the Joint Research Center on designing RIS3 missions based on Science, Technology and Innovation Roadmaps for Sustainable Development Goals. At spare time he writes research articles about technological trends, digital transformation, and their impact on the Czech economy and society. Before joining the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Tomas held several positions at Moody’s Analytics and the Czech National Bank, covering macroeconomic developments, monetary policy, and financial markets. Tomas received his Master of Arts and PhD in Economics and Finance from the University of Economics in Prague.

Lena Tsipouri is Professor Emeritus of the Department of Economic Sciences at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and co-founder of OPIX, a data-driven policy and strategy, consulting company. She has taught, undertaken research and published in the areas of Economic Development, European Economic Integration, Entrepreneurship, Corporate Governance, Economics of Technological Change and Theory of the Firm at both undergraduate and graduate level. Prof. Tsipouri has over 25 years of experience in conducting policy and strategy studies, monitoring development projects, and undertaking programme and institutional evaluations in the areas of Research and Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Competitiveness, Regional Development, Information Society, European Integration and Social policy. She works in international projects and participates in consulting services for EU institutions, the OECD and the UN as well as National and Regional Authorities in Europe, Asia and the Americas.

In the field of regional development she has worked in numerous projects on evaluating cohesion funds, simplification of procedures, digital and green transformation as well as on partnership building as in the project “Fostering collaboration through mapping, analysing and interlinking of European Entrepreneurial Regions”.

After working for the European Commission, Aitor Mintegui joined in 2001 the Delegation of the Basque Country to the EU as EU Affairs Officer where he is responsible for Industrial and Innovation policy. In his current position he had a decisive role in the creation of the Vanguard Initiative in 2013. He graduated with honors from the University of the Basque Country with degree in Business Economics. He also holds an MA in European Economic Studies from the College of Europe (Bruges) and a MBA from the VUB (Brussels)

Pirita Lindholm is the Director of ERRIN - European Regions Research and Innovation Network. ERRIN is a well-known Brussels-based network that gathers around 120 regional organisations from over 20 European countries. Established in 2001, ERRIN supports members to enhance their regional and local research and innovation capacities and further develop their R&I ecosystems. Pirita is an enthusiast of mission oriented policy, and served as a member of the Mission Assembly of the climate-neutral and smart cities mission between 2019-2021. Furthermore, Pirita has over 20 years of experience working in European networks representing local and regional actors, covering policy areas of climate, energy and sustainability.

Richard has worked at the regional dimension of European policy since 2003. Richard was the director of ERRIN, a Brussels-based network of over 120 regions and has had a long interest in regional development, innovation and smart specialisation. Now retired but still in Brussels, he is interested in regional innovation and is a founder member of the Friends of Smart Specialisation and is currently Chair of the S3 CoP on Interregional Collaboration.

Marc Pattinson is a senior thematic expert for the Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform focusing notably on regional innovation and interregional cooperation policy development support. He has written a number of policy briefs including ones on Smart Specialisation and has published in total over 10 similar documents on themes relevant to regional innovation ecosystems. He was an expert member of the S3 Expert Group and contributed to the JRC Handbook on S3 Partnerships and he is regularly given expert assignments by DG Regio for missions in France.

He managed the European Cluster Collaboration Platform between 2016-2020 on behalf of DG GROW/EASME and was an expert /broker supporting the ReConfirm project focusing on Industrial Modernisation and S3 investment strategies.. He regularly organizes and moderate workshops and EU level events/conferences with up to 300 persons. He is also a Director at GAC Group and leads the team on innovation and territories and has supported a number of regions in designing I3 and EIE project initiatives. He holds a Masters in Economic Development from the London School of Economics and is fluent in both English and French.

Tatiana Fernández Sirera is head of Economic Strategy at the Secretariat of Economic Affairs and European Funds of the Catalan Government, the unit responsible for the coordination of Catalonia’s Smart specialisation Strategy. She has more than 20 years of experience in the regional public Administration.

She is economist and holds a PhD in European Integration and International Relations.

In recent years, she has specialized in exploring, developing and promoting more systemic and transformative approaches to public innovation policies. Her main area of work is in supporting the articulation of shared agendas, to address more effectively complex environmental, economic and social challenges, moving from collective awareness towards transformative collective action.

She regularly collaborates with universities, companies, public administrations and civil society at regional and international levels. She is one of the 12 experts of the S3 Community of Practice, launched by the European Commission.

Ieva Gurklyte has a BA in French and International Relations from University of Aberdeen (United Kingdom). She has consulted Lithuanian ministries on various projects, including innovation and digital transformation in the creative industries. Currently she is working on S3 implementation for the ICT priority, coordinating ICT roadmap and other projects at Innovation Agency Lithuania.

Jennifer Maria Grisorio holds a PhD in Economics and Philosophy from the University of Bari, and a Master in Economics and Finance from the University of Naples Federico II. She has been working with ARTI-Puglia for more than 16 years, and since 2023 she has become an Expert for the European Commission in the field of “Support for capacity building activities in relation to S3.” She has worked on several capacity building and innovation diffusion projects with regional/national institutions and higher institutions bodies.

Alexandra Avdeenko works on impact evaluations with the Finance, Competitiveness, and Innovation Global Practice team at the World Bank. She is Research Affiliate at the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), a Senior Lecturer in Economics at Heidelberg University, and a J-PAL invited researcher. Alexandra Avdeenko was previously the Director of Research at the Center for Evaluation, worked at the Socio-Economic Panel Study and the International Economics Department at German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin), as a consultant for the Development Impact Evaluation Research Group at the World Bank and as a PostDoc at the University of Mannheim. Formerly, she was also Professor of Economics at the University of Applied Labor Studies, Mannheim. As a Principal Investigator, she has designed and conducted numerous impact evaluations and data collections, among others in Azerbaijan, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Montenegro, Sudan, Pakistan, and the Philippines. She worked with implementing partners such as UNICEF, FAO, ACTED, ILO, NRSP, and governments in the respective countries. Alexandra Avdeenko coordinates the strategic engagement with DG REGIO on Smart Specialisation evaluations in several member states and is also involved as a Principal Investigator in several of the ongoing evaluations.

I work for North-East Regional Development Agency since 1999, as project expert, innovation and communication manager and trainer. In this role, I am responsible for RDA processes design and implementation, participation in EU funded projects evaluation and coordination of multidisciplinary teams in the area of innovation, cross border and interregional cooperation

My contribution is visible in more than 70 EU projects successfully implemented, over 300 small scale investment projects evaluated, 150 experts (from Romania, Republic of Moldova, Turkey, Bosnia Herzegovina) trained in project evaluation and strategic

Proactivity is my signature when it comes to the development of the first RIS3 in Romania, the establishment of the first cluster structure in the region, the EDIH and the RDA Brussel Representation Office. As RIS3 coordinator I designed the governance and operationalization mechanisms as well as the investment strategy for RIS3 for the Regional Operational Program(2021-2027).

Daniela Kretz works as an Expert in the field of Innovation, Competitiveness and Sustainability at IDEA Consult and joined the team in July 2016. Within IDEA, Daniela works on a variety of projects related to technology deployment, the green and digital transition and interregional innovation. In these projects, she has experience in performing qualitative and quantitative analyses, stakeholder analysis and mapping, handling data, planning and facilitating workshops, as well as organising and conducting interviews.

She is very active supporting interregional collaboration, among others through the Smart Specialisation Community of Practice (S3 CoP) for DG Regio of the European Commission, and the previous Mapping and Interlinking European Entrepreneurial Regions for DG Grow and EASME of the European Commission and the Committee of the Regions, for which her expertise in stakeholder analysis and mapping in the context of interregional demonstration and collaboration are vital.

Vincenzina Cristofaro has been working with the Lombardy Region for more than 20 years. In particular she provides support to internal and external relations in the field of research and innovation, and she has experience in Smart Specialisation Strategy implementation (S3).

She got a degree in Territorial, Urban and Environmental Planning at the Politecnico di Milano and after university attended a Master course in Project Management of Public Works in Local Authorities at Politecnico di Milano. She started her career as Planner in the Municipality of Borgomanero. She developed also expertise in the Directorate General Territory, Urbanism and Soil Conservation in particular on Strategic Environmental Assessment. Since 2008, she focused on activities concerning the Structural Funds, internationalisation, technological and scientific cooperation initiatives.

Daniel Vsetecka is the Director of the Digital Economy and Smart Specialization Department at the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic. He is also the National RIS3 Manager.

Kerstin Koren holds a master degree in chemical engineering. She worked with research and technology in the private sector (Donau Chemie AG) as well as in public sector (tecnet capital GmbH). She joined the Office of the Lower Austrian Government in 2011, where she took on responsibility for innovation affairs in 2016. 2017-2020, Kerstin Koren headed the Office for Digitalisation in the Section for Economy, Tourism & Technology. As of September 2020, she is head of Department Economy, Tourism and Technology.

Dr. Susana Elena has more than 20 years of experience in the field of research & innovation policies, regional development, and higher education institutions.

She holds a PhD from the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) and was a visiting PhD student at SPRU (Sussex University). Before that, she received her bachelor’s degree in business administration from UAM.

She has worked for more than eight years at the RIS3 Platform of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC).

Currently, she works as senior researcher at the EFIS Centre where she is project manager of Policy Support Facility projects and coordinates the Working Groups on the S3 enabling condition under the S3 CoP.

Susana maintains strong ties with academia and is currently associate professor at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC).

She has wide experience and capabilities in governance issues, complex problem-solving, stakeholder consultation and engagement, and project management.

Stephan Satijn (1972) was born in Maastricht and studied at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences and business administration at Nyenrode and the University of Rochester. From 2000 he worked in the international business community, including for the Netherlands Distributieland, where he was responsible for business and substantive activities in North and South America. In the period 2011-2018 he was a councilor for the VVD in the municipality of Venlo with the portfolios of Economic Affairs and Knowledge Infrastructure and from 2014 he was also 1st deputy mayor.

In 2017, Satijn also became chairman of the Board of Directors of the Royal Dutch Mint, an organization responsible for minting the official euro coin within the Benelux. He also held various directorships and supervisory positions for, among others, the MECC and Nederland Distributieland. He became deputy for Economy, Land Management and Education in July 2021. Stephan lives in Velden and is Jikke's dad.

Katalin has 15 years of experience in the field of international innovation and project development both from industry, university and innovation agencies. During her professional experience she worked at the Central Hungarian Innovation Agency and focused on EU financed projects related to innovation management, especially on open innovation and interactive value production through Living Labs. Later on, she worked for the Bay Zoltan research institute (major research institute in Hungary) with a specialization of international EU funded projects in the field of SME development. Before joining innomine she worked in Graz for the European Sustainable Energy Innovation Alliance, coordinating EU funded projects in the field of energy efficiency. Currently she is a senior consultant at innomine. She is author of 10+ articles and is an experienced speaker at international conferences. Katalin holds a PhD degree from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, research area is innovation management, with a specialization of living labs and open innovation.

After studies of French, Political Science and European Studies in France, Germany and Poland, she worked in Saxony's regional EU research funding and is now in charge for the areas of research and science in the Representation of the Free State of Saxony to the EU in Brussels. ERA, Regional innovation ecosystems and European Partnerships are her main topics.

As the Policy Officer in the Innovation Policy and Access to Finance Unit at DG Research and Innovation, Magdalena Cymerys is leading the Regional Innovation Valleys project. With over 8 years of professional experience in project management, communications and policymaking, Magdalena is now responsible for European Innovation Ecosystems Work Programme, including bridging innovation divide, representation of women in innovation, and oversees topics on social, frugal and reverse innovation. She holds an impressive educational background, including a B.A. in French studies from Adam Mickiewicz University, Master of Development Economics of Latin America at Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris, and M.A. in Interdisciplinary European Studies at the College of Europe (Natolin). Magdalena is the coordinator of the Flagship 3 of the New European Innovation Agenda addressing the innovation divide across the EU.

Alasdair has over 25 years’ experience of advising governments in designing, implementing and evaluating regional, inter-regional, national and European economic development and research & innovation programmes and strategies. During his career, he has advised the European Commission, the OECD, the World Bank, the Nordic Council of Ministers, national and regional governments and agencies throughout the European Union and in third countries.

Architect of innovation, local government official with 20 years of experience responsible for the development of entrepreneurship and innovation in the Pomeranian region. She worked in international structures, where she learned the mechanisms of interregional cooperation and appreciated the importance of networking resulting in the creation of international projects and initiatives. She coordinated work related to the implementation of the first regional cluster development policy in Poland. The support models and good practices introduced in the Pomeranian region were later implemented at the national level (National Key Clusters). Member of the Cluster Policy Team at the Ministry of Labor, Development and Technology and the Expert Group on Smart Specialization Strategy established by the European Commission DG REGIO. She coordinates work related to the Regional Innovation Strategy, a key element of which is the Smart Specialization of Pomerania, as well as the Pomeranian Platform for Offshore Wind Energy Development in the Baltic Sea (including the first Educational Offshore Career Fair in Poland www.eduoffshorewind.pl ). Observing the phenomena and processes occurring in the region, he sees the importance of entrepreneurial culture, mentality, motivation and creativity. He has the opportunity to scientifically study these phenomena based on his results from his doctoral dissertation on the impact of informal institutions on R&D financing in enterprises. He has published and lectured at the Gdansk University of Technology and the University of Gdansk on project management and innovation processes.

Valeria Bandini coordinates activities aiming at promoting and connecting Emilia Romagna’s regional research and innovation system, providing regional stakeholders with information and services to participate to European programmes, projects and networks and to develop international relations. She has been designing and managing a number of EC funded projects and internationalisation programmes for over 25 years. Graduated with Honours in Economics and Business Administration at the Bologna University, she holds post graduate degrees on local development and on international cooperation.

Sander van der Molen is a partner at CIVITTA and an innovation expert based in Lithuania. Sander has extensive experience conducting research and analysis on innovation policy in Central and Eastern European countries and regions. Sander was also the lead coordinator of the H2020-funded BOWI project, which aimed to support and facilitate networking between Digital Innovation Hubs in widening and non-widening countries. Sander has worked with universities to facilitate technology transfer, with Digital Innovation Hubs to develop a sustainable business model, and with national and international policymakers to provide policy recommendations on innovation and digitalisation. Sander has served as a business coach for EIC Accelerator grantees and is a coach and mentor for various other acceleration and business support programmes. Sander is also a member of S3 CoP's Secretariat.

Florence Hennart is economist and policy advisor in the Walloon regional administration for economy, employment and research, in the Economic Policy Directorate. She has been involved in the design of the new S3 in Wallonia, and is part of the S3 team, notably in charge of the EU dimension. She took part to the Industrial Transition pilot project supported by DG REGIO. Florence is also in charge of the follow-up of the Competitiveness Council, notably industry and innovation related topics, and the European semester.

Director of Technopolis Group, Matthieu has worked for the last +20 years as consultant supporting Regions in designing, implementing, and evaluating regional innovation strategies and smart specialisation strategies in more and less (e.g. outermost) advanced regions, particularly in the context of the Cohesion Policy and ESIF funding. University-Business collaborations, Technology transfer, Proof of concept programmes, Incubation, Clusters, Science Parks, Early Stage and Seed VC funding are amongst his main topics of interest. On this latter he is also regularly working with European Commission, European Investment Bank, Ministries and National Innovation Agencies, and Multilateral Development Banks inside and outside Europe.

The Directorate's mandate is to promote European cohesion policy by ensuring that Europe invests and supports the regions and the people most affected by the twin digital and climate transitions, leaving no one behind. The implementation of mission requires support a just transition through targeted investments to speed up inclusive growth. Ramunas spent 20 years at the Commission where he currently works for the Smart and Sustainable Growth unit of DG REGIO where he follows digital transition and innovation files. Before that, he was involved with the Digital Single Market, promoting internal market for electronic communications, reviewing and reforming EU’s telecoms regulatory framework, leading on EU Roaming Regulations and earlier working on internal market and security of supply in energy sector. His career developed in national administration where he was heading unit in Ministry of Finance responsible for developing investment priorities for the EU funding, setting up structures and processes for cohesion fund management, actively engaged in Lithuania's EU accession negotiations.

Wim De Kinderen is Programme Director European Affairs within Brainport Development, the Regional Development Association of the Brainport Eindhoven region (NL). Representing this world class high-tech manufacturing innovation ecosystem and all its stakeholders, the Brainport Eindhoven EU Office in Brussels is his main base and reach-out location towards fellow regions and the European Institutions. In this role he is responsible for policy lobbying, networking/communication and project development. Within Brainport Development, he is part of the Strategy Department.

In his previous career, he has mainly been involved in regional development issues in Belgium. First as the Province of Antwerp RDA’s European Social Fund expert for the Objective 2 region ‘Kempen’, later as the director of the Regional Socio-Economic Committee for the same ‘Kempen’ region. In between he has been an advisor (‘chef de cabinet adjoint’) to the Belgian federal government on socio-economic and budget policy topics.

He is holding master diplomas in International Politics, European Politics and Public Management.

He is fluent in Dutch (mother tongue), French and English.

Rene Wijlens is general manager for Cluster Sports and Technology , located in the Eindhoven Brainport Region; a Q-helix innovation cluster with more than 150 innovative companies, RTD organisations and various Living labs @work, @public space and @sport.

Besides he is initiator and (co) executive director of EPSI (European Platform for Sports Innovation), an association with more than 150 members in over 27 countries related to sports and innovation.

Over the years he has been initiating and leading multiple innovation projects and initiatives to support companies, mainly SMEs and start-ups, in their innovation and business and to strengthen the collaboration between sports, industry and knowledge organisations for successful future innovations and business creation. Recent projects are inno4sport, SmartSports4GoodLife, VLL project . A next step in the development of the interregional innovation ecosystem, is the creation of the Innovation Hub for Sports & Vitality as part of the new I3-INSHAPE project.

Degree in Economics from the University of Zaragoza and a Master’s in Environmental Management from the Universities of Amsterdam, Leiden and Wageningen. She has 25 years of experience working in efficient water management by promoting technological and social innovation. She coordinated the project “Zaragoza, water-saving city”, between 1997 and 2006, contributing to making Zaragoza a reference in efficient water management. In 2008 she coordinated the Pavilion of citizen initiatives at Expo Zaragoza 2008 with the slogan “Water and Sustainability”. Since 2010 she has been the manager of ZINNAE, the Aragones cluster for the efficient use of water, promoting collaborative initiatives to enhance innovation on water-related topics.

Since 2003, Teresa Riesgo has been working as a professor of Electronic Technology at the UPM's School of Industrial Engineering (ETSII-UPM), where she has developed her entire teaching and research career.

She has been director of the Industrial Electronics Center, deputy director of Research and International Relations at ETSII-UPM and, more recently, director of the Department of Automation, Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Industrial Informatics.

Since 2003 she has been the UPM representative in the TIME network (Top Industrial Managers in Europe) and a member of its management committee. She is also a member of the Advisory Committee of UniBasq, of the Institutional Quality Evaluation Committee of ACSUCyL and of the Advisory Committee of the Teaching and Institutional Evaluation Division of ANECA. She regularly participates in evaluation panels of national projects and EU framework programs.

She holds a Doctorate in industrial engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid (1996) and an Industrial engineering degree by the UPM (1990).

She has been Director General for Research Development and Innovation at the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, between 2018 and 2020. Since then she held the role of Secretary General for Innovation.

Before assuming the position of Secretary for the Government’s Foreign Action and European Union, Miquel Royo worked as an adviser on international policies in the office of the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès. Previously, he had been appointed Director General of Global Affairs in the Department of External Action, Institutional Relations and Transparency. From 2018 to 2020 he was part of the team at the Catalan Govenment’s delegation to the European Union, where he had the functions of Deputy Representative, a position he had assumed after working in Minister Maragall's cabinet in the Department of External Action. Previously, he had worked as coordinator and local advisor for Esquerra Republicana MEPs.

Miquel Royo has also developed part of his professional career in the private sector, where he has worked for multinationals in the field of consulting and communication.

Miquel Royo has a degree in international relations from the University of Birmingham (United Kingdom) and a master's degree in European studies from the London School of Economics.