SUPPORTING INNOVATION THROUGH ICT : Sharing Good Practices – Benefits & Challenges by

1. SUPPORTING INNOVATION THROUGH ICT: Sharing Good Practices – Benefits & Challenges  by Gareth Hughes (Project Director, IANIS+)

2. IANIS+ • Initiative of 44 regions (including 5 NMS regions as associate members)

3. IANIS+ • Initiative of 44 regions (including 5 NMS regions as associate members)

4. IANIS+ • Initiative of 44 regions (including 5 NMS regions as associate members)

5. IANIS+ • Initiative of 44 regions (including 5 NMS regions as associate members) • €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

6. 4.2 Regional Good Practice Research & Peer Reviews 4.1 Annual Conferences & Policy Seminars Case Study Reports Case Study Reports 4.3 Intensive Training Course Guides Guides 4.4 Thematic Work Groups Case Study Reports Case Study Reports Guides Training Materials Conference Proceedings 4.5 Dissemination Activities Main Elements of the Work Programme

7. Action Line 1: Conferences & Policy Seminars Blekinge, June 2006 Bilbao, June 2007 Lille, June 2005 Conclusions disseminated and communicated to the EC

8. Action Line 1: Conferences & Policy Seminars • Infrastructure (Broadband & the Digital Divide) • Networks of Research, Innovation & Deployment • From eBusiness to Smart Business • Regions and eHealth • eLearning for Regional Development • Infrastructure & Next Generation Networks • Indicators & benchmarking • eGovernment for Regions Conclusions disseminated and communicated to the EC

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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.)

13. Action Line 5: Dissemination - 2 • Monthly Newsletter • 33 editions • 171 contributions from regions • Focus on good practice projects • 4000+ downloads per month

14. Good Practice by the Infrastructure Work 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

15. Good Practice by the Infrastructure Work Group • 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 www.broadband-europe.eu

16. Good Practice by the Infrastructure Work Group • 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 www.broadband-europe.eu

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. Thank you for your attention ghughes@irisi.u-net.com