INCONET-GCC2 International Conference Collaboration for Innovation; Linking GCC and EU. Final Report

Transcription

1 INCONET-GCC2 International Conference Collaboration for Innovation; Linking GCC and EU Muscat, 6-8 December 2015 Final Report The IncoNet GCC2 project has received funding from the European Union s Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7) under grant agreement No

2 Copyright Copyright The INCONET-GCC 2 Consortium Disclaimer All intellectual property rights are owned by the INCONET-GCC2 consortium members and are protected by the applicable laws. Except where otherwise specified, all document contents are: INCONET-GCC2 Project - All rights reserved. Reproduction is not authorised without prior written agreement. All INCONET-GCC2 consortium members have agreed to full publication of this document. The commercial use of any information contained in this document may require a license from the owner of that information. All INCONET-GCC2 consortium members are also committed to publish accurate and up to date information and take the greatest care to do so. However, the INCONET-GCC2 consortium members cannot accept liability for any inaccuracies or omissions nor do they accept liability for any direct, indirect, special, consequential or other losses or damages of any kind arising out of the use of this information. INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 2

3 Executive summary The current deliverable 5.4 presents the proceedings & report of the INCONET-GCC 2 International conference entitled: Collaboration for Innovation; Linking GCC and EU which took place in Muscat, on 7-8 December This conference was part of Task 5.2 of the INCONET-GCC 2 project which aims to showcase results, exchange knowledge and learn about developments across related disciplines and selected societal challenges. The focus of the conference was the presentation of the state of affairs, collaboration opportunities & benefits as well as the barriers to overcome in STI cooperation between GCC-EU, with a focus in Energy/Smart Cities and Healthcare which have been identified as sectors of mutual benefit between the two regions (see annex A for the full programme of the Conference and annex B for bios of the invited speakers and moderators). In order to have a relevant & dynamic event, the speakers interventions focused on concrete partnerships in the context of Horizon 2020 and other EU initiatives in R&I. In addition, concrete cooperation opportunities in the aforementioned areas of mutual interest for EU and GCC stakeholders were identified. The presentations can be downloaded from the following link: The INCONET-GCC 2 international conference was a success with more than 140 participants from GCC and EU countries throughout the 2 days (see annex C for the list of participants). The event was also a success in terms of the high quality of deliberations between high-level stakeholders from both regions. The conference contributed to the development and promotion of relations and exchanges between stakeholders in Energy/Smart cities & Healthcare. In addition to the 2 days conference, there were on-site visits to local Technology Parks, incubators, and Research Organizations organized by TRC The Research Council of on the eve of the opening day of the conference on 6 December 2015 (see annex D for the programme of the on-site visits). Family photo INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 3

4 Table of Contents 1.Introduction Day Panel 1- The EU and GCC perspectives on R&I cooperation Panel 2- EU-GCC STI State of the art: programs, actors, and instruments on R&I Panel 3- International cooperation strategies and programmes Panel 4 - Horizon 2020 opportunities and support services for GCC Panel 5 - Main challenges in EU-GCC R&I cooperation: Ways to overcome the hurdles Panel 6- Open Innovation: A facilitator for EU-GCC cooperation? Panel 7- R&I in Energy/Smart Cities and Health: Current achievements and success stories in EU-GCC cooperation Panel 8- Future opportunities for collaboration in H2020: Moving towards a stronger EU-GCC cooperation in Energy/Smart Cities & Health Day Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.1 Panel 9- The State of Innovation in GCC: The Energy/Smart Cities & Health sectors Panel 10- Innovation in Energy/Smart Cities and Health in an international context Panel 11- Roundtable discussion and concluding remarks: R&I policy review - Steps to improve EU-GCC cooperation Annexes Programme Agenda Annex A Speakers' biographies Annex B List of Participants Annex C Agenda of the Visits & Pictures Annex D Inconet-GCC 2 International Conference on-site visits pictures Annex E Photos Gallery Annex F Press release in English Annex G INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 4

5 1. Introduction INCONET-GCC2 is a three year ( ) project funded by the European Commission Directorate General for Research and Innovation with a view to establish a Science, Technology and Innovation International Cooperation Network between European Union and the Arab Gulf Countries aiming at the bi-regional coordination towards HORIZON2020. As part of its communication, dissemination and networking activities, IncoNet GCC2 organised the 1 st International Conference entitled Collaboration for Innovation; Linking GCC and EU which took place in Muscat, on 6-8 December The organization of the event started in May 2015 with the active involvement of a number of IncoNet GCC2 project partners; under the coordination of Items International and the Research Council of (involved partners included APRE, British Council, Euroconsultants S.A, IKED, Masdar Institute, Praxi Network/FORTH, Qatar University and University of Thessaly). The main conference objectives were: To present the current landscape in EU-GCC cooperation in the research priorities of Energy/Smart cities and Health To highlight collaboration opportunities and benefits for relevant stakeholders from both regions To identify the barriers that need to be tackled in order to enhance R&I collaboration on these research priorities To present concrete partnerships in the context of Horizon 2020 and other EU initiatives in R&I as well as actual cooperation opportunities in the areas of mutual interest for GCC & Europe previously identified To Promote exchanges & cooperation between key stakeholders from the GCC & Europe on the selected key priorities and potential cooperation, partnerships & action plans between the two regions To raise awareness on the progress & findings of the INCONET GCC 2 project The full programme of the Conference is attached as Annex A and the short bios of the invited speakers and moderators as Annex B Given the scope of the conference, the target audience was wide and gathered representatives from both regions and both public and private entities: Research Policy makers Researchers Governmental funding and regulatory authorities R&D entities SMEs Universities Science and Technology Parks The detailed List of Participants is attached as Annex C The first plenary session The EU and GCC perspectives on R&I cooperation served at exposing the forecasted results from an European Union and Gulf countries R&I cooperation and reviewing the most important R&I European programme Horizon The following session EU-GCC STI State of the art: programmes, actors, and instruments on R&I presented the current landscape of STI in EU and the GCC region and explored the ground for further research and innovation collaboration between the two regions. INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 5

6 The third panel International cooperation strategies and programmes aimed at demonstrating and investigating the potential synergies, complementarities and links through the illustration of the strategies and programmes of three organizations already working in the Gulf Countries. The fourth panel Horizon 2020 opportunities and support services for GCC explained the Horizon 2020 agenda, the new framework programme funded by the European Commission which is strongly focused on research and innovation. The fifth panel Main Challenges in EU-GCC R&I Cooperation: Ways to Overcome the Hurdles focused on the hurdles to the EU and Gulf Countries collaboration in research and innovation and presented ways to overcome them. The sixth panel Open Innovation: A facilitator for EU-GCC cooperation? presented the opportunities offered by an open innovation process in order to facilitate the EU-GCC collaboration. The seventh panel R&I in Energy/Smart Cities and Health: Current achievements and success stories in EU-GCC cooperation explored the common challenges & possible cooperation between the EU and GCC on R&I in Energy/Smart Cities and Health. The final panel of the first day Future opportunities for collaboration in H2020: Moving towards a stronger EU- GCC cooperation in Energy/Smart Cities & Health featured an analysis of EU-GCC collaboration opportunities in the framework of H2020 in Health & Energy. Plenary session-day 1 The second day started with a panel on The State of Innovation in GCC: The Energy/Smart Cities & Health sectors and presented the state of innovation in the Gulf Countries via case studies and the different elements involved in order to have an efficient innovation process. The nextpanel Innovation in Energy/Smart Cities and Health in an international context" presented common topics of interest for Europe & Gulf countries (Energy, Smart Cities and health) and exposed various successful collaboration cases as well as the reasons of the success and sustainable lessons learned. The conference concluded with a Roundtable discussion and concluding remarks: R&I policy review Steps to improve EU-GCC cooperation which focused on exploring ways to facilitate and increase the scientific and technological collaboration between EU and Gulf Countries at the policy level. On the eve of the conference, on-site visits were organized in local Technology Parks, Incubators, and Research Organizations. There was a visit at the Middle East Desalination Research Center Medrc which is a research center focusing on Thermal, Membrane, and Alternative Desalination; Operation and Maintenance; Intakes & Outfalls; Energy and Environment Issues; Hybridized Systems; Certification Programs and Assessment Studies. There was also a visit at the Sas for Entrepreneurship and Sas For Virtual Reality centers which are incubators for ICT SMEs. The i Sas Programme provides the foundation for creating a new and vibrant ICT industry and serves at fostering an entrepreneurial spirit in the ICT sector in. The third visit was to the National Business Center-NBC which is another incubator for SMEs which offers to promising i entrepreneurs a platform to further their business ideas and develop them into growing ventures. NBC vision is to become the premier platform for i entrepreneurs by providing business INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 6

7 development support and guidance, training and mentoring, access to markets and industry experts and stateof-the-art, fully equipped office space, meeting rooms and presentation facilities. Finally there was a visit at the Industrial Innovation Center IIC which is a center focused on innovation for the development of industry. IIC expects to create new products, mechanisms and processes that will eventually contribute to 's GDP by making i products locally and internationally competitive. Visit to MEDREC headquarters INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 7

8 2. Day 1 Monday, 7 December Panel 1- The EU and GCC perspectives on R&I cooperation Moderator: Mr. George Baroutas, Coordinator of INCONET-GCC2, Technology Transfer Consultant, PRAXI Network, Greece Dr. Abdulbaqi Al Khabouri, Innovation Park Muscat (IPM) Director, The Research Council, Mrs. Lucie Berger, First Secretary for Trade and Economic Affairs, EU Delegation to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar Mr. Thierry Devars, Project Officer, DG Research and Innovation, European Commission The first session of the conference focused on the expected results that R&I cooperation should have for European Union and Gulf countries while an overview of the biggest R&I European programme Horizon 2020 was also made. Dr. Abdulbaqi Al Khabouri gave a speech indicating the strong points of R&I collaboration between the Gulf Countries and the European Union. Particular attention was given to the i R&I ecosystem where a set of various promising programmes and actors exist with expressed willingness in cooperating with international actors and institutions. Moreover, Dr. Al Khabouri gave an overview of The Research Council s activities in the future including the Innovation Park Muscat and other initiatives proving the willingness of the i Government to invest in Research and Innovation. Mrs. Lucie Berger expressed on behalf of the EU Delegation to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar the willingness to enhance and facilitate the cooperation in R&I between GCC and EU. A clear statement was made about the importance of Science, Research and Innovation (STI) collaboration for both sides, provided that nowadays STI is a global matter and synergies should be encouraged at all levels. Regarding the Delegation of European Union Mrs. Berger Lucie highlighted the importance of already existing projects between EU and GCC and assured the support at political level for such collaboration on behalf of the Delegation of the EU. Mr. Thierry Devars presented in detail facts and figures about the Research and Innovation ecosystem in EU. More specifically, he presented the biggest R&I programme at a global basis, Horizon He underlined that Horizon 2020 is a programme which is open for all countries with specific exploitable opportunities for Gulf Countries actors and institutions. Additionally, Mr. Devars explained how Horizon 2020 works and indicated that the new biannual work programmes for are launched. Last but not least, Mr. Devars presented technology and innovation platforms and explained how relevant stakeholders can take advantage of those. For instance he indicated the existence of Platforms in the Energy sector such as Zero Emissions Platform, a coalition of stakeholders united in their support for CO2 Capture and Storage (CCS) as a key technology for combating climate change. Consequently all participants in the specific panel expressed from their point of view the dynamic and the need for a stronger collaboration in R&I between EU and GCC and declared their willingness to facilitate and boost such a direction. INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 8

9 2.2 Panel 2- EU-GCC STI State of the art: programmes, actors, and instruments on R&I Moderator: Ms Stavroula Maglavera, Researcher Engineer, University of Thessaly, Greece Mr. George Baroutas, Electrical and Computer Engineer, Technology Transfer Consultant, PRAXI Network, Greece Mr. Abdalla Adlan, Project Manager, Qatar University, Qatar This session focused on the presentation of the STI landscape in Europe and the GCC region, since this will be the basis for further research and innovation collaboration. It proved to be a very valuable session as the perspectives of the speakers as well as the alignments of the organizations demonstrated clear synergies, complementarities and potential linkages. Mr. George Baroutas, Electrical and Computer Engineer, Technology Transfer Consultant, PRAXI Network, Greece Mr. Baroutas started with the presentation of Europe 2020 as the EU's growth strategy for the coming decade. In a changing world, we want the EU to become a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy. These three mutually reinforcing priorities should help the EU and the Member States deliver high levels of employment, productivity and social cohesion. Concretely, the Union has set five ambitious objectives - on employment, innovation, education, social inclusion and climate/energy - to be reached by Each Member State has adopted its own national targets in each of these areas. Concrete actions at EU and national levels underpin the strategy. To this end, the EC has the following goals: 75 % of the population aged should be employed. 3% of the EU's GDP should be invested in R&D. The "20/20/20" climate/energy targets should be met (including an increase to 30% of emissions reduction if the conditions are right). The share of early school leavers should be under 10% and at least 40% of the younger generation should have a tertiary degree. 20 million less people should be at risk of poverty. Horizon 2020 is the main financial instrument implementing the Innovation Union and its main characteristics are the following: A 80 billion research and innovation funding programme ( ) A single programme bringing together three formerly separated programmes/initiatives (FP7/CIP/EIT)*. Focus on societal challenges facing EU society, e.g. health, clean energy and transport Simplified access, for all companies, universities, institutes in all EU countries and beyond (=> openess for international cooperation). Strong participation of SMEs Open Access as basic principle for peer-reviewed scientific publications Open to any legal entity regardless of their place of establishment ( Biannual Work programmes (Work programme recently published) Easy access to information through the participant portal ( Other Innovation Union projects are the (1) European Innovation Partnerships and (2) European Technology Platforms. Finally, he closed his presentation with a short introduction to the INCONET-GCC2 project. Mr. Abdalla Adlan, Project Manager, Qatar University, Qatar Mr Adlan focused his presentation on the STI systems of the GCC countries. Specifically: Qatar: Qatar National Vision 2030 States: In order to further support human development, Qatar will aspire to be an active center in the field of scientific research and intellectual activities. In Qatar the quest for knowledge and expertise in the fields of medicine, science, technology and environmental sustainability is a top INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 9

10 priority on the global agenda. Qatar is seeking to play a leading role in that quest, as it moves rapidly toward becoming established as a knowledge-based economy. The main actors are the Qatar Foundation and the Qatar University. United Arab Emirates: UAE research strategy s built around: (1) A Competitive Economy Driven by Knowledgeable and Innovative Emiratis, (2) A diversified and flexible knowledge-based economy will be powered by skilled Emiratis and strengthened by world-class talent to ensure long-term prosperity for the UAE, (3) Harness full potential of national human capital, (4) Sustainable and diversified economy, (5) Knowledgebased and highly productive economy. The main research stakeholders in UAE are: The National Universities (Higher Colleges of Technology, Khalifa University, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, United Arab Emirates University, Zayed University, The Petroleum Institute), The research centers (Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research, Sharjah Center for Astronomy and Space Sciences, Mohammad Bin Rashid Space Center, UAE Space Agency), the Research Conferences (Sustainable Development through FDI Induced Innovation and Technology Transfer, Official Summit for Arab Innovation & Education, Abu Dhabi Science Festival, UAE Innovation Week). Kuwait: Kuwait has established specialized scientific bodies, which can undertake work in the field of academic research with the ultimate aim of building up modern Kuwait. The main scientific, technical and industrial research institutes are: Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR), Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS), and Kuwait Science Club. : Most research conducted in has been done at the behest of the government. It is expected that over the next 10 years R&D policies will be focusing on a new range of issues such as Innovation policy, Entrepreneurship, Commercialization & value adding and patenting. The Research Council (TRC) main strategy themes are: (1) Building greater research capacity; (2) Achieving research excellence in fields of national importance; (3) creating a supportive environment for research; (4) Disseminating knowledge and utilizing academic research. All of s universities, and especially Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) which has nine advanced research centers, have a strong focus on research. Bahrain: Diversification away from oil remains the priority for the Bahraini government, but in order to sustain the current wealth beyond the oil reserves the country will have to make more efforts to improve education and enhance innovation (Economic Development Board, Bahrain). The main actors are (1) University Bahrain and the UB Research centers. Saudi Arabia: The main actors are: (1) KING ABDULAZIZ CITY FOR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (KACST) is an independent scientific organization administratively reporting to the Prime Minister and carry mandates such as Science and technology policy making, data collection, funding of external research, other services such as the patent office; (2) King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) has number of research centers Research in: Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering Division (BESE), Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Science and Engineering Division, Physical Science and Engineering Division (PSE); (3) King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) set the stage for innovation and entrepreneurship activities to be effective, and to advance outcomes of research activities for better collaborative R&D activities with Dammam Techno Valley (DTV) Science Park tenants; (4) Makkah Techno Valley Company (MTVC) is fully owned by Umm Al Qura University (UQU). INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 10

11 2.3 Panel 3- International cooperation strategies and programmes Moderator: Dr. Yasemin Koc, Innovation Advisor British Council, United-Kingdom Dr. Ioannis Kaltsas, Head of Division, European Investment Bank, Luxemburg Dr. Kirstie Yvette Wild, Senior Consultant, DPhil; Secretariat of Executive Board Danish Technological Institute, Denmark Dr. Abdulnasser Al-Ansari, Deputy Executive Director, Qatar National Research Foundation, Qatar This session focused on investigating the strategies and programs of three organizations with regards to the Gulf Arab Countries. It proved to be a very valuable session as the perspectives of the speakers as well as the alignments of the organizations demonstrated clear synergies, complementarities and potential linkages. The Qatar National Research Fund was represented by Dr Abdulnasser Al-Ansari, the Danish Technology Institute by Dr Kirsten Yvette Wild and the European Investment Bank by Dr Ioannis Kaltsas. Each speaker provided an overview of its organization and then followed answering questions on WHY, HOW and WHAT which were moderated by Dr Yasemin Koc from the British Council. The WHY was about trying to understand why the specific organization is interested in the Gulf region, its perspective and how it sees its role with and in the region. The HOW referred to the strategy, alignment and approach of the specific organizations. For example if an organization works on the basis of capacity building, or knowledge transfer or knowledge exchange. The WHAT dealt with the activities done, lessons learned and potential areas to further development. Following contributions were provided by the speakers. Block A: WHY Dr. Abdulnasser Al-Ansari, QNRF - Qatar National Research Foundation: The vision and mandate of the Qatar Government is to support Research Excellence and achieve Knowledge- Based Economy. This role is allocated to QNRF. Dr. Ioannis Kaltsas, EIB - European Investment Bank: EIB has provided 7 billion euros of investment capital in It cooperates very closely to the European Commission for the prioritization of investment targets and is looking forward to the initiation of the EFSI- Junker Plan to fund innovative projects. EIB has active cooperation with the GCC region; the region does not necessarily need EIB funding but it can benefit from the transfer of innovation expertise and the definition of common financing priorities with a view to having a significant impact in the GCC region. Dr. Kirstie Yvette Wild, DTI - Danish Technological Institute: DTI has very diverse thematic and activities. It employs more than 1000 people and provides technology transfer services to Industry and in general it mirrors the Industry needs thus it aligns its operations to them. Block B: HOW Dr. Abdulnasser Al-Ansari, QNRF - Qatar National Research Foundation: There is a strong need to attract more human capital and expertise from the GCC region and beyond. It achieves that by attracting PhD students and developing collaborative research projects through R&I financing programmes. Dr. Kirstie Yvette Wild, DTI - Danish Technological Institute: DTI provides services on a commercial basis and develops various H2020 projects targeting a 25% increase in international cooperation. It achieves that by participation in networking activities and participating in international organizations such as WAITRO Dr. Ioannis Kaltsas, EIB - European Investment Bank: EIB provides various forms of financing such as Loans, Equity, etc. it has funded the development of a start-up active in the entire Arab Regions that utilizes data. It cooperates with the European Space Agency in financing projects on renewable energy. EIB is interested in smart business innovation that can have a significant impact in the regional economy and society. INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 11

12 Block C: WHAT Dr. Abdulnasser Al-Ansari, QNRF - Qatar National Research Foundation: QNRF programmes are open to international cooperation; actually about 65% of funds are directed to international organisations and the rest to Qatari institutions. Such funding programmes aim to enhance the research profile of Qatari organisations and to position Qatar as the key innovation hub of the GCC region. 800 very competitive and high quality research projects have been financed so far (532 collaborating institutions). Special focus is placed to human capital development, including the funding of Graduate Students Research Awards and PhD Awards. QNRF has developed joint financing of programmes with U.S. Institutions on Health; it has also worked with the Belmond Institute for the development of a Women in Science Programme. He believes that more emphasis and effort should be placed on regional GCC collaboration, i.e. among GCC countries organisations as this is not as developed as it should. Dr. Ioannis Kaltsas, EIB - European Investment Bank: Investment in Innovation is risky and it has to be risky because in that manner it can achieve a bigger profit for the financiers and it can have a bigger impact on society and economy. EIB places emphasis in the transformation of a good idea to a comprehensive project that can be financed and it supports this process by means of technical assistance. He highlighted the fact that people in GCC countries have an inherent entrepreneurial spirit and culture that has to be supported to achieve more projects. Dr. Kirstie Yvette Wild, DTI - Danish Technological Institute: DTI supports Danish companies to collaborate with GCC entities (main focus is Energy); it is important that institutions work together and identify common challenges and areas of where synergies can take place. Q&A session There is a need to increase the number of researchers and innovators in GCC region and trigger the interest in R&I. It appears that other economic sectors offer possibly better employment opportunities and a higher profile. It is also a matter of culture: family, school, university, media and policy makers should trigger interest for R&I; it would take years to change the attitude. Research should have a significant impact to Society to justify costs. It takes time to overcome barriers, including cultural barriers in R&I cooperation. It is important for an international organization to have local partners to understand the local context and minimize risks. Big companies can take such a risk with a view of entering a big regional market. SMEs cannot, thus they share risk with local partners. There s lack of internal GCC cooperation; synergies among GCC actors should be strengthened. This will maximize impact, improve the allocation of resources and minimize duplication of efforts. The idea of using ERANET programmes with 3 rd countries was explored; the representative of the EC responded that regional countries should ask for and apply for such a network. It was noted that local GCC graduates and researchers should be granted with bigger confidence and more opportunities should be allocated to them. INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 12

13 2.4 Panel 4- Horizon 2020 opportunities and support services for GCC Ms. Monique Bossi, National Contact Point in H2020; Project Manager, APRE - Agency for the Promotion of European Research, Italy The European Union is a world leader in research and innovation, responsible for 24% of world expenditure on research, 32% of high impact publications and 32% of patent applications, while representing only 7% of the world population. Over recent decades the world landscape of research and innovation has evolved rapidly, with emerging economies strengthening their research and innovation systems. The number of scientific publications has increased significantly, yet the European Union has maintained its proportional share of the number of scientific publications. EU leaders believe strongly that research and innovation will create the economic opportunities of tomorrow: research and innovation have been placed at the centre of the EU budget for the programming period between Horizon 2020, the new framework programme funded by the European Union for research and innovation , is designed to address these societal challenges through funding excellent science, technology and innovation. The Programme is central to the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, the Innovation Union flagship to create a knowledge society, and the goal to complete the European Research Area as a single market for knowledge. Horizon 2020 allows seamless funding (almost 80 billion euros over the seven years) of research and innovation, so that innovative projects can be supported from the laboratory to commercial exploitation. All forms of innovation are included, including innovation in services and social innovation. Horizon 2020 aims to include the best researchers and innovators regardless of where they are located: it is open to participation by researchers from anywhere in the world. Horizon 2020 is focused on three pillars: excellent science, industrial leadership and societal challenges - all of which are open for international participation. This first pillar includes several activities aimed at individual researchers of any nationality offering very interesting opportunities to spend part of their research career in Europe. The European Research Council offers generous and flexible grants for researchers, from anywhere in the world, to establish research groups in Europe. The grants support investigator driven, 'frontier' research in any scientific discipline and there is only one criterion; excellence. The Marie Sklodowska Curie actions support the career development and training of researchers in all scientific disciplines, through transnational, intersectional and interdisciplinary mobility. Grants for all stages of researchers' careers are available. The MSCA will be the main EU programme for doctoral training, funding PhDs. The second pillar includes the so called Key enabling technologies - such as advanced manufacturing, microelectronics, nanotechnology and biotechnology - underpin innovation across many industries and sectors. Innovative companies are at the heart of job creation and growth: Strategic investments in key technologies (e.g. advanced manufacturing, micro-electronics) underpin innovation across existing and emerging sectors; Like every other world region, Europe wants to attract more private investment in research and innovation; Like every other world region, Europe wants more innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to create growth and jobs. Collaborative research proposals are invited from consortia of research organisations which may also include international partners. The third pillar is the part of Horizon 2020 that also in financial terms, aims to address, major challenges concerns of citizens and society through collaborative research and innovation. For example, reducing CO2 emissions depends on new technologies and solutions for energy, transport, agriculture and the management of resources: such challenges are shared by all countries across the globe. The challenges require a broad, multi-disciplinary approach that brings together researchers, industry, public bodies and users to create INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 13

14 innovative solutions that will meet peoples' needs. Horizon 2020 will support not only research into new technologies and solutions, but also their piloting, demonstration and market uptake: in this way the full impact of EU funding will be achieved. Collaborative research proposals are invited from consortia of research organisations which may also include international partners. A New International Strategy The European Commission's approach to international cooperation has been set out in a Communication in 2012 entitled "Enhancing and focusing EU international cooperation in research and innovation: a strategic approach". The general openness of Horizon 2020 to the participation of researchers from public and private organisations from across the world is part of this approach. International Cooperation is therefore mainstreamed across Horizon 2020 to tackle global challenges, promote mobility of researchers and boost the competitiveness of industries as it brings these benefits to all partners be they in Europe or elsewhere in the world. In fact International cooperation is necessary to address effectively many specific objectives defined in Horizon 2020, this is the case in particular for all the societal challenges which need to be tackled at global level. International cooperation is also essential for frontier and basic research in order to capture the benefits from emerging science and technology opportunities. Promoting the international mobility of researchers and innovators is crucial for enhancing this global cooperation. Activities at the international level are equally important to enhance the competitiveness of industries by promoting the take-up and trade of novel technologies, for instance through the development of worldwide standards and guidelines. All of H2020 is open to international cooperation. Any consortium on any topic mentioned can include an international partner. This is what we call 'General Opening'. It is completely bottom up and requires only that project coordinators include international partners when preparing their consortium. In addition to this 'General Opening', there is the so called 'targeted opening' on topics which are preidentified in the Work Programmes as encouraging or requiring international partners. These topics usually arise out of the dialogues we have with our main international partners. With certain partner countries, coordinated calls for proposals can be jointly agreed and the partners funded separately be each side: the topics for coordinated calls, which bring mutual benefit, are always agreed in the policy dialogues we have with the partner country. The Rules of Participation distinguish between eligibility to participate and eligibility for funding. Eligibility to participate: a legal entity from anywhere in the world can participate in a consortium as long as the minimum conditions are met (at least 3 legal entities from 3 different EU or Associated countries). A researcher in an international partner country can even be the coordinator of a research consortium but the minimum conditions must still be met: - For the European Research Council, the applicant must identify in the proposal the host institution in an EU/associated country in which he/she will establish their research group; - For Marie Sklodowska Curie Grants, pre- and post-doctoral and other positions are published (on Euraxess Jobs Portal) and are open to applicants from anywhere I the world; - For standard collaborative actions, at least three legal entities, each established in a different Member State or Associated Country; once these 3 entities are determined, a participant from anywhere in the world can be included in the consortium. There can be additional conditions for participation that will be set out in the relevant work programme Legal entities established in Member States or associated countries are always automatically eligible for funding. This includes entities from third countries established in a Member State or associated country under Union Law. Likewise, legal entities in low or medium per-capita income or low GDP countries (effectively Developing countries) are eligible for funding. For other countries there is no automatic access to EC contribution, funding is possible if: the country is identified as eligible for funding in the work programme and in the text of the call; or the participation is deemed by the Commission to be essential in the action; or when it is provided for under a bilateral scientific and technological agreement All relevant information on Horizon 2020 can be found online. The Participant Portal contains all the necessary documents and online manuals to help you understand Horizon 2020 and how to apply. INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 14

15 2.5 Panel 5- Main Challenges in EU-GCC R&I Cooperation: Ways to Overcome the Hurdles Moderator: Prof., Dr., Thomas Andersson, Chairman, IKED, Sweden Prof., Dr., Mansoor Ahmed Hasan Husain Alaali, President, Ahlia University, Bahrain Prof., Dr., Pier-Luigi Sacco, Vice-Rector and Professor of Cultural Economics, IULM University, Milan, Italy Dr. Nicolas Patrici, Director, AECHE - Arab-Euro Conference on Higher Education, University of Barcelona, Spain Introduction to the session This session took stock of the hurdles to collaboration in research and innovation between the EU and the GCC countries, and discussed ways to overcome them. With reference to the rise of f "smart cities", where new tools are at hand to address issues that arise with regard to energy, the environment, health, and so forth, the session ventured into the role of different stakeholders. In his introductory remarks, the Moderator noted that the EU countries have an established common framework for R&D and innovation while the GCC countries are making serious efforts to build capacity but do not much collaborate with one another. Hurdles arise at various levels, however, including national policies (in research and innovation, as well as more broadly), at the regional level, the institutional (universities, institutes, companies) and at the level of individuals. In various ways, the influence of policies blend with mindset issues related to cultural interchange and behaviors. Achieving better outcomes does requires identifying how issues at these various levels relate, and coming up with comprehensive responses. The Inconet-GCC 2 project represents an unusual and valuable platform for joint considerations, proposals and launching new actions in this regard. Introductory presentations by the panelists Prof., Dr., Mansoor Ahmed Hasan Husain Alaali: In his presentation, Dr. Mansoor examined particularly what is key to realizing better research and innovation collaboration through the means of information and communications technology (ICT), and with particular consideration to the role played by universities in both the EU and in the GCC: He noted the great importance of ICT in regard to the enhancement of processes, products and the quality of services, with the fulfillment of this potential much dependent on the link between ICT and innovation. He further argued that the local capacities are more limited in the GCC compared to the EU, which is manifested in a gap between targets and objectives on the one hand, and what is achieved on the other hand. He argued that, rightly used, EU participation can speed the rate of progress. Diversifying the economy, which is of particular importance, will require that the GCC countries are able to advance their scientific research while at the same time becoming more capable of absorbing and making productive use of new technologies. Given that EU collaboration succeeds in establishing genuine institutional collaboration involving universities on both sides, there will be a greater scale and more diversity in terms of knowledge exchanges. For this to be possible policy makers, universities and research institutions in the GCC countries need to undertake a series of measures to improve conditions for networking, innovation and technology-based entrepreneurship. Prof., Dr., Pier-Luigi Sacco: Prof. Sacco underlined that science and research has developed strongly in Europe over the last decades and benefitted tremendously from the regional collaboration within the EU programs, although the bulk of the research effort remains under the national realm within both the EU and the GCC. The realization of societal benefits from research are much dependent on innovation, however, the success of which is much determined by broader societal uptake and responses to new ideas and doing things. The way societies function varies enormously. The great hurdles to realizing stronger benefits from research and innovation, notably through enhanced cross-border collaboration, hinges strongly on the extent to which the scientific discourse is accompanied by processes that enable complementary societal processes. There is a need to "build" a societal landscape that encourages and embraces research and innovation. Hurdles in this regard are strongly prevalent in both Europe and the GCC and hard to overcome in both regions. In some respects, the globalisation process and enhanced mobility leads to counter-reactions among large numbers of people that even worsen the obstacles. It is important to use digital heritage more purposefully to identify the way that mindset and social INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 15

16 stigma hinders collaboration in regard to both the development and the use of new technologies and innovation. The EU and the GCC should develop a conscientious joint program to better identify and overcome these issues. Dr. Nicolas Patrici: The best was to realize collaboration between diverse players is to "start working together". There is a tendency for policymakers and academics to keep discussing what to do but in reality not do that much. It is through real action and the demonstration of results that progress become possible. Much of the initiative in making use of ICT for innovation and the development of new services are now happening at the level of cities, under the label of "smart cities". The City of Barcelona developed close and productive collaboration between various relevant authorities, technology providers, universities and research institutes and also local communities, in concrete new programmes, e.g. to introduce renewable energies, reduce energy waste, and improving water management. In these agendas, interest and engagement in collaboration with partners in other regions and cities have progressed rapidly in recent years. The City has taken particular interest in the development of a series of activities to link the EU and Arab (including the GCC) players for dialogue, joint action and learning. Key to overcoming geographical distance and differences in mindset and approach is the experience that comes from working together. In order to overcome the hurdles it is important to make smart use of seed funding to building human relations centering on concrete joint experience from participating in meaningful joint research and project activities. Q&A Session Observations were made on the need of engaging children from early age to be interested in research, innovation and entrepreneurship; acting at the stage of university studies is too late. It is thus important to develop programs that involve young people and allow them to benefit from broader cross-border collaboration between the GCC and the EU. Other comments focused on the process and modes for collaboration. It was felt that a more systematic collaborative process should be worked out, which is capable of engaging key institutions on both side in concrete joint activities to achieve common goals. It was concluded that policies and programs need to be developed "from the top" with a view to encouraging more initiative and active collaboration "from below", with the purpose of creating more interlinked and diverse common knowledge pools. There is still a lot to learn in how to do this, and how to use diverse cultural set-ups and experiences in a productive way to support such a process. INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 16

17 2.6 Panel 6 - Open Innovation: A facilitator for EU-GCC cooperation? Dr. Roland Harwood, Co-Founder & Managing Partner 100%Open, United-Kingdom This session focused on the role that the open innovation process could play in order to ease & smooth the collaboration. The session & presentation was a success and demonstrate the innovation potential between EU & GCC region. Dr. Roland Harwood s presentation title and focus was on Building productive global partnerships. Dr. Harwood began by reminiscing the audience of the difficulty for collaboration between different organisations, in different geographies, and with different cultures. Those barriers tend to discourage people & organizations to attempt to collaborate and rather try to do it all by themselves. Dr. Harwood rightfully pointed out that working in isolation seldom works especially when trying to deal with complex situations and foster innovation. Working alone on complex situations does not lead to solution; this fact was highlighted in December 2015 with the historic global agreement in Paris on climate change. This agreement was possible only because each country was heard equally, issues were identified and then people systematically worked together in subgroups addressing any disagreements and find a resolution. This negotiation process is an ancient Zulu custom known as indabas. This approach is very similar to how the best open innovation communities and programmes work as well. In a globalized and increasingly connected planet, productive global partnerships are not only increasingly possible but more important than ever. However these partnerships don t just happen by themselves. They require vision, persistence and pro-active facilitation throughout. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. African Proverb Dr. Roland Harwood argued l that people, companies and governments from Europe & GCC regions have a huge amount to learn from each other, especially, in an era of historically low oil prices, in the field of resource and energy efficiency. Dr. Harwood wanted to propose an original presentation by inciting the 140 participants in the room to talk to each other. He started out by inviting participants to line up according to their birthday to show the surprising result that there are lots of people in the room who share a birthday, and that we are always much more connected that we realise. Then he invited participants to turn to somebody they don t know, introduce themselves, and then come up with something they could do together in just 3 minutes. The ideas that came up were brilliant, and the exercise was well received. Connect on your similarities and benefit from you differences. Valdis Krebs Dr. Harwood shared his experience that taught him valuable lessons for cross-innovation: 1. You can t beat being there in person. This is true despite online tools. 2. Over communicate in short sharp bursts. Daily 15 minute calls really helped drive the collaboration of a geographically distributed team. 3. Manage timezones. Connecting two time zones is ok. Connecting three or more. If people are dialing in, in the middle of the night they aren t going to be fully engaged. 4. Leave room for each other to add their expertise. Leave room for the imagination and expertise of others to create something new and better. 5. Engineer equal and independent contribution from all participants. Make sure you hear from everyone and have a strategy to ensure that new ideas are owned and shaped by all participants. 6. Respond well to unexpected actions or others. No matter how well you plan you partners will not always behave as you expect. However expect the unexpected and keep on nudging your collaboration forwards. Dr. Harwood remained cautiously optimistic that the need for global partners is greater than ever and that INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 17

18 people can collectively find a way to work together, and learn so much from each other. He also maintained that people are slowly but surely collectively learning, about how to work together across borders. Dr. Harwood closed his presentation arguing that there will be without a doubt plenty of inertia and frustration along the way, but ways will be found to build productive global partnerships. INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 18

19 2.7 Panel 7: R&I in Energy/Smart Cities and Health: Current achievements and success stories in EU-GCC cooperation Moderator: Dr. Sylviane Toporkoff, Founder & Partner, ITEMS International, France Panelists: Prof. Miimu Airaksinen, Research Professor, Eco-efficient Built Environment, VTT, Technical Research Centre of Finland Prof. Toufic Mezher, Senior Expert, MASDAR Institute, UAE Mr. Giampaolo Armellin, Head of Research Unit, CRG Centro Ricerche GPI, Italy This session focused on R&I in Energy/Smart Cities and Health through the presentation of three distinct case studies. Main results were presented, common challenges between the EU and GCC region were identified, and co-operation possibilities were explored. Prof. Miimu Airaksinen made a presentation on R&I in the field of Energy/Smart Cities. According to recent studies, the global urban population at 54% in 2014 is projected to rise to 70% by Cities are engines of economic growth, accounting for 80% of the global GDP. However, they also consume around 75% of global primary energy and are responsible for 70% of the global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It becomes clear that smart city solutions will play a central role in addressing the needs coming from cities in terms of population, resource consumption, safety, security and mobility, among other demands. These solutions include: - Smart low carbon energy based services for citizens and business Smart networks, especially energy, transport and ICT networks are major enablers for delivering services for citizens and business. They need to be managed with innovative and integrated concepts opening up new approaches. - Low carbon energies: The optimal use of local and renewable energy sources together with other low emission energy sources is very important. The district level heat, cool and power demand is reduced via energy efficient smart buildings and connection to vehicles. - Smart energy management for smart buildings and districts: Holistically operating energy efficient districts have better ability to react to changes. Holistic planning enables cost savings (multifunctioning systems), increased safety and reliability through better utilization of intelligent, integrated and optimized networks. Prof. Airaksinen moved on to argue that both EU and GCC are facing the aforementioned challenges and have many common interests and possible synergies in designing the next generation of smart cities with efficient energy systems. Good example of this is the EU-GCC Renewable Energy Policy Experts Workshop and student meetings but also concrete initiatives to build common projects e.g. in developing sustainable urban energy solutions. VTT has been active in creating contacts with GCC countries and is actively seeking opportunities to co-operate in the field of smart cities and sustainable energy solutions. Question/ Answer: How do you see the co-operation possibilities in these fields? Good examples are discussions between organisations to first seek their common understanding of challenges and secondly to find out the solutions and implementation possibilities. VTT has recently been discussing with a few countries in the region for possible co-operation projects. Typically the projects with very concrete goals seem to be most prominent. Also the industrial perspective from both EU and GCC side is important in order to implement the solutions in real cases. Prof. Toufic Mezher focused his presentation on the GCC Renewable Energy Readiness Assessment Report (RE-Readiness Assessment) which was developed in the context of EU-GCC Clean Energy Network, by Sultan Qaboos University: Renewable & Sustainable Energies Research Group (), the Arabian Gulf University (Bahrain), Qatar Foundation: Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute, King Abdulaziz city for Science and Technology (Saudi Arabia), and Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (Kuwait) under the coordination of INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 19

20 MASDAR Institute (UAE). The overall objective of the Report is to assess the level of development of each county s infrastructure, institutions and human capital factors that influence the attractiveness of investing in RE projects and play a role in enhancing the reliability of RETs to ensure their sustainable deployment. RE- Readiness Assessment is a rapid estimation of how a country can increase readiness and overcome the main barriers. The most noticeable gaps in GCC countries according to the report are: - Key policies (lack of regulatory authorities and energy & climate policies); - Power off-take attractiveness due to subsidized electricity tariffs and energy prices; - A weak supply chain due to low level of current installed capacity of RETs; - Limited awareness of renewable energy resource potential, economic and environmental benefits, and technology learning cost reduction effects; - Investment in renewable energy projects is comparatively less; - Large fossil fuel reserves reduce the urgency of energy diversification and promotion of renewable energy; - Limited organizations for development of human capacity and experts in renewable energy. The main recommendations for RE deployment are: - Develop strategic plans to meet sustainable development goals for each of the GCC countries and the region. - Create collaboration among the GCC energy research institutions and universities as well as international partners. - Undertake feasibility analysis of long term energy and climate policy (targeted renewable energy production and CO2 emissions reduction) and establish feasible national policies for sustainable energy development. - Undertake analysis of energy subsidies and incorporate external costs of fossil based power generation technologies. - Include technology learning effects of innovated clean conversion technologies in long term planning. - Undertake research on life cycle cost of RETs incorporating their co-benefits. - Undertake research on methods of financing for evolution of RETs. - Establish an organization to implement, support and monitor RET projects. - Use international instruments such as CDM to promote RET development. - Improve capacity-building and awareness. - Undertake best practice analysis on renewable energy projects and its application to develop human capital. - Develop awareness of RET benefits, energy security and global contribution on climate change issues. Mr. Giampaolo Armellin made a presentation on Veterinary public health and food safety ICT solutions as these have been developed by GPI. There are actually over 700 customers that work with such solutions ranging from Institutions, Healthcare Authorities, Public & private hospitals, Daycare centers, Nursing homes, Cooperatives, Credit institutions, Organized distribution retailers, etc. Mr. Armellin moved on to describe specific ICT Solutions for Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety in the context of prevention departments and developed systems of animal identification and tracking. He specifically focused on SICER - Certified System for the IT management of Prevention Departments and the implementation model through controls and inspections of food chains. Finally he presented the main advantages of such models which include sound organization of activities, development of standard procedures, data accessibility, and budget control. Starting from that, Mr. Armellin developed the fact that with GPI, they successfully experienced a first step in GCC countries: in Abu Dhabi they deployed a registry for cattle management. Based on that experience, they are currently evaluating opportunities to extend the system to food safety and HACCP, closely collaborating with research and business institutions in Italy and in GCC. Questions/ Answers: How do you plan to develop your business in GCC? Which is your strategy? Mainly I would like to explain that our main concern is about establish business and research relationships, to develop innovative projects, by having local partnerships, to exchange researchers, service designers back and forth from GCC and our company in Italy. What is the role of research in your strategy? Research is key enabling factor, in fact it is necessary to properly understand the context and provide real innovation to address actual needs, in order to deliver a clear value proposition INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 20

21 2.8 Panel 8 Future opportunities for collaboration in H2020: Moving towards a stronger EU-GCC cooperation in Energy/Smart Cities &Health Moderator: Mr. Dimitris Filippidis, Technology Transfer Consultant, FORTH/PRAXI Network Panelists: Dr. Piotr Swiatek, German National Contact Point for Energy in H2020; Science Officer at Project Management Jülich Ms. Monique Bossi, National Contact Point in H2020; Project Manager, APRE, Italy In this session, an in depth analysis of future opportunities for collaboration in H2020 and other EU initiatives was made. The presentations focused on the following Societal Challenges of H2020: i) Secure, Clean & Efficient Energy with particular emphasis on the Smart Cities Challenge, by Dr. Piotr Swiatek ii) Health, Demographic Change and Wellbeing, by Ms. Monique Bossi. Emphasis was given on ways to increase participation of interested stakeholders from the countries of the GCC region in the Calls of H2020. Dr. Swiatek made a thorough analysis of the current political context in the EU (including the 2030 Climate- Energy Package, Energy Union, SET Plan) which informs and influences the objectives as described in the H2020 Workporgrammes. He also provided an overall picture of different funding programmes and instruments in the EU including H2020, ERANET, COST, EIT, EFSI, EIB, EBRD, PF4EE, and COSME. He highlighted the fact that increasing funds are being reserved for the thematic priority Energy (almost 6 billion EURO for ) under H2020 but that at the same time competition has increased significantly (12-14% success rate). The participants were informed of the huge interest in the Call for 2015 where over 40 proposals were submitted and more than 1000 institutions took part as members of consortia. Specific information was given on the current WorkProgramme and particularly for the area Smart and Sustainable Cities Smart Cities and Communities. The main focus of the Call for 2016 is on a) sustainable, cost-effective and replicable district-scale solutions at the intersection of energy, transport enabled by ICT b) intelligent, user-driven and demand-oriented city infrastructure and services, and c) 'Lighthouse project' approach. The specific challenge is to integrate smart buildings, smart grids, energy storage, electric vehicles and smart charging infrastructures, and latest generation ICT platforms based on open specifications. Dr. Swiatek concluded his presentation highlighting the fact that all H2020 calls are open to participation for entities from all around the world including the GCC region. He also informed the conference participants of the dedicated network of Energy NCPs which can assist any entity with search for partners, and clarifications on participation in H2020 ( Energy2020.eu) Ms. Bossi presented Health research throughout H2020 making specific reference to the Workprogramme , other health related initiatives, as well as ways to for interested stakeholders to get support. After a brief overview of H2020 and the main challenges under this priority (including Ageing population, Increased disease burden, Unsustainable and unequal health & care systems, Health & care sector under pressure to reform) her presentation focused on specific aspects of the programme which encourage research on health issues (among others industrial leadership, SC 2 Food, SC7 Security, and of course SC1 Health). Under SC1 the main research priorities include personalized medicine, healthy ageing, human biomonitoring, health ICT, infectious diseases, and maternal and child health. In the specific Workprogramme Ms. Bossi highlighted topics SC1-PM : New therapies for chronic diseases (including diabetes) and SC1-HCO : Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD) as of particular interest for the GCC region. Concluding her presentation, Ms. Bossi referred to the international character of the Workprogramme, and mentioned a number of multilateral research initiatives such as IRDiRC, InTBIR, IHEC, ICGC, GLOPID-R, and GACD. Particular emphasis was given to GACD with conference participants being urged to explore ways of applying in their calls. Finally, a few initiatives/tools were presented that provide support for participation in H2020 including HealthCompetence (project search the network for Health NCPs ( and the FitforHealth2.0 project which offers a variety of services to potential applicants in H2020 ( INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 21

22 The session ended with a series of Q&As. The main points from this include: a) H2020 is a very competitive programme and therefore participation needs careful planning, b) Entities from GCC countries are eligible for participation but not for funding since these countries are middle-high income ones, and c) Interested stakeholders need to be proactive and search for the right partners (this can be done through various ways including partner search at different websites, contact with relevant NCP network, and attendance at Brokerage Events for matchmaking). INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 22

23 3. Day 2 Tuesday, 8 December Panel 9- : The State of Innovation in GCC: The Energy/Smart Cities & Health sectors Moderator: Mr. Dimitris Filippidis, Technology Transfer Consultant, FORTH/PRAXI Network Panelists: Mr. Shafeea Alnattei, Head of IT projects, Health Information Directorate, Ministry of Health, Kingdom of Bahrain Prof. Dr. Mohammad Kazem Behbehani, Director General, Dasman Diabetes Institute, Kuwait Dr. Mahmood Al Kindi, Co-director, Academic Innovation Assistance Programme (AIAP), Sultan Qaboos University, This session focused on the state of innovation in the GCC countries. A couple of case studies were presented from the Kingdom of Bahrain and Kuwait while a more general presentation was also made on the different components involved in the innovation process. Mr. Shafeea Alnattei made a presentation on The State of Innovation in GCC: Role of ICT in providing quality health care Bahrain Experience. The participants of the Conference had the opportunity to get an in-depth picture of the health care system in Bahrain and in particular recent attempts that are being made to introduce Information & Communication Technology in catering to the needs of patients, healthcare providers and healthcare organizations. Particular attention was given to I-SEHA which is a government initiative to enhance the efficiency, planning and monitoring in the health sector through the use of ICT. I-SEHA provides the Ministry of Health with an intelligent and integrated clinical and administrative system which assists in the daily operations and clinical practices and provides real time online analytical decision support tools and eservices to citizens. It is hoped that I-SEHA will facilitate citizen access to health services, enhance the quality of care, reduce costs, facilitate clinical safety through support of professional access to information, and optimize and standardize clinical processes. Prof. Dr. Kazem Behbehani focused in his presentation on the specific heath issue of Diabetes which has become a health problem of world-wide proportions according to the latest statistics from the World Health Organisation and the International Diabetes Federation. There were approximately 390 million diabetic patients in the world in 2014, while 1.5 million deaths were a direct result of this condition in Prof. Behbehani then moved on to present in detail the Dasmani Diabetes Institute (DDI) which was established in Kuwait as a response to this growing phenomenon. The main objective of DDI is to prevent, control and mitigate the impact of diabetes and related conditions in Kuwait through effective programs of research, training, education, treatment, and health promotion and thereby improve quality of life in the population. This objective is achieved through growing medical specialties offered at the Institute, active collaboration and partnership at local, regional & international levels, and the development of state of the art facilities to support the research that is being undertaken. Through its high-level work, the DDI was appointed as the Centre of Excellence for diabetes in the GCC by the Executive Board of the Health Ministers Council. At the same time, DDI is the organisational host for the European Commission activities in health research & technological development in Kuwait and in Diabetes in the Arab Gulf countries. The final presentation of this session by Dr. Mahmood Al Kindi focused on the innovation process as a whole with specific reference to the Academic Innovation Assistance Program (AIAP) of Sultan Qaboos University in. Dr. Al Kindi maintained that there is an ever increasing need for innovation in GCC countries because of the oil price decline, climate change, and the shift towards renewable energy sources. He also argued that innovation can only take place through examination of the local context, identification of relevant stakeholders, objective measurement of own status, and learning from both best and bad practices. Specifically in Academia there is also a need for cooperation with other institutions, access to infrastructure for the startups (e.g. incubators), financial support from government and/or private donors, and good preparation of INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 23

24 researchers in the form of business courses, seminars etc. The AIAP at Sultan Qaboos Univeristy has been developed to address the aforementioned challenges through the creation of an innovative and entrepreneurial university system that is linked to the wider economy. The AIAP mission is to support the development of a conducive environment that fosters innovation in the i Academic Community. This is achieved through the development of creative and innovative faculty and students, addressing institutional barriers to innovation, and facilitating the transfer of innovative research output into the i economy. INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 24

25 3.2 Panel 10 Innovation in Energy/Smart Cities and Health in an international context" Moderator: Ingrid Andersson, CEO, Corporate Wellbeing (CWO), Speakers/Panellists: Dr. Abdulnasser Al-Ansari, Deputy Executive Director, Qatar National Research Foundation, Qatar Dr. Halim Redhwi, CEO, Dhahran Techno-Valley Company, KFUPM, Saudi Arabia Mr. Giampaolo Armellin, Head of the Research Unit, CRG - Centro Ricerche GPI, Italy Ms. Marina Guerin-Jabbour, Innovation and Industry Client Centre Director, IBM-CERT Technology Park Dr. Zaki Mallasi, Director of the Smart Buildings Research Center, Effat University, Saudi Arabia Dr. Mika Rantakokko, COO The Six City Strategy, Open Innovation Platforms, Finland Dr. Sylviane Toporkoff, Founder & Partner, ITEMS International, France Introduction: Focusing on Energy, Smart Cities and health, the objective of this session was to showcase various examples of successful collaboration between the GCC and the EU, and to explore the success factors and ways in which such collaboration can materialize. Lessons learnt were highlighted and there was also an introduction of some new cases with invitations for new collaboration. Dr. Abdulnasser Al-Ansari: Dr Abdulnasser started his presentation by explaining how the Qatar National Research Foundation (QNRF) operates, the volume of the funding and the prioritised areas. The flagship funding program at QNRF is the National Priorities Research Program (NPRP). It funds research proposals ranging from a value of USD 20,000 to USD 300,000 annually during one, two or three years. He emphasised that the Qatar National Research Strategy (QNRS) since 2014 focuses on support research addressing the Grand Challenges in regard to Water Security, Energy Security, Cyber Security and Health. Among successful cases in research collaboration, the gasto-liquid project and the wave & wind studies were referred to. He further outlined the process of application and approval, stressing the importance of practices and communication that help build capacity for the longterm. Dr Abdulnasser concluded his presentation by inviting the stakeholders in the EU to collaborate with Qatari partners in various applications in the mentioned areas:. Dr. Halim Redhwi, CEO, Dhahran Techno-Valley Company, KFUPM, Saudi Arabia In his introductory remarks, Dr Halim presented the basis for a successful innovation ecosystem. He further reflected on what is crucial for innovation to succeed and contribute to a society s development. The main pillars of the ecosystem are knowledge creation, fostering industry-academia linkages, and exploiting commercial potential through technology commercialization. A build-up of competences is required in the local context that is such that economic diversification is enabled. Innovation needs a conducive environment to flourish, in which its different components grow together, i.e. the term innovation ecosystem. He presented a case study of Dhahran Techno Valley (DTV) ecosystem where a project moves from idea, to research, to patent and to a successful product in the market. Success requires a certain focus, so that it is possible for suitable first-rate mechanisms of relevance to the particular area can evolve, in this case a unique system to store certain petrochemicals. The research was conducted in collaboration with American research institutes. He concluded his presentation by stressing that technology commercialization, which involves bridging between inventions and commercial reality, is key for unlocking the commercial value of innovation, leading to both tangible and intangible benefits for society. Mr. Giampaolo Armellin, Head of the Research Unit, CRG - Centro Ricerche GPI, Italy Mr. Armellin elaborated on the changes now ongoing in e-health and m-health. He reviewed the crucial importance of tackling yet outstanding issues in patient security and data control. Reviewing regional and national models in Italy which have made use of modern communication tools to manage electronic patient records, prescriptions and some kinds of preventative care, such as vaccinations. Disease management control for asthma and diabetes are also going through significant changes. He invited GCC country representatives to share experience and collaborate in linking research and new practices in these areas. Ms. Marina Guerin-Jabbour, Innovation and Industry Client Centre Director, IBM-CERT Technology Park Ms. Guerin-Jabbour initially stressed the importance of engaging industrial know-how and practical experience in the innovation system discourse. For the past several years, the IT industry has reorganised intensively to INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 25

26 meet with rapidly evolving conditions that follow from massive technical progress and organisational change. This process entails simultaneous related change and developments in data analytics, cloud computing, mobile communication, social media, and the Internet of Things. In this context, we are now witnessing a wave of innovations around the advent of cognitive computing. Cognitive systems can ingest data in a variety of forms and have them organically repackages in ways that are directly relevant for economic and social processes. The next stage will be when integrated data all the world s data is opened to cognitive systems that understand, reason and learn. The result with be a deeper human engagement, elevated expertise, cognitive products and services, cognitive processes and operations, and Intelligent exploration and discovery. To prepare for and take advantage of these developments organisations much rethink the relationship between all elements of the value chain, including the role of research. Dr. Zaki Mallasi, Director of the Smart Buildings Research Center, Effat University, Saudi Arabia Dr Zaki reviewed the journey in Saudi Arabia to develop the foundations for construction and building design making use of 3D technology. Important connections to innovation in design, architecture and energy management were elaborated. The examples showcased by Dr Zaki elaborated on different prototypes of Smart City Forms in which simulation and virtual design modelling are being used and experimented on. He emphasised the importance of stakeholder engagement and enrolment of multiple competences. He concluded by inviting players from the rest of the GCC and Europe to take part in joint consultative meetings, experimentation and work projects. Dr. Mika Rantakokko, COO The Six City Strategy, Open Innovation Platforms, Finland Finland s six biggest cities are implementing The Six City Strategy Open and Smart Services for sustainable urban development. A central focus area of this strategy is innovation collaboration. In his presentation, Dr.Rantakokko reviewed the principles and keys to success for this Smart City collaboration. A major features is the way collaboration has been enacted to enable the gradual build-up of critical mass, putting Finland s biggest cities with all of their innovation actors and people together. This network gives an excellent opportunity to test new innovations in one of the world s most advanced Smart City ecosystems.le the dradual Prof. Dr Sylviane Toporkoff, Founder ITEMS Int, France Credits to Herve Rannou, ITEMS CEO, Cityzen Data co-founder Dr. Toporkoff reviewed the new developments under way in the smart city context. She elaborated on the concepts of big and open data. A critical element of smart city is the introduction of sensors, which will be bring new means for measurement in-real-time of important processes and outcomes, relating to energy, water, traffic, logistics, lightening, security, the environment, and so forth. With the Internet of things, innumerable devices will start communicating. As the number of interactive measurement and action agendas will soon be exploding within urban planning and development, critical questions arise how this information will be processed and used. Dr. Toporkoff examined various aspects of these issues and the role that European research projects now play in increasing our understanding and awareness of the associated opportunities ahead. This could be fertile ground for collaboration between the GCC and Europe. Q&A session Several participants raised follow-up questions and expressed interest in knowing more about the projects that had been presented, especially in the areas of energy and water management. For instance the Qatari NPRP generated a discussion on the potential of joint collaboration within the area of Energy Security. Furthermore a number of the follow-up questions from the audience concerned the Smart Cities development and various ways of taking this agenda further via the INCONET partner network. In conclusion the session showcased various concrete projects for collaboration between EU and the GCC. INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 26

27 3.3 Panel 11 Roundtable discussion and concluding remarks: R&I policy review Steps to improve EU-GCC cooperation. Moderator: Dr. Diassina Di Maggio, Agency for the Promotion of European Research, Italy Panelists: Dr. Abdalla Adlan, Qatar National NCP coordinator, Qatar University, Qatar Dr. Abdulnasser Al-Ansari, Deputy Executive Director, Qatar National Research Foundation, Qatar Prof. Toufic Mezher, Senior Expert, MASDAR Institute, UAE Dr. Miimu Airaksinen, Research Professor, Ecoefficient Built Environment, VTT, Technical Research Centre of Finland Dr. Kirstie Yvette Wild, Senior Consultant, DPhil; Secretariat of Executive Board Danish Technological Institute, Denmark Mr. Thierry Devars, Project Officer, DG Research and Innovation, European Commission Introduction This session focused on setting suggestions on how to increase the scientific and technological collaboration between the GCC Countries and the European Union. Finding similarities and complementarities is essential to promote scientific collaboration, but even more important it is to create a critical mass to reach the common goals in Research and Innovation. This also implies political engagement, investment in terms of funding, effort, creation of the right environment and impact on societies. The European Commission has implemented roadmaps for joint collaboration with all regions and countries in the world except the GCC: there is a clear need to understand who and how to engage the Region to agree on common objective and then to network stakeholders. The panelists have been invited to comment and provide inputs on three main items: 1. Why is international cooperation important? What is the added value? The way modern science is conduct is for collaborative and cross border process; international cooperation in Science and Technology therefore is not a question: it is a fact. The question is on how to facilitate and increase it, how to go beyond the current model that is based on one to one connection (EU country to Gulf Country) and reach a one to many (i.e. EU to Gulf Countries) or even many to many. The EU funding programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020 is all about this: cross border cooperation, pooling resources to go further and maximize the impact. Collaboration means innovation: the more people collaborate the more they think about problems differently and come up with solutions. International cooperation is important also to attract capabilities and increase capacities in research and technology. 2. Is there a need for different tools to increase the scientific and technological cooperation between the two Regions? Doors are open on both sides. However when you cooperate the purpose and the rules of collaboration must be clear to the participants: in order to create a fruitful and sustainable two-way collaboration it is essential to know and share from the beginning the advantages of coming together. The first challenge is networking: building trust and learn from each other and to adapt mechanism to develop the cooperation suitable to the region. In the case of Horizon 2020 it is clear for the GCC that this is an important model for collaboration, but so far there was no proper communication on the programme and especially on its rules. INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 27

28 Two levels of action are needed: 1. Clear information and communication; 2. Political commitment (including financial support). 3. How to boost the policy push to support in both Regions? At policy level the interest is there. However no satisfactory level of cooperation can be reached if there are no proposals, no interest shown from the GCC region and this is not an easy process. The GCC policy makers encourage their institutions to reach out to many and to realize that the EU is made of 28 countries. In fact as people tend to think bilaterally there are already some scientific cooperation agreements signed with a few EU countries, but the aim is to up scaling to a one to many scheme and network being part of networks is important: the whole way for EU functioning is networking, Funding agencies are responsible to make things easy at the level of policy makers. However, there is a need to establish the right communication: there are a few examples of collaboration agreements signed on the basis of joint collaborative projects and calls that can represent the basis to build on. Conclusion All the participants recognized international cooperation in science and innovation as a win-win situation as it brings benefits at: - Human resources: in terms of exchange, new ideas that lead to innovation; - Facilities: in terms of avoiding duplication and optimization of resources and saving Nevertheless there are some challenges that still have to be addressed, being the two main ones to move from one to one cooperation model to one to many or even many to many and the second to develop collaborative models that work in the Region and a proper communication. In order to do so the very first step to be taken is to implement a clear networking and communication action in the GCC Region. INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 28

29 4. Annexes Annex A INCONET GCC2 International Conference Agenda Collaboration for Innovation; Linking GCC and EU Grand Hyatt Hotel, Muscat, 6-8 December 2015 Sunday, 6 th December 14:00 18:00 On-Site visits to local Technology Parks, Incubators, Research Organizations Monday, 7 th December 08:30 09:00 Registration & Welcome Coffee 09:00 09:30 The EU and GCC perspectives on R&I cooperation Moderator: Mr. George Baroutas, Electrical and Computer Engineer, Technology Transfer Consultant, PRAXI Network, Greece Dr. Abdulbaqi Al Khabouri, Innovation Park Muscat (IPM) Director, The Research Council, Ms. Lucie Berger, EU Delegation to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait,, and Qatar Mr. Thierry Devars, Project Officer, DG Research and Innovation, European Commission 09:30 10:30 EU-GCC STI State of the art: programs, actors, and instruments on R&I Moderator: Ms. Stavroula Maglavera, University of Thessaly Mr. George Baroutas, Electrical and Computer Engineer, Technology Transfer Consultant, PRAXI Network, Greece Mr. Abdalla Adlan, Project Manager, Qatar University, Qatar 10:30-11:00 Coffee break and networking 11:00 12:00 International cooperation strategies and programmes Moderator: Dr. Yasemin Koc, Innovation Advisor, British Council, United-Kingdom Dr. Ioannis Kaltsas, Head of Division, European Investment Bank, Luxemburg Dr. Kirstie Yvette Wild, Senior Consultant, DPhil; Secretariat of Executive Board Danish Technological Institute, Denmark Dr. Abdulnasser Al-Ansari, Deputy Executive Director, Qatar National Research Foundation, Qatar 12:00 12:30 Horizon 2020 opportunities and support services for GCC 12:30 13:15 Main challenges in EU-GCC R&I cooperation: Ways to overcome the hurdles Ms. Monique Bossi, National Contact Point in H2020; Project Manager APRE - Agency for the Promotion of European Research, Italy Moderator: Dr. Thomas Andersson, Professor, Chairman, IKED, Sweden INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 29

30 Dr. Mansoor Ahmed Hasan Husain Alaali, President, Ahlia University, Bahrain Prof. Pier-Luigi Sacco, Professor of Cultural Economics IULM University, Milan, Italy Mr. Nicolas Patrici, Director AECHE - Arab-Euro Conference on Higher Education, Spain 13:15 14:00 Lunch and networking 14:00 14:30 Open Innovation: A facilitator for EU-GCC cooperation? 14:30 15:30 R&I in Energy/Smart Cities and Health: Current achievements and success stories in EU-GCC cooperation Dr. Roland Harwood, Co-Founder & Managing Partner 100%Open, United-Kingdom Moderator: Dr. Sylviane Toporkoff, Founder & Partner, Items International, France Energy/Smart Cities Dr. Miimu Airaksinen, Research Professor, Ecoefficient Built Environment, VTT, Technical Research Centre of Finland Prof. Toufic Mezher, Senior Expert, MASDAR Institute, UAE Health Mr. Giampaolo Armellin, Head of the Research Unit, CRG - Centro Ricerche GPI, Italy 15:30 15:45 Coffee break and networking 15:45 16:45 Future opportunities for collaboration in H2020: Moving towards a stronger EU-GCC cooperation in Energy/Smart Cities & Health Moderator: Mr. Dimitris Filippidis, Technology Transfer Consultant, PRAXI Network, Greece Dr. Piotr Swiatek, German National Contact Point for Energy in H2020; Science Officer at Project Management Jülich Ms. Monique Bossi, National Contact Point in H2020, APRE, Italy Opening Ceremony, Official dinner organized by TRC 19:00-19:10 Quran Recitation by Abdullah Al Sulaimi, TRC 19:10 19:20 Welcoming notes: HE Dr. Hilal Al Hinai, Secretary General, The Research Council, 19:20 19:25 TRC short Clip of Brand Essence 19: 25-19:35 Welcoming notes: H.E. Ambassador Adam Kulach, Head of EU Delegation to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait,, and Qatar 19:35-19:45 Key Notes by Dr Jamil Al Shaqsi, local innovator 19:45 20:00 Key Notes by Ms. Wafa Al Jabri, local innovator 20:00 20:10 Innovation clip INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 30

31 20:10 20:30 Exhibition 20:30 TRC Welcoming Dinner (Grand Hyatt Hotel Garden - Outdoor) From 13:45 16:00 an additional room will be available for B2B meetings between attendees on an adhoc basis. Interested stakeholders will express their interest first in the reception desk Tuesday, 8 th December 09:00 09:45 The State of Innovation in GCC: The Energy/Smart Cities & Health sectors Moderator: Mr. Dimitris Filippidis, Technology Transfer Consultant, PRAXI Network, Greece Mr. Shafeea Alnattei, Head of IT Projects, Health Information Directorate, Ministry of Health, Bahrain Prof. Dr. Mohammad Kazem Behbehani, Director General Dasman Diabetes Institute, Kuwait Dr. Mahmood Al Kindi, Co-director, Academic Innovation Assistance Program (AIAP), SQU, 09:45-10:45 Innovation in Energy/Smart Cities and Health in an international context Moderator: Ms. Ingrid Andersson, CEO, Corporate Wellbeing (CWO), Dr. Abdulnasser Al-Ansari, Deputy Executive Director, Qatar National Research Foundation, Qatar Dr. Halim Redhwi, CEO, Dhahran Techno-Valley Company, KFUPM, Saudi Arabia Mr. Giampaolo Armellin, Head of the Research Unit, CRG - Centro Ricerche GPI, Italy 10:45 11:15 Coffee break and networking 11:15-12:15 Innovation in Energy/Smart Cities and Health in an international context (continued) Ms. Marina Guerin-Jabbour, Innovation and Industry Client Centre Director, IBM-CERT Technology Park Dr. Zaki Mallasi, Director of the Smart Buildings Research Center, Effat University, Saudi Arabia Dr. Mika Rantakokko, COO The Six City Strategy, Open Innovation Platforms, Finland Prof. Dr. Sylviane Toporkoff (credits Rannou), ITEMS International, France Mr. Hervé 12:15 14:00 Roundtable discussion and concluding remarks: R&I policy review - Steps to improve EU- GCC cooperation Moderator: Dr. Diassina Di Maggio, Director, APRE, Italy Panelists Mr. Thierry Devars, Project Officer, DG Research and INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 31

32 Innovation, European Commission Mr. Abdalla Adlan, Project Manager, Qatar University, Qatar Dr. Abdulnasser Al-Ansari, Deputy Executive Director, Qatar National Research Foundation, Qatar Prof. Toufic Mezher, Senior Expert, MASDAR Institute, UAE Dr. Kirstie Yvette Wild, Senior Consultant, DPhil; Secretariat of Executive Board Danish Technological Institute, Denmark Dr. Miimu Airaksinen, Research Professor, Ecoefficient Built Environment, VTT, Technical Research Centre of Finland 14:00 15:00 Lunch 19.00: Social Dinner hosted by PEIE - Public Establishment for Industrial Estates INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 32

33 Annex B Inconet-GCC 2 International Conference Speakers Biographies Abdalla Adlan, Qatar National NCP coordinator, Project Manager, Qatar University, Qatar Manager Research Development Programs at Qatar University office of VP for research; Abdalla jointed Qatar University 2009 as Project Manager in addition to his role as National Contact Point (NCP) for Qatar University in the INCONET-GCC Project. Prior to Qatar University, Abdalla worked for General Motors in US at the powertrain division for a number of years in different engineering background capacities Dr. Miimu Airaksinen, research Professor, Ecoefficient Built Environment, VTT, technical Research Center of Finland Research Professor,VTT, Eco-efficient Built Environment ( ) PhD, Helsinki University of Technology (2003) MSc, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Department of Energy Technology (1998) Present and Previous Employment Programme manager, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland VTT Innovation program Ingrid+ Intelligent energy systems and smart cities (portfolio 10 M ) Research Manager, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland,Smart energy and system integration Research Professor, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Eco-efficient Built environment Programme manager, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, VTT frontier technology program iben- Eco-efficient Built Environment Leader of the Indoor Environment team / Technology Manager, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Head of R&D, member of Board Optiplan Oy (consulting company) Researcher, Helsinki University of Technology, HVAC laboratory Scientific Assistant Researcher, Munich University of Technology, Energy Department, Laboratory of Energy and Sustainability, Germany, 1997 Positions of Trusts, Memberships and Expertise UN Policy Units in the Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III), Policy Unit 9 on Urban Services and Technology, nominated expert, European Innovation Platform on smart cities and communities, member of Sherpa group European Innovation Platform on smart cities and communities, Action group leader on built environment CIB, International council for research and innovation in building and construction, Task Group 88 on Smart Cities,leader of the task group, ENBRI, European Network of Building Research Institutes, member of Steering Group EERA, European Energy Research Alliance, member of Steering Group in Smart Cities E2BA, European Construction Technology Platform, Energy Efficient Buildings Association, Member of Scientific Committee, REHVA Federation of European Heating, Ventilation and Air-conditioning Association, Corresponding member of the Technical and Research Committee, E2BA, European Construction Technology Platform, Energy Efficient Buildings Association, Member of Steering Committee and member of Industry advisory board, Member of executive forum of Nordic Built Arena nominated by Minister of Economic Affairs Jyri Häkämies and his four Nordic colleagues, 2012 Member of Finnish Climate Change panel scientific working group nominated and lead by Finnish Minister of Environment Ville Niinistö, 2012, YM36:00/2011 INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 33

34 Member CIB, International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction, TG 85, R&D Investment and Impact, Member of ERA 17 energy efficient built environment working group nominated and lead by Finnish Ministry of Housing, 2010, YM32:00/2009 Appointed member in the Panel of Experts, Interim assessment of the Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) in theeuropean Economic Recovery Package, European Commission 2011 Director of the refurbishment and health program, part of the European Housing Ecology Network. The course includes Energy efficient refurbishment techniques, sick building syndrome and solving problems, architecture including stress free areas and comfortable environment ( Dr. Abdulnasser Al-Ansari, Deputy Executive Director, Qatar National Research Foundation, Qatar Dr. Abdulnasser Al-Ansari, Also Known As (AKA), A-Nasser Ansari, currently holds the position of Deputy Executive Director at the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF), Qatar Foundation. He has 28 years of experience in Engineering, research, academia, training, and management. Earlier in his career in QNRF he was the QNRF Director Technical leading the technical team responsible for evaluating and monitoring the progress of funded research projects. When he started his career in QNRF, he was a member of the technical team holding the position of Program Manager, Electrical and Communication Engineering. Dr. A-Nasser holds a Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, USA. Before joining QNRF, he was a naval Brigadier officer at the Qatari Emiri Naval Force where he held many technical and leading positions ending with commanding the Qatari Naval School. His best contribution at the navy was the development of the training career path paralleling the academic and military career paths. Throughout his graduate school career, Dr. A-Nasser was awarded a Teaching Assistantship (TA) position at the University of Miami, during which he was lecturing Engineering courses, while at the same time perusing his research for his Doctoral degree program. In addition to his academic capabilities, he gained research experience in the fields of Biometrics, Computer Vision, Pattern Recognition, Signal and Image Processing. Dr. A-Nasser s research contribution was in three dimensional face-based biometric authentication and recognition system from frontal and profile facial images with published peer-reviewed articles. Dr. A- Nasser earned the Award of Academic Merit by the graduate school of the University of Miami and the Award of Education Excellence Day by his highness the Emir of Qatar. He is currently a senior Associate Editor at the Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems, active Peer-Reviewer, and participant in few committees in the field of research. Dr. Abdul Baqi Ali Mohamed Al Khabouri, Innovation Park Muscat (IPM) Director, The Research Council, Education International Islamic University, Malaysia PhD in Water Resources Management (Engineering) University of East Anglia, Nowrich, UK Master Degree of science in hydrogeology UNIVERSITY OF TULSA OK, USA Bachelor Degree of Science in Petroleum Engineering Languages Excellent Arabic and English (Reading and Writing) Work Experience Sept Present Director, Science and Technology Parks The Research Council (trc), Responsible for establishment of TRC, Innovation Park Muscat (IPM). Thejob entails a holistic approach in project management, communication skills, marketing strategies and technology transfer. IPM, is the first in its kind, hence a challenging role has to be played by the Director to incentivize local and International firms (academia and businesses) to invest and join IPM. In addition I am currently a member of the Executive Committee for the development of the Science and Technology City. A member of the Academic Committee for University project which started recently. INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 34

35 2009- Sept 2011 Managing Director, NATURAL RESOURCES CONSULTANCY CEO of an i consultancy firm. Executed a number of water management/assessment projects to government clients Senior Policy Advisor, Petroleum Development Director General Water Resources Assessment Ministry of Water Resources Director of Monitoring Network Department Ministry of Water Resources HEAD OF DRILLING SECTION Ministry of Water Resources Project Manager, Research Department Ministry of Water Resources PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT OMAN SENIOR STAFF - PETROLEUM ENGINEER Professional Memberships Founder of Water Society and Deputy Chairman Associates Member of the Geological Society of London,.. since 1997 to date Head of International Hydrological Programme, during. the period from Member of the Geological Society of London since Member of Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) since 1984 Member of Engineering Committee. Patents and Publications Wrote several technical reports and papers, summarized as follow: 1. Drought management Strategies in Arid and Semi-arid Region, Muscat December Conference organized by UNESCO & MRMWR. 2. Al Khabouri Abdulbaqi, Application of Expert Systems in Integrated Water Resources Management, Eighth Gulf Water Conference, 3-6 March, 2008, Bahrain. 3. Al Khabouri Abdulbaqi, Muyibi A. Suleyman, Ahmed M. Thamer, Kabbashi A. Nassereldeen. Integrated Water Resource Management Plan (IWRMP) in : way forward, Journal of Water Policy, IWA Publishers UK, April Al Khabouri Abdulbaqi.; Muyibi A. Suleyman.; Ahmed Thamer.; Kabbashi A. Nassereldin. Water Resource Management Options for Wadi Ma awil Catchment, Northern. Journal of Water Management (submitted) 5. Al Khabouri Abdulbaqi.; Muyibi A. Suleyman.; Ahmed Thamer.; Kabbashi A. Nassereldin. An Expert System Proto-type in Integrated Water Resource Management Plan (IWRMP). Economic Incentives and Water Demand Management, SQU,, March 2006, pp Al Khabouri Abdulbaqi.; Muyibi A. Suleyman.; Ahmed Thamer.; Kabbashi A. Nassereldin Applications of Expert System in development of IWRMP. Third International Conference on ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY, ICAIET Nov Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia (published). Awards & Exhibitions: KERIE Water Resources in present status and future development plan. Presented in the 9th International Hydrological Programme (IHP) meeting held in Muscat 22-26/9/2001. INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 35

36 8. Water Resources of. Presented in the Regional Workshop on Sustainable Groundwater Management in the Middle East and North Africa. Sponsored by the World Bank in Yemen during the Period from 26/7 to 29/7/ Status of Hydrometric Network in, submitted to International Conference on Water Resources Management in Arid Regions, Kuwait March Groundwater Assessment of Daba Al Bay ah, Musamdam peninsula,. Presented in Geo Environment 2000 conference, SQU. October Daba water Resources Assessment, Final report, MWR, October Daba water Resources Assessment,Executive Summary, MWR, March Daba Water Resources Assessment, Inception Report, MWR March Daba Water Resources Assessment, Preliminary study, MWR, December Water wells annular seals, MWR/93/47, Saih Nahida field, petrophysical review, PDO, 1992 Equivalent oil column estimation for yibal filed oil reserve calculation, PDO, Thermal decay time TDT-P petrophysical evaluation, yibal field PDO, Dr. Mahmood Al Kindi, Co-director, Academic Innovation Assistance Programme (AIAP), Sultan Qaboos University, Mahmood Al Kindi is Assistant Professor at Sultan Qaboos University. He has a PhD in systems and entrepreneurial engineering from the University of Illinois. He is the co-director of the Academic Assistant Programme at SQU. Prof., Dr., Mansoor Ahmed Hasan Husain Alaali, President, Ahlia University, Bahrain Mansoor Ahmed Alaali was born in the Kingdom of Bahrain. he received his Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Aston in Birmingham, U.K., in Currently, he is the President of Ahlia University, Bahrain. Mr. Shafeea Alnattei, Head of IT projects, Health Information Directorate, Ministry of Health, Kingdom of Bahrain Shafeea Alnattei is the Head of IT projects at the Health Information Directorate, Ministry of Health of the Kingdom of Bahrain. He is a computer engineer with an MBA from AMA University. Ingrid Andersson, CEO, Corporate Wellbeing (CWO), Ms. Ingrid Andersson is CEO of Corporate Wellbeing (CWO) and also the General Manager of Al Harub Medical Center in central Muscat, the capital of the. CWO specialises in providing human resource support for both private and public clients, primarily in and other countries in the Gulf region. Al Harub Medical Center meanwhile is the main therapeutic health center in, which bestows individuals in psychological services as well as physical and occupational therapy. In addition, Ingrid Andersson is an affiliated expert with IKED, Sweden. INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 36

37 Prof., Dr., Thomas Andersson, Chairman, IKED, Sweden Thomas Andersson is professor of Economics from Jönköping University where he was previously Rector. He has a PhD and was earlier Associate Professor of Stockholm School of Economics. He is Chairman of IKED and has various board, advisor and expert positions in Europe and the Middle East. Giampaolo Armellin, Head of the Research Unit, CRG-Centro Ricerche GPI, Italy Master degree in Computer Science, he started working in healthcare and wellbeing fields in From then and on he has been involved in many research and industrial projects for local and national agencies in Italy and participated on EU funded projects. He has also collaborated with agencies working in low-resource areas such as Mozambique, to develop solutions to monitor local healthcare systems, considering all the specific issues arising, both from technical and organizational point of view. Currently he is in charge of GPI Group s research centre, to devise new services and solutions in the healthcare and welfare environment. George Baroutas, Coordinator of INCONET-GCC2; Electrical and Computer Engineer, Technology Transfer Consultant, PRAXI Network, Greece Mr George Baroutas is the project coordinator of INCONET-GCC2 project. He has a wide experience in International Cooperation Projects and is a member of various bilateral and multilateral projects under FP7 & H2020. He has worked as an auditor on territorial cooperation projects co-funded by EU and in big consulting firms as a management consultant. He holds an Electrical & Computer Engineering Diploma from the National Technical University of Athens. Currently, he is Secure Societies National Contact Point in Greece under H2020. Prof. Dr. Mohammad Kazem Behbehani, Director General, Dasman Diabetes Institute, Kuwait Professor Kazem Behbehani (OBE) is currently the Director-General of the Dasman Diabetes Institute an affiliate of the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Science's (KFAS) in Kuwait. During his career he assumed numerous eminent international and regional positions. With the World Health Organization (WHO) he served as Assistant Director-General for External Relations and Governing Bodies. He is the recipient of several awards and scientific recognitions, among which is the Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians recognition of extraordinary lifetime contribution. In July 2014 Professor Behbehani was presented with an official British honour, becoming an Honorary Officer in the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of England, for his services to UK/Kuwait Healthcare cooperation and in respect of his tireless work to promote medical and scientific research, particularly in the important field of Diabetes treatment. In January 2015 Prof. Behbehani became the GCC-EU Co-leader of the "Personalized medicine and novel clinical trials in Rare Disease" programme. Lucie Berger, First Secretary for Trade and Economic Affairs, EU Delegation to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar Ms. Lucie Berger works as First Secretary for Trade and Economic Affairs at the Delegation of the European Union based in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. She therefore represents the EU in all matters related to trade and economic affairs in the Gulf region, including bilateral cooperation and relations with the Gulf Cooperation Council. From this function, she coordinates with EU Member States, which includes chairing of the EU commercial counsellors' meetings as well as meetings on consular affairs. INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 37

38 Ms. Berger has been working for the European Union for nine years; previously, she served as Policy Officer for climate change in the North Africa and Middle East at the European Commission. She was then responsible for climate change and economic diversification policy or projects in the region, focusing on bilateral and regional cooperation. She served also as member of the EU task force negotiating agreements under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Additionally, she participated in the EU Annual Growth Survey and formulation of country-specific recommendations for the Czech Republic, focusing on climate relevant aspects (such as energy efficiency, GHG emissions reduction or waste management). In her earlier career, she served as Policy Officer for the Integrated Maritime Policy in the Mediterranean region, focusing on governance of marine and maritime related policies and sectors, including integrated maritime surveillance, marine spatial planning and integrated coastal zone management, or sustainable economic growth derived from the sea ("blue growth"). Before joining the European Commission, she also briefly worked for the Egyptian diplomatic services in the Czech Republic. Ms. Lucie Berger studied International Trade and European Integration at the University of Economics in Prague Faculty of International Relations. Monique Bossi, National Contact Point in H2020; Project Manager, APRE - Agency for the Promotion of European Research, Italy She has 15 years of professional experience in European funding Programmes for research, technology and innovation. Since 2007 she has been appointed by the Italian Ministry for Research and Education as National Contact Point to provide support and assistance to the national community in applying to EU programmes for R&I. In addition she has been working as National Contact Point and Experts for the International Cooperation in FP7 and Horizon 2020 thus gaining a sound experience in engaging public and private stakeholder from Third Countries: from industrialized countries to emerging economies and developing regions. She has been invited as speaker in several information days, experts dialogue and training courses provided both to private and public, Italian and International audience. Thierry Devars, International Relations Officer, DG Research and Innovation, European Commission Dr. Diassina Di Maggio, Agency for the Promotion of European Research, Italy Dr. Diassina DiMaggio earned a degree in biology at the University "La Sapienza" in Rome in She is currently director of APRE - Agency for the Promotion of European Research, a private non-profit research center based in Rome, which aims to provide information, assistance and training programs of research and technological innovation funded. OPEN hosts all national contact points in Italy for the Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development of the EU. During her activities in OPEN, she has coordinated more than 60 projects to stimulate and help SMEs to research proposals for the 4th, 5th and 6th Framework Programme. She was also responsible for the Innovation Relay Centre for OPEN, regarding transnational technology transfer. FP7 is the coordinator of 54 projects and since 2008 a member of the Enterprise Europe Network. INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 38

39 Mr. Dimitris Filippidis, Technology Transfer Consultant, FORTH/PRAXI Network Dimitris Filippidis is currently a Technology Transfer Consultant at PRAXI Network of the Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH), coordinating the IncoNet GCC2 project (FP7) and participating in other H2020 projects focusing in Sub-Saharan Africa. He has extensive experience in the management and implementation of EU projects under FP6 and FP7 in the field of STI international cooperation (among others: IncoNet Eastern Europe-Central Asia, IncoNet Central Asia/South Caucasus, Black Sea-ERANET). He has also been involved in the coordination of EU projects under the DAPHNE programme of DG Justice and the ISEC programme of DG Home Affairs in the field of children s rights. He holds an MA in Social Anthropology and Development from the University of London. Ms. Marina Guerin-Jabbour, Innovation and Industry Client Centre Director, IBM-CERT Technology Park Marina Guerin-Jabbour is the Director of IBM Innovation and Industry Solution Client Centre for UAE and the Region, based in Abu Dhabi. During her 24 years career at IBM, Marina Guerin-Jabbour has held several positions from research engineer to senior manager. Prior to her current position, she was Director of the Government and Smarter Cities Centre of Excellence at IBM Business Solution Centre in France, where she led a dedicated team and experts to provide technical and sale support to IBM clients about all Smarter Cities domains: Transportation, Water & Energy Management, Public Safety, Social & Health, Education, and Building Management. Dr. Roland Harwood, Co-Founder & Managing Partner 100%Open, United-Kingdom 100%Open Ltd - Co-Founder and Networks Partner, 2010 present, London UK 1m+ innovation agency working with global companies, charities & governments NESTA - Director Open Innovation, , London UK Led the open innovation programme resulting in international profile & impact. LDA - Senior Innovation Manager, , London UK Managed a portfolio of 15 innovation projects worth 145m, and a team of 12 people. IET - Commissioning Editor, , London UK Commissioned 200 projects, managed team of 7 people, and increased profits by 25%. EA Technology - Research Scientist, , Manchester UK Led 4 major R&D projects on ultrasonic imaging through to commercialisation. SonyBMG - Music Producer, 1996 present, Edinburgh & London UK Produced soundtracks for the Cosby Show, Property Ladder and American Psycho etc. Education Harvard Business School - Exec Ed. Leadership, 2008 University of Manchester - PhD Electrical Engineering, 2000 Edinburgh University - BSc HONS Physics 1st Class, 1996 Other Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts (FRSA), Member Institute of Physics Board Member - Distance Lab, IPPR New Era Economics Chair of the Ordnance Survey GeoVation Challenge Judging Panel present Mentor TechStars, Apps for Good, Bethnal Green Ventures Co-Founder of Union Network (London & Geneva) of innovation professionals 4 book chapters, 400k+ blog views, frequent keynotes, social media contacts Failed astronaut - reached the penultimate round of ESA s 2008 selection programme Studied under Nobel Prize winner Peter Higgs Proud and exhausted dad of three children under eight INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 39

40 Dr. Ioannis Kaltsas, Head of Division, European Investment Bank, Luxemburg Ioannis Kaltsas, studied in Greece, France, UK and the United States and he holds a Ph.D. in Economics (Econometrics) from Virginia Tech (USA), an MSc in Applied Economics also from Virginia Tech (USA), and MA in Industrial Economics from the University of East Anglia (UK) as well as a Master in Engineering degree from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece). He is currently heading the team of the European Investment Bank which is responsible for Mandate Development and Mandate Management coordination. Prior to that worked he was head of coordination to the Bank s operations outside the EU, worked as a Senior Advisor to the EIB Management Committee and served as the EIB specialist for the evaluation of industrial projects financed by the Bank. Before joining the EIB, he worked as an Economist in the a UN Commodity Board and as a consultant for the World Bank in the USA. Ioannis also spent some time working as an engineer in the Champaign industry in Epernay (France) as well as in coordinating a research program in the University of Nottingham (UK). He has experience from evaluating the financing of more than 80 projects in 50 developing countries as well as managing Technical Assistance programs. He speaks and writes fluently Greek, English, French and Spanish. Dr. Yasemin Koc, Innovation Advisor British Council, United-Kingdom Yasemin has over 12 years of professional experience in science, technology and innovation analysis in the academic and public sector. Moreover, a strong track record in international field experience in capacity strengthening, public outreach (science communication), policy formulation, program development and management, monitoring and evaluation in science, technology and innovation projects, as well as comprehensive science policy analysis in European, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries (with focus on Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE), are areas Yasemin has been developing over the years. Having lead operational merger processes in the banking sector (JP Morgan Chase), Dr Yasemin Koc joined the British Council as advisor for science communication and innovation. Outstanding relationship building, partnership development and income generation have been her strongest assets in this role. Drawing on her deep expertise in leading a Nanotechnology research team (20 peers) at Imperial College, Yasemin has supported and lead projects focusing on new technologies in developing countries. Recent assignments have included a secondment to the Gulf Region (Qatar), where she was tasked to analyse the research and education landscape in Gulf countries. Following her Middle Eastern secondment, Yasemin returned to London to set up her own consultancy agency ( through which she has been providing services to the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC), European Investment Bank (EIB) and Technopolis Group. Moreover, Yasemin kept her position with the British Council and is currently part-time Innovation Advisor where she focuses on the initiation, support and development of innovation activities between the UK and other countries. The past couple of years, Yasemin has been concentrating on innovation in emerging countries (NEWTON FUND). In addition to monitoring, evaluation and drawing up recommendations, Yasemin is also focused on identification of new partnerships and projects. Stavroula Maglavera, Electrical and Computer Engineer, University of Thessaly, Greece Stavroula focuses on high-level coordination and on strategic developments. She is specialised in the field of ICT and she gained expertise on designing and executing international scale events in ICT. Her skills encompass exploitation, promotion, and dissemination of technology, and IPR issues. Extensive experience in providing consulting services supporting Public Administration and organisations in the formation and implementation of national and regional strategies for the development and management of ICT applications (i.e. "Business Plan of Telemedicine in Greece for the Greek Ministry of Health", "Evaluation of Business Plan for the Greek Ministry of Economy, Develoment of ehealth applications for greek Pilot sites through their particiaption in ICT for Health projects of the EC). With more than twenty four years of hands-on experience in European (FP3, FP4, FP5, FP6, FP7, CIP), National & Regionally funded programmes and in project management, she still maintains an active interest on design and implementation of research projects in the field on ICT. Her current research interests comprise Networked Information Systems, ICT for Health, e-inclusion, and e-government. She is involved in scientific and business committees dealing with medical informatics. She is the coordinator of the INCONET-GCC FP7 project. Participates is INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 40

41 SMARTFIRE, FLEX and EINS projects. She collaborates with DG INFSO as a reviewer and an evaluator for FP6/FP7 and H2020 projects. Dr. Zaki Mallasi, Director of the Smart Buildings Research Center, Effat University, Saudi Arabia Dr Zaki is passionate about innovation-based technologies that inspire current research into the future built environments. Currently he hold a position as Assistant Professor at the College of Architecture and Design, Effat University. Since 2015 he is the leader of the Design Computation Research Lab under the umbrella of the Smart Building Research Centre (SBRC). His research areas include Tectonic Structures, Smart Materials, BIM, Simulation, Sustainable Design, and Building Envelopes. Dr Zaki s prime objectives are to advance research collaboration projects and the Smart Building approach towards impacting the future of sustainable design and enhancing our living. Prof. Toufic Mezher, Senior Expert, MASDAR Institute, UAE Toufic Mezher is a Professor of Engineering Systems and Management at Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (MIST) since He is currently affiliated with the Institute Center for Smart and Sustainable Systems (ismart). Before Joining MIST, he was a Professor of Engineering Management at the American University in Beirut from 1992 to He earned a BS in Civil Engineering from University of Florida, and a Master and ScD in Engineering Management from George Washington University in 1988 and 1992 respectively. His research interests include Energy Strategy and Policy, Sustainable Development, Technology Strategy and Innovation Systems, etc. Dr. Nicolas Patrici, Director, AECHE - Arab-Euro Conference on Higher Education, University of Barcelona, Spain Nicolas Patrici is responsible for the international strategy at the University of Barcelona and he is also the Director of AECHE, the Arab European Conference of Higher Education. In this capacity he is travelling and networking intensively throughout the Arab region. Being highly entrepreneurial he is involved in the development of various concrete collaborative projects entailing universities and other key actors in the EU and the GCC, including currently in. Dr. Mika Rantakokko, COO The Six City Strategy, Open Innovation Platforms, Finland Mika Rantakokko is Chief Operating Officer of The Six City Strategy Open Innovation Platform. He is coordinating the innovation collaboration network consisting of Finland s six biggest cities. Mika s educational background is in geography, business and finance. He has a long and broad experience in the fields of innovation, business, regional development, development of education and future internet research among other things from European Commission, Nordic countries collaboration and from private sector. Dr. Halim Redhwi, CEO, Dhahran Techno-Valley Company, KFUPM, Saudi Arabia Dr. Redhwi is the CEO (A) of Dhahran Techno-Valley (DTV) Company and the Professor in the Chemical Engineering Dept., at KFUPM. During his 25 years professional career, he has been active in managing research programs in the field of Refining and Polymer. His main contribution in the last ten years is in establishing Innovation structure and managing DTV and Science Park that includes Technology centers of Schlumberger, Yokogawa, Honeywell/UOP, Baker Hughes, Halliburton, GE, Sipchem and others. INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 41

42 Prof., Dr., Pier-Luigi Sacco, Vice-Rector and Professor of Cultural Economics, IULM University, Milan, Italy Pier-Luigi Sacco is Vice-Rector and Professor of Cultural Economics at IULM University, in Milan, Italy, he is also Visiting Professor at Harvard University, United States, where he will be spending the next 6 months on sabbatical. Prof. Sacco is a leading international authority on the linkage between culture and innovation. Dr. Piotr Swiatek, German National Contact Point for Energy in H2020; Science Officer, Project Management Jülich, Germany Piotr Swiatek is a physicist and currently works for the Project Management Agency Juelich, Germany as H2020 National Contact Point for Energy. He is active in many European bodies and carries activities supporting R&D cooperation with the EU. He also holds lectures at the Institute for Technology and Resources Management in the Tropics and Subtropics at the University of Applied Sciences in Cologne. Until 2001 he worked as a scientist in the Research Centre Juelich, Germany. Later he became Project Manager of "Fit for Europe" coordinated by KoWi and from 2004 to 2008 he was Senior Science Officer at COST in Brussels. Dr.Sylviane Toporkoff, President, Global Forum, Founder & partner, Items international, Professor at the Institute of European studies, University of Paris, France Dr Sylviane Toporkoff is partner & founder of ITEMS International - a company specialized on strategic Digital consulting, and full Professor at the University of Paris 8, Institute of European Studies, in France. She obtained her doctorate in Economics from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne. She is specialized on international research & consulting in the area of the Digital Society; public policy; economic & strategic international partnerships for industrialists, operators & local authorities; marketing on issues related to e-business; e-gov; e-health; local, regional and international development through the use of ICT; e-democracy; and regulation. Dr. Toporkoff is President & founder of the Global Forum / Shaping the Future. She serves as expert to the UNESCO Commission of the French Republic for Education, Sciences and Culture, in particularly to its "Committee on Communication, New Technologies and Socio-Cultural Affairs. She is also Member of the Scientific Committee of Market Management, Editions ESKA; Founder and animator of ENSA European Education New Society Association - an association on the future of education and ICT. She is author of a number of publications in the field of Digital and gives lectures at numerous universities. She regularly intervenes as speaker in front of leading industry associations and on national and international conferences & forums in France, Europe, the US, and Asia. She is Chevalier of the Legion of Honour and obtained the medal of Arts, Sciences and Letters. Dr. Kirstie Yvette Wild, Senior Consultant, DPhil; Secretariat of Executive Board Danish Technological Institute, Denmark Employment and experience Teknologisk Institut (Denmark): Senior Consultant (2009 to present) The Teknologisk Institut is a not for profit organisation providing research and innovation to national and international companies. As part of our activities, I work with industry and our own consultants in the application for and management of participation in EU funded projects, including Horizon2020, EUROSTARS etc. We work in several fields including Energy, Construction and the Bioeconomy. We have close to 100 international projects of which 45% are Framework Funded Projects. Within this portfolio I work with our legal agreements, financing and future research and project development. I am a Member of the Commission s H2020 Advisory Group for Industrial Leadership (NMBP) and also the Advisory Group for Gender. I also sit on the EARTO (European INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 42

43 Association for RTOs) advisory group for Horizon 2020 and for Infrastructure and I act as Regional Representative for Europe for WAITRO (World Association of Industrial RTOs). Deloitte (UK): Senior Manager (2006 to 2009) Deloitte is a global firm providing financial advice. I provided indirect tax services to research active SMEs and large industrial clients, most specifically in the context of R&D tax relief and primarily in the consumer goods, chemical and food industries. RDCL (UK): Senior Manager ( ) RDCL was a small financial consultancy firm providing indirect tax services to other research active SMEs. I managed a diverse portfolio of clients in IT, electronics and telecommunications. Clearspace (Australia): Manager ( including a period of maternity leave) Clearspace is a small financial consultancy firm providing indirect tax services and venture capital and project funding support to other active SMEs and large national and global firms. My specialism was R&D tax relief and national project funding for over 20 clients in diverse industries. Massey University (New Zealand): Post Doctoral Research ( ) I worked on projects funded from nationally and international sources, to do with the development of dyes for liquid junction solar cells (Grätzel cells). I also taught and supervised Masters students. Education Postgraduate Diploma Economics with Distinction (Massey University, New Zealand, 1999). The focus was on economics relating to sustainable technology development. DPhil Chemistry (Oxford University, UK, 1994) BSc (hons) Chemistry (University of London, Kings College, 1989) INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 43

44 Annex C IncoNet-GCC2 International Conference List of Participants Name Surname Position Organization Country Abdalla Ali Adlan Project Manager; Qatar National Contact Point- NCP Qatar University Office of Research Qatar Miimu Airaksinen Research Professor, Ecoefficient Built Environment VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd Mustaza HJ Ahmadun The Research Council Scientific Programmes Assistant Expert TUBITAK - The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey Finland Kerem Lutfi Akilli Turkey Sultan Khalid Al Aaysari Authority for Radio and TV Jasim ITA - Information Technology Mohamed Al Alawi Project Specialist Authority Rahma Al Amri The Research Council QNRF - Qatar National Research Abdulnasser Al Ansari Deputy Executive Director Fund Qatar Assistant Director General for Halima Saleh Al-Badwawi Academic Affairs Ministry of Higher Education Kawther Khamis Al Bertmani Ministry of Civil Service Modern College of Business and Abeer Al Bulushi Business Lecturer Science Ghalib Al Busafi Director Architecture Design Art Adil Al Busaidi Assistant Professor Sultan Qaboos University Farida Mohammed Al Busaidi Ministry of Civil Service Director of Administration Saif Salim Al Busaidi and Finance Higher Judicial Institute Yousuf Al Busaidi The Research Council Bader Salim Al Farsi The Research Council Advisor to The Minister for Ministry of Commerce and Fatima Al-Ghazali International Cooperation Industry Amir Nasser Al Haddabi The Research Council PAEW Public Authority for Naif Al Hanai Production Engineer Electricity and Water Ahmed Suleiman Al Harrasi Nizwa University Khalid Said Al Harthi Student Higher Technology College 44

45 Salim Al Harthy Associate professor in Surface physics and Nanotechnology, Assistant Dean of postgraduate and Research, and Co Director of Academic Innovation Assistance Program (AIAP) Sultan Qaboos University Atika Yahya Al Hasaini Strategic Program Specialist The Research Council Ikram Al-Hinal Research Assistant Sultan Qaboos University Public authority for small and medium enterprises Khalid Safi Al Hraibi development Ahmed Salem Al-Jabri CEO Eureka Innovation Park Muscat Abdulbaqi Al Khabouri (IPM) Director The Research Council - TRC Advanced International Business Harib Al Kharusi Chairman Group LLC (AIBG) Advanced International Business Mohammed Al Kharusi Parner Group LLC (AIBG) Sheikha AL-Khzami The Research Council Mahmood Al Kindi Co-director Academic Innovation Assistance Program (AIAP), SQU Nabil Mohamed Habib Al-Lawati Executive Director Mazoon United Co. Abdullah Al Mahruki Executive Director Industrial Innovation center Head of General Education Modern College of Business and Ahmed Al Matani Department Science Hafidh Nasser Khalid Zayed Al Maskari Al- Muharrami Deputy Secretary General Assistant for Communication Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs The Research Council Niza College of Technology Mirel Al Nabki Executive Director Cyclone LLC Modern College of Business and Ahmed Al-Naamany Dean Science Head of Programs Ministry of Health, Health Shafee Al Notee Management Section Information Directorate Director of the Department of preparation of Saleh Said Al Obeidana development plans Supreme Council Head of Information Safiya Al Rashdi Technology Projects Ministry of Manpower. Sharifa Al Rashdi Physics Graduate Sultan Qaboos University Jadawy Al Riyamy CEO Cyclone LLC Fahad Al Said The Research Council Barhain INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 45

46 Said Al Saqri Director Office of the Adviser to H.M. for Economic Planning Affairs Malak Al-Shaibani Director General of NBC - National Business Center PEIE - Public Establishment for Industrial Estates Maryam Al Shidhani The Research Council AbdulBari Al Shidi Environment Engineer GEO-Resources Consultancy LLC Hamad Mohammed Al Shomeli Head of Entity Liaison Bahrain egovernment Authority Bahrain Iman Al Shukaili The Research Council Khalfan Al Touqi General Manager Al Amal Training Services Ibtisam Al Wahaibi Assistant Professor Sultan Qaboos University Mohammed Al Zarai Projects Specialist Supreme Council of Planning Muhanna Al Zuheimi The Research Council Mansoor Alaali President, Professor Ahlia University Barhain Ghaleb Alhadrami Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Studies United Arab Emirates University United Arab Emirates Modern College of Business and Science Jalal Alhadhrami Business Studies Lecturer Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Ghaleb Alhadrami Studies Research Assistant / Anwaar AlHinai Department of Chemistry Director Training and Smart Oualid Ali Solutions Center (TSSC) Ahodd Abdul Razag Aljeillani Journalist Saif Ali Alkhamisi Head of Field Crops Research United Arab Emirates University Sultan Qaboos University GUtech - German University of Technology in Establishment for Press, Publication & Advertising Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries Taqwa Allawati Director of Promotion The Research Council Director General of Office of Office of the Adviser to His the Adviser to His Majesty Majesty the Sultan for Cultural Said Nasser Alsalmi the Sultan for Cultural Affairs Affairs Corporate Wellbeing - Ingrid Andersson CEO CWO Senior Advisor of Science, Thomas Andersson Chairman IKED Research and Innovation, IKED United Arab Emirates Giampaolo Armellin Head of Research Unit CRG - Centro Ricerche GPI s.r.l. Italy Raza Ashraf CEO Total Alignment German University of Aydin Azizi Technology in Research and Information Tahani Zahir Bait Koraa Director Ithraa Strategy and Performance Shanmugam Balaji Director Oil Company S.A.O.C INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 46

47 Fahad Abdul Baqi The Research Council Mustafa Barami CEO Barami trading Company LLC Giulia Barbagelata International Cooperation Stam S.r.l. Italy George Baroutas Electrical & Computer Engineer, Technology Transfer Consultant PRAXI Network/FORTH Greece Angelo Battaglia Head of Tourism & Management Department Tourism College Mohammad Kazem Behbehani Director General Dasman Diabetes Institute Kuwait Lucie Berger First Secretary, Trade and Economic Affairs Delegation of the European Union to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Kuwait, the and the State of Qatar Saudi Arabia Maurizio Borghi Expert Group Innovation OECD Italy Monique Bossi APRE - Agenzia per la Promozione della Ricerca Europea Italy Elizabeth Colucci European University Association European University Association Belgium Victoria Dauletova Assistant Professor Sultan Qaboos University Constantine Demetriou The Research Council Thierry Devars International Relations Officer DG Research and Innovation European Commission Maria M. Di Gaeta Commercial Attaché Embassy of Italy Italy Diassina Di Maggio Director APRE - Agenzia per la Promozione della Ricerca Europea Italy Aleksandar Djordjevic Director, Center for Continuing Education & Professional Studies Modern College of Business & Science Jauad El Kharraz Head of Research Middle East Desalination Research Center Sheikh Fairuz Head of Caledonian Center for Creativity and Innovation Caledonian college of Engineering Dimitris Filippidis Technology Transfer Consultant PRAXI/Network FORTH Greece Jaume Fortuny Advisor on ICT & Smart Cities Universitat de Barcelona Spain Nikos Giannoulidis Director, Research and Innovation Euroconsultants S.A. Greece Raul Gonzalez Smart Cities Product Strategy Cellnex Telecom Spain Guerin- Innovation and Industry United Arab Marina Jabbour Client Centre Director IBM-CERT Technology Park Emirates Michel Guérin- Jabbour Managing Director DevStrat. S.A Luxemburg Ahsan Habib Associate Professor Modern College of Business and Science Roland Harwood Co-Founder & Managing Partner 100%Open United Kingdom INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 47

48 Suleiman Mohammed Haitham Business Development Officer Caledonian College of Engineering Salim Hassan Hijjawi Government Sales Team Leader GBM - Gulf Business Machines () Co. LLC Paul Hilder Director / Teaching Centre Manager British Council Waleed Hmedat Dean College of Management & Technology Ioannis Kaltsas Head of the Department Mandate Development and Mandate Management coordination European Investment Bank Luxemburg Sanya Kapasi Senior Administration Manager Gulf Research Center Saudi Arabia Thomas Kleefeld Senior HSE Advisor / Manager Health Safety Environment Management Yasemin Koc Innovation Advisor British Council United- Kingdom Igor Krupa Prof. Dr. Qatar University Qatar Adam Kulach Ambassador / Head of Delegation Delegation of the European Union to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Kuwait, the and the State of Qatar Saudi Arabia Basant Kumar Ass. Professor Modern College of Business & Science Stavroula Maglavera Research Engineer University of Thessaly Greece Ebrahim Ahmed Ali Abdulla Malalla President Secretariat Ahlia University Barhain Zaki Nezar Mallasi Maroof Assistant Professor & Director of Smart Building Research Center Director, Strategy & ebusiness Process College of Architecture and Design, Effat University Saudi Arabia Reengineering Bahrain egovernment Authority Barhain MASDAR - Institute of Science and Technolog, Institute Center Professor of Engineering for Smart and Sustainable Systems and Management Systems (ismart) UAE Toufic Mezher Arun Nagarle Head of Strategic Initiatives Middle East College Motius'Representative in Sascha Nägele Muscat, Motius Lorenzo Nicolai General Manager Renardet S.A. Khalid Orabi Editor Apex Press & Publishing Director - Operations Roberto Ordonez Effectiveness (MENA) Occidental Petroleum Corp. Nicolas Patrici Programme Manager Universitat DE Barcelona Spain Associate Dean For Professional, Postgraduate Modern College of Business and Rene Paquibut Studies & Research Science (MCBS) INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 48

49 Angayar Pavanasam International College of Engineering and Management Olivier Pfeiffer Programme Manager Technische Universtat Berlin Germany Arianna Privitera Psychologist Corporate Wellbeing Hervé Rannou President; CEO CITYZEN DATA Items International France Mika Rantakokko COO The Six City Strategy, Open Innovation Platforms Finland Advanced International Business Banie Redelinghuys Marketing Director Group LLC CEO, Professor Chemical Dhahran Techno-Valley Company (DTVC), KFUPM King Fahd University of Petroleum Halim Hamid Redhwi Engineering Department and Minerals Saudi Arabia Jean- Christophe Renodin Senior Manager-Healthcare Ministry of Finance State General Reserve Fund Pier-Luigi Sacco Deputy Rector for International Affairs, Professor of Cultural Economics IULM University, Milan Italy Nair Sarachandra n Assistant Professor Computing Department Muscat College Ali Shaban General Manager (Systems & Resources Management) WJTOWELL & CO LLC Ali Shamas CEO Dhofar Energy Mohammed Sherif Aziz Chief Engineer (Industrial Planning) PEIE - Public Establishment for Industrial Estates Marloes Smeets Junior Economic Officer Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Netherlands Anna Stalinska Associate Professor Modern College of Business and Science (MCBS) Abdulhamit Subasi Professor College of Engineering, Effat University Saudi Arabia Piotr Swiatek German National Contact Point for Energy in H2020; Science officer at Project Management J lich Project Management Julich Germany Elias Tang Abdullah Managing Director ASM technologies LLC Sylviane Toporkoff Founder Partner, President Global Forum / Shaping the Future Items International France Israr Ul Hassan Director for Research Dhofar University Marrieke van Oversteeg Regional Economic Officer Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Netherlands Kirstie Yvette Wild Secretariat of Executive Board; Senior Consultant, Dphil Danish Technological Institute Denmark INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 49

50 Annex D Inconet-GCC 2 International Conference on-site visits Agenda On-Site visits to local Technology Parks, Incubators, Research Organizations The Middle East Desalination Research Center Medrc Research Center Sas for Entrepreneurship and Sas For Virtual Reality Incubator for ICT businesses Break National Business center NBC Incubator businesses for Work Area Location Time of visit Research Topic Areas are: Thermal, Membrane, and Alternative Desalination. Operation and Maintenance Intakes & Outfalls Energy and Environment Issues Hybridized Systems Certification Programs Assessment Studies Sas Programme provides the foundation for creating a new and vibrant ICT industry, thereby fostering an entrepreneurial spirit in the ICT sector in. NBC offers promising i entrepreneurs a platform to further their business ideas and develop them into growing ventures. AlHail North 9:30 10:30 am Knowledge Oasis Muscat (KOM 4) fourth floor Knowledge Oasis Muscat (KOM 4) fourth floor SAS center Knowledge Oasis Muscat (KOM 4) fourth floor 11:00 12:00 pm 12:00 12:30 pm :30 pm NBC vision is to become the premier platform for i entrepreneurs by providing business development support and guidance, training and mentoring, access to markets and industry experts and state-of-the-art, fully equipped, office space, meeting rooms and presentation facilities. Industrial Innovation Center Innovation Support Center in Industry IIC focused on innovation for the development of industry. It is expected to create new products, mechanisms and processes that will eventually contribute to 's GDP by making i products locally and internationally competitive. Rusayl Industrial Area Tentative 1:45 2:30 pm INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 50

51 Annex E Inconet-GCC 2 International Conference on-site visits pictures MDRC The Middle East Desalination Research Center Medrc Research Center INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 51

52 National Business Center SAS Center for Entrepreneurship SAS Virtual Reality INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 52

53 Annex F Photos Gallery Inconet-GCC 2 International Conference Session pictures INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 53

54 INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 54

55 Annex G Inconet-GCC 2 International Conference English Press release INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 55

56 INCONET-GCC 2 International Conference, 6-8 December 2015, Muscat, 56