On August 3, 2015, The European Institute held a breakfast discussion on the European Union’s Digital Single Market Strategy with Ambassador Daniel Sepulveda, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and U.S. Coordinator for International Communications & Information Policy; Andrea Glorioso, Counselor for the Digital Agenda & ICT at the Delegation of the European Union; and Marie Royce, Vice President Public Affairs at Alcatel-Lucent. Thorough conversations with stakeholders are underway on the 16 initiatives of the strategy, which places digital technologies at the forefront of the EU's push for sustainable and competitive economic growth. While the panelists lauded the strategy overall, differing approaches on a range of issues such as spectrum management, copyright reforms, intermediary liability and data localization were discussed. Dr. Michael Nelson, Public Policy at CloudFlare moderated the discussion.

On July 8, 2015, The European Institute held a breakfast discussion with Dr. Vladimir Šucha, Director-General of the EU Joint Research Committee.  Dr. Šucha highlighted the challenges of effectively integrating scientific evidence into policy-making.  He emphasized the need for evidence-based policy making and the importance that trust, timing, and finding the right formulation of both formal and informal advice play in encouraging effective and timely cooperation between scientists and policy-makers.  Dr. Šucha also encouraged a more holistic approach to societal challenges and thinking outside the box in order to formulate effective policies for a more complex, interconnected and accelerated world.

On June 1, 2015, The European Institute held a discussion on the EU’s approach to science diplomacy with The Honorable Carlos Moedas, EU Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation. Commissioner Moedas highlighted his efforts to embed science in the bloc’s diplomatic efforts, stressing that science diplomacy offers both Brussels and Washington a matchless opportunity to address some of the key political, demographic and environmental challenges of our age: food, water, energy and public health. A tri-dimensional effort, Commissioner Moedas said the EU is seeking to inform foreign policy objectives with scientific advice; facilitate international science cooperation through Horizon 2020, and using science cooperation to improve international relations between countries.

Click here to read Commissioner Moedas's remarks.

On June 1, 2015, The European Institute welcomed Dr. Patrick Prendergast, President and Provost of the Trinity College Dublin and Member of the Governing Board of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). Dr. Prendergast detailed the goals and work of the EIT and its efforts to overcome the so-called European Innovation Paradox. He emphasized the importance of cooperation between education centers, research and industry as the key to future, sustainable  innovation. As examples, Dr. Prendergast cited the role of the Knowledge Innovation Centers (KICs) on climate, industry, energy, raw material and health and listed the two new KCIs on active aging and healthy living.  He also cited the successful public-private partnerships that Trinity College Dublin has had with creative industries and companies like Google, Twitter or Facebook and put a special focus on the idea of publicly funded innovations and R&D in the College’s new strategic plan. Finally, Dr. Prendergast underlined ongoing projects at Trinity, such as the establishment of the New Trinity Business School which will be co-located with the Innovation and Entrepreneurship hub; the “LaunchBox" project, a business incubator for undergraduates; and “FoodCloud”, a social enterprise spin-out.

Click here to read Dr. Prendergast's remarks.

On December 18, 2014, The European Institute hosted a breakfast discussion on the results and implications of last month’s 2014 ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Busan, Korea. The panelists: Ambassador Daniel Sepulveda, Deputy Assistant Secretary and U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy at the U.S. Department of State; Andrea Glorioso, Counselor for the Digital Agenda & ICT at the Delegation of the European Union; Sally Shipman Wentworth, Vice President of Global Policy Development at the Internet Society; Marie Royce, Vice President Public Affairs at Alcatel-Lucent; and Leslie Martinkovics, Director of International Public Policy & Regulatory Affairs at Verizon addressed the outcomes of the ITU Plenipotentiary, the implications for the multi-stakeholder model of internet governance, in which openness, transparency and democratic principles can sustainably prevail in the digital age, and the challenges looking ahead to 2015. Dr. Michael Nelson, Adjunct Professor for Internet Studies in the Communication, Culture, & Technology Program at Georgetown University moderated the discussion.