Programme

09:30 – 10:00 | Registration and welcome coffee, Atrium 6

Moderator: Veronika Kadlecová, Policy Administrator, Section for Single Market, EESC

10:00 – 10:10 | Welcome address

  • Sandra Parthie, President of the Section for Internal Market of the European Economic and Social Commitee, rapporteur on General Purpose AI and the way forward after the AI Act opinion
  • Tanya Hristova, Chair of the SEDEC Commission of the Committee of Regions

10:10 – 10:30 | Setting the scene

  • Maurizio Mensi, EESC member, Professor of Law & Economics at Italian National School of Administration, rapporteur on A New European Innovation Agenda opinion
  • Markku Markkula, CoR member, President of the Helsinki Region, rapporteur on A New Innovation Agenda for Europe opinion

10:30 – 11:30 | Panel I: Developing and attracting AI talent in Europe

In Europe, we now have the AI Act, first ever ethical framework which will become applicable soon. We have excellent academia and research community in the field and an immense potential for B2B data access and sharing, but how are we doing in the global race for talent in the field of AI now compared to the rest of the world? What needs to be done to develop and deploy talent in Europe as well as attract talent into Europe? What skills are needed to truly master AI and on the other hand? How can we use AI to improve the European citizen's learning and vocational training? What are the lessons learnt from the implementation of the New European Innovations Agenda in this regard? How can we learn from them in the future? Will the initiatives such as the creation of AI factories do the trick? How to incorporate lessons learnt from the past as well as innovative ideas into the next EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation? 

  • Maurizio Mensi, EESC member, Professor of Law & Economics at Italian National School of Administration, rapporteur on A New European Innovation Agenda opinion
  • Sabrina Küspert, Policy Officer, AI Office Team, European Commission
  • Lukáš Kačena, Managing Director, prg.ai

11:30 – 12:45 | Panel II: Locating EU´s comparative edge in research and innovations in AI

To be competitive in the global context, Europe must target its focus well and make use of its comparative advantages. What is EU´s comparative edge when it comes to the development of AI? Where do our weaknesses lie? How do we fare when it comes to transitioning the results of our research and development in the field onto the market? Are there specific sectors where Europe has a promising potential when it comes to AI? How to concentrate our efforts on advancing these promising sectors, also in the context of preparing the next EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation?

Moderator: Stefano Palmieri, EESC member, Italian General Confederation of Labour, rapporteur on Proposal for a Council recommendation on enhancing research security opinion

  • Marisa Ponti, Associate Professor of Informatics, University of Gothenburg
  • Miguel Angel Rubio Escudero, Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Excellence Unit, European Commission
  • María Bobillo Varela, Director of the Office of Strategic Support and Planning, Galician Technology Agency
  • Jan Rempala, BusinessEurope

12:45 – 13:00 | Closing remarks at the end of Session I

13:00 – 14:00 | Networking lunch, Atrium 5

See the agenda and information about the afternoon thematic seminar on Knowledge valorisation for the regional and local R&I ecosystems here.

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