Abstract

Sociedade Portuguesa de Inovação – SPI (http://www.spieurope.eu), created in 1996, is as an active centre of national and international networks connected to the research and innovation sectors. Being involved in projects worldwide, SPI has become a leading promoter of linkages between private sector companies, science and technology institutions, and national and international public and private organisations. After more than a decade working in projects that target African countries, SPI has gained relevant experience on supporting Europe-Africa partnerships in Research and Innovation. SPI has an overall knowledge of the business and institutional landscape in Africa, which enables its team to identify the rising opportunities for R&I collaborations between European and African organisations.

Strengthening the research and innovation (R&I) cooperation between the African Union (AU) and the European Union (EU) needs to be a persistent driving force for both regional blocks, as it lays the foundation of consistent development. The new innovation agenda will present added value avenues for both parties under the aforementioned reasoning. This presentation shall address the role and contributions of research managers to the implementation of the AU-EU innovation partnership.

African researchers and innovators have been doing much with very little and the opportunity has now come for European and African researchers to work together for mutual benefit. The projects and opportunities that will be framed under the AU-EU Innovation Agenda will allow organisations and researchers from both continents to cross the administrative boundary barriers and establish a variety of partnerships, mobility and exchange programmes, and joint research efforts. Key topics under consideration when discussing the new innovation agenda include research impact, open science and responsible R&I. SPI has been involved in these areas and best practices to be presented will draw from the following projects:

- ENRICH in Africa (EiA), which addresses the needs for capacity development of incubators, accelerators, and entrepreneurs in Africa;

- BIC Africa, a regional network supporting selected business incubators (BIs) in a few pilot countries in Eastern and Southern Africa;

- EURAXESS, which includes a recently-launched African Hub that connects African researchers to European funding opportunities;

- MSCAdvocacy, which aims to guide research and innovation policies in various regions of the world, including through the bi-regional policy dialogue with the AU.

- Support for the development of the SADC Digital Transformation Strategy (SADC-DTS), where key interventions in the domains of digital governance, digital connectivity infrastructure, digital skills investments, digital platforms and emerging technologies were identified

Based on the abovementioned projects, Dr. Sara Medina will address the following questions: What opportunities will the new innovation agenda bring for increased collaboration between Europe and Africa? How can both continents research managers use their expertise to reinforce organisational cooperation? What are the challenges research managers face while managing continent-wide partnerships?