The Regional Innovation Forum for Europe, organised by the International Telecommunication Union and supported by the Office of the Commissioner of Communications of Cyprus. The Forum, organized within the framework of the
ITU Regional Initiative for Europe on ICT-Centric Innovation Ecosystems, as part of the
2020 ITU Global Innovation Forum, took place virtually on 29 October 2020 from 13:00 to 16:30 (GMT+1).
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of digital technologies in enabling economic growth, entrepreneurship, digital inclusion and the capacity to respond quickly to new challenges in a time of unprecedented crisis. It has revealed the shortcomings of many systems, but also accelerated the pace of digital transformation of economies at large.
The Regional Innovation Forum for Europe empowered participants with new approaches, insights, tools, frameworks, communities and relevant case studies to understand how to mainstream sustainable ecosystems that accelerate digital transformation in Europe.
OBJECTIVE
This one-day forum aimed to build regional and national capacities by identifying, pitching and highlighting successful projects and/or initiatives, policies and programmes in developing digital ecosystems. The programme built upon the recently launched ITU toolkit,
Bridging the digital innovation divide: A toolkit for strengthening ICT centric ecosystems, and was supported by a series of national and regional best practices and initiatives fostering ICT-centric innovation and digital transformation. This event was organized within the framework of the ITU European Regional Initiative on Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Youth, adopted by the
World Telecommunication Development Conference 2017 (WTDC-17), Buenos Aires.
It also contributed to the digital integration, one of the pillars of the RCC-coordinated Multi-annual Action Plan for a Regional Economic Area in the Western Balkans, endorsed by WB6 Leaders at the Trieste Summit of the Berlin process (12 July 2017), in particular focusing on promoting uptake of smart technologies and accelerating digital transformation, as well as supporting skills development and access to digital talent.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
This forum targeted all stakeholders involved in
nurturing digital innovation, with a particular emphasis on the stakeholders in the sectors facing the biggest opportunities and challenges in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as
tourism, commerce, digital inclusion, digital health, online learning, public services and
digital agriculture. Particularly, this agenda was customized for the needs of ICT policy makers, regulators, tech incubators, national innovation agencies, development agencies, entrepreneurs, ecosystem builders, academia as well as institutions willing to undertake national reviews on the ICT-centric innovation ecosystems and develop coherent approaches to move countries towards an innovation driven economy.
EXPECTED RESULTS
This forum was designed to empower participants with the methodology, frameworks, tools and context-relevant case studies to accelerate digital transformation through promoting innovation and entrepreneurship. Furthermore, participants were also able to get to know projects or initiatives that are conducive to a digital innovation ecosystem.
