On the 23rd of November a one-day workshop with the theme “Business and research in cooperation for increased European innovation capabilities” takes place in Riga organized by the Nordic Council of Ministers and in co-operation with the Ministry of Economy, the Nordic Council of Ministers' Office in Latvia and the Nordic Innovation Centre (NICe).
The first objective of the workshop is to enhance awareness of Technology Platforms that are expected to play a major role in mobilizing Europe's research, technological development and innovation efforts. The second objective is to lift the issue of clustering. Clustering can bring a wide range of benefits to both the business and the national economy. The general interest in clustering has increased in Europe and policymakers try to develop suitable cluster policies in order to focus more on microeconomic issues.
Two NICe financed projects within the field of Innovation Policy are selected by the Ministry of Economics of Latvia and will be presented at the workshop: “The Innovation System and the Periphery” and “Creating Opportunities for young Entrepreneurs – Nordic examples and experience”.
The purpose of the workshop is to provide an informal forum for discussions linked to technology platforms as a tool in the development of innovation capabilities, and to clustering, how to develop national strategies to support cluster development. The programme is flexible and will open up for questions and interesting debates.