Science, technology and innovation diplomacy: a way forward for Europe. Institute for European Studies Policy Brief Issue 2019/15

This policy brief explores how innovation becomes an increasingly important topic in international relations, with a deep impact on collaboration as well as on competition between countries. It analyses how the patterns of techno-economic change lead to changes in the global distribution of innovative activities around the world. It outlines three near future scenarios of the international politics of innovation. The first, called “populism and protectionism” describes an international environment which is becoming dominated by populist and nationalist tendencies. The second outlines the consequences of an approach of “innovation as a global public good”, in which ultimately everybody benefits, and global collaboration is the dominant model. The third scenario is called “bottom-up innovation” and describes what happens to the international dimensions when large international firms and the regions in which they are based become the dominant forces. Together these scenarios describe the range of potential developments over the next 10 years. The final paragraph discusses what Europe can and should do in its external relations to provide adequate answers to the forces outlined in the three scenarios. It results in a vision, which is laid down in four policy directions: a) the European “open” model of research and innovation should remain the starting point; b) Europe should actively seek to build level playing fields for commercial, technological and innovation powers; c) Europe should identify and foster its technological strengths and the critical technologies that need special attention, both in offensive and defensive ways; and d) Europe must identify and spread the key social values and goals (e.g. in relation to quality of life, quality of labour, culture including privacy, and sustainability) that it wants to pursue in its internal and external innovation policies and collaborations. This vision must guide the development of an international innovation policy and the work of innovation diplomats

Current policy issues in the governance of the European patent system

The European Parliament has been working towards building a discussion platform and a resource for further policy actions in the field of intellectual property rights. The Science and Technology Options Assessment Panel has set the goal of further enlarging the area of investigation in light of recent policy developments at the European level. In particular, the current study covers current policy issues in the governance of the European patent system, such as the backlog issue, the enhancement of patent awareness within the European Parliament, patent enforcement, the regional dimension of intellectual property in Europe, patents and standardisation, the use of existing patents, and patents and competition. These issues were discussed in the conference with stakeholders from European to national patent offices, from private to public sector actors. As a result of the conference, it was stated the need for an IP strategy for Europ

Protectionism and nationalism versus open innovation: a challenge for Europe's innovation diplomacy

Europe has embarked upon a fierce strategy of open innovation. The idea is “to open up the innovation process to all active players so that knowledge can circulate more freely and be transformed into products and services that create new markets, fostering a stronger culture of entrepreneurship” (see EU 2016). In other words, a free flow of knowledge is expected to benefit all. But Europe and its open innovation strategy are confronted with protectionist and nationalist tendencies, which do not favour such openness. These tendencies exist internally in many Member States where anti-European political forces are gaining power, with the UK Brexit vote as a prime example. Externally, we see these tendencies in the Americas, where president Trump is the loudest proponent, but certainly not the only one, and in Asia where international innovation collaboration is always well embedded in national competitive strategies

The Impact of Horizon 2020 on Innovation in Europe

The EU’s stagnation on many innovation indicators led to a number of efforts to spur a turnaround. One of most visible projects has been the Horizon 2020 strategy, which devotes unprecedented levels of funding to the promotion of R&D and innovation. But does this strategy address the right issues to promote innovation? Is Horizon 2020 right to ignore geographical considerations when allocating funding? What policy instruments does Horizon 2020 recommend, and has it led to novel strategies being employed, beyond the increase in R&D funding? What steps are individual countries taking? Most importantly, what impact is Horizon 2020 actually having on innovation in the EU?SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Mimicking the Articular Joint with In Vitro Models

Treating joint diseases remains a significant clinical challenge. Conventional in vitro cultures and animal models have been helpful, but suffer from limited predictive power for the human response. Advanced models are therefore required to mimic the complex biological interactions within the human joint. However, the intricate structure of the joint microenvironment and the complex nature of joint diseases have challenged the development of in vitro models that can faithfully mimic the in vivo physiological and pathological environments. In this review, we discuss the current in vitro models of the joint and the progress achieved in the development of novel and potentially more predictive models, and highlight the application of new technologies to accurately emulate the articular joint

Mimicking the Articular Joint with In Vitro Models

Treating joint diseases remains a significant clinical challenge. Conventional in vitro cultures and animal models have been helpful, but suffer from limited predictive power for the human response. Advanced models are therefore required to mimic the complex biological interactions within the human joint. However, the intricate structure of the joint microenvironment and the complex nature of joint diseases have challenged the development of in vitro models that can faithfully mimic the in vivo physiological and pathological environments. In this review, we discuss the current in vitro models of the joint and the progress achieved in the development of novel and potentially more predictive models, and highlight the application of new technologies to accurately emulate the articular joint

Modern connections in the future Eurocode 5 - overview of current developments

Within the project to review Eurocode 5 also the chapter “Connections” was redrafted and updated. The existing content in the 2004 edition of Eurocode 5 was updated regarding harmonisation, reduction of number of National Determined Parameters (NDP’s), simplification, effective material usage (positive effect on climate change) and safety. A special focus was put to the ease of use while new design rules were integrated into the chapter. New design rules for glued in rods, brittle failure modes such as row shear, shear plug and block shear as well as modern carpentry connections, and others. In this paper an overview and insight in the developments of the new chapter “Connections” in Eurocode 5 is be given

Mimicking the Articular Joint with In Vitro Models

Treating joint diseases remains a significant clinical challenge. Conventional in vitro cultures and animal models have been helpful, but suffer from limited predictive power for the human response. Advanced models are therefore required to mimic the complex biological interactions within the human joint. However, the intricate structure of the joint microenvironment and the complex nature of joint diseases have challenged the development of in vitro models that can faithfully mimic the in vivo physiological and pathological environments. In this review, we discuss the current in vitro models of the joint and the progress achieved in the development of novel and potentially more predictive models, and highlight the application of new technologies to accurately emulate the articular joint

Rapid and cytocompatible cell-laden silk hydrogel formation: Via riboflavin-mediated crosslinking

Bioactive hydrogels based on naturally-derived polymers are of great interest for regenerative medicine applications. Among naturally-derived polymers, silk fibroin has been extensively explored as a biomaterial for tissue engineering due to its unique mechanical properties. Here, we demonstrate the rapid gelation of cell-laden silk fibroin hydrogels by visible light-induced crosslinking using riboflavin as a photo-initiator, in presence of an electron acceptor. The gelation kinetics were monitored by in situ photo-rheometry. Gelation was achieved in minutes and could be tuned owing to its direct proportionality to the electron acceptor concentration. The concentration of the electron acceptor did not affect the elastic modulus of the hydrogels, which could be altered by varying the polymer content. Further, the biocompatible riboflavin photo-initiator combined with sodium persulfate allowed for the encapsulation of cells within silk fibroin hydrogels. To confirm the cytocompatibility of the silk fibroin formulations, three cell types (articular cartilage-derived progenitor cells, mesenchymal stem cells and dental-pulp-derived stem cells) were encapsulated within the hydrogels, which associated with a viability >80% for all cell types. These results demonstrated that fast gelation of silk fibroin can be achieved by combining it with riboflavin and electron acceptors, which results in a hydrogel that can be used in tissue engineering and cell delivery applications. This journal i