RINASCIMENTO Emerging Industries: a New Engine for Growth

1. Enterprise and Industry DG
Name: Joanna Drake
Director SMEs & Entrepreneurship, DG ENTR
European Emerging Industries Conference, 13-14 November 2014
"Rinascimento: Emerging Industries – A New Engine for Growth",
Opening Address:"Emerging Industries and their role in Europe's
Industrial Renaissance"
BRIEFING NOTE
Name of responsible Officer: Lisbeth Bahl Poulsen
Telephone number: 95447
Head of Unit: Kirsi Ekroth-Manssila
Telephone number: 50708
Directorate/Unit: D5: SMEs Clusters and Emerging Industries

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Table of Contents
1. THE EVENT .............................................................................................................. 3
2. TIMELINE OF THE EVENT .................................................................................... 3
3. LINE TO TAKE ......................................................................................................... 4
4. DRAFT AGENDA ..................................................................................................... 4
5. SPEECH .................................................................................................................... 4
6. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ........................................................................ 17

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1. The Event
Date: 13-14 November 2014
Venue: Palazzo Lombardia, Piazza Città di Lombardia 1, 20124 Milan, Italy
Theme: European Emerging Industries Conference 2014 "Rinascimento: Emerging
Industries – A New Engine for Growth",
Organisers: Region of Lombardy; Éupolis Lombardia – Institute for Research, Statistics
and Training
About the conference:
The European Emerging Industries Conference is the first of its kind and it is organised
jointly by the Region of Lombardy and Éupolis Lombardia within the framework of the
Italian Council Presidency in close cooperation with DG ENTR, Unit D.5. The
conference will deal with the topic of emerging industries from three perspectives:
 the characteristics of and developments within emerging industries,
 successful and promising policy frameworks in support of emerging industries,
 business support measures and entrepreneurs' needs in the field of emerging
industries.
A strong focus will be put on the considerable potential of emerging industries in
revolutionising Europe's industrial landscape and their contribution to growth and long-term
competitiveness. Likewise, the common misconception of emerging industries as
intrinsically 'new industries' will be addressed, by offering deeper insights into key
enabling technologies, the creation of new or reshaped industrial value chains, and the
drivers behind emerging industries such as new business models or societal and
environmental challenges. The opening plenary session, in which you will speak; will
set the stage for the conference, notably the role of emerging industries in Europe's
industrial renaissance.
Target audience:
250 conference participants
 Key-policy makers from European, national and regional authorities
 Entrepreneurs, SME representatives, practitioners from academia and industry
2. Timeline of the Event
Your intervention will be a speech on "Emerging Industries and their Role in
Europe's Industrial Renaissance" during the opening plenary on 13 November,
preceded by two other speeches given by Roberto Maroni, President of the
Lombardy region and Giuseppe Tripoli, SME Envoy of Italy and Director General
for Internationalisation and Trade Promotion at the Italian Ministry of Economic
Development (possibly by videoconference). The opening plenary starts at 14:30
with a short introduction given by the moderator which will be followed by Mr
Maroni's and Mr Tripoli's speeches which will take approximately 12-15 minutes
each. Your intervention is foreseen at 15:00 and should also take approximately 12-
15 minutes.
The 3 policy addresses will be followed by a panel discussion involving the Vice-
President of Assolombarda – the Lombardy employers' association, Alessandro Spada;
the President of UEAPME, Gunilla Almgren, the Vice-Chair of the Committee on

4. Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) of the European Parliament, Patrizia Toia (by
videoconference); and the Chief Innovation Officer at Gruppo Rold – a local 'emerging
industry', Paolo Barbatelli.
The following plenary session will deal with emerging industries as such, providing a
scene setter on features, drivers and potentials of emerging industries, emerging
industries case studies and a foresight analysis linking the conference topic to the
innovative impact of the Renaissance period and looking to the role of emerging
industries in the future.
The following day, on Friday 14 November 2014, the conference will start at 09:30 with
a session on favourable policy frameworks, featuring an overview of support measures at
a national and regional level, policy strategies in Lombardy and the Vanguard Initiative.
In addition, EU policy actions in support of emerging industries will be also presented,
notably the H2020 action 'Cluster facilitated projects for new industrial value chains.
The afternoon session will start at 13:45 with three parallel sessions on a) clusters and
SME intermediaries, b) access to finance and bankable proposals and c)
internationalisation and access to international markets.
The conference will conclude with a reporting back session and a business panel,
followed by the final concluding session with lessons to be taken home and closing
addresses by the European Commission and Eupolis Lombardia.
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3. Line to take
 Europe must maintain a vigorous and competitive economy and a strong industry.
This means we must better exploit the transformative power that arises from
cross-sectoral innovation by stimulating more entrepreneurship and collaboration
across and along value chains and the redefinition of industrial value chains.
 To capitalise on the potential of emerging industries as engines for growth we
need to be much more aware of where new ideas are most likely to emerge and
what drives them, and we must provide them the right conditions to ensure that
they develop into viable business propositions.
 The European Industrial Renaissance Communication calls for a better use of the
potential of clusters to create such favourable innovation ecosystems for groups
of SMEs as a means to promote growth.
4. Draft agenda
Attached as separate annex.
5. Speech
Number of words: 1466

5. Emerging Industries and their role in
Europe's Industrial Renaissance
5
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am pleased to have this opportunity to address the
first European Emerging Industries Conference. I
find this conference pertinent in terms of its title,
timing and scope.
First, the title: Rinascimento – Renaissance. This
important period of discovery in Europe's history
began in Italy and it is considered the start of the
modern world. The Renaissance stood for renewal
and revival based on the rediscovery of ancient
Greece and Rome as well as a new beginning
characterised by intensified scientific and
geographical discovery and exploitation of the
human potential. This, in turn, resulted in a more

6. dynamic society and the emergence of what we
call industries.
Today, with scarce natural and energy resources and
ambitious social and environmental goals, EU
companies cannot compete on low price and low
quality products. They must turn to innovation,
productivity, resource efficiency and high value-added
to compete in global markets. Thus we are
embarking on a new European Industrial
Renaissance that shall stimulate renewal and
modernisation across Europe's industries as set
out in the Commission Communication of the same
name. This modern Renaissance will require
companies not only to build on their existing know-how
but also to collaborate with other companies
within and beyond their traditional value chain. This
means they must engage in discovery across
sectors and beyond borders to gain the
knowledge, skills and partners that will drive the
transformation of existing industries or result in
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7. totally new industrial value chains, the so-called
emerging industries that are the topic of this
conference.
The timing of this conference is pertinent. It
coincides with the start of the work of the new
Commission. In his mission letters to the new
Commissioners, Commission President Juncker
stated that the new Commission has an obligation
to make a fresh start to strengthen economic
recovery and to build a Europe that delivers jobs
and growth for its citizens.
Juncker has also set as clear priorities that Europe
must maintain its global leadership in strategic
sectors with high-value jobs, and that the share of
industry in the EU's GDP should be brought back
to 20% by 2020, from less than 16% today.
This, however, does not mean returning to ‘the old
ways’ or doing ‘more of the same'. Tomorrow’s
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8. challenges and evolved consumer expectations call
for products and services of a highly complex nature.
Finally, the scope of this conference – emerging
industries as new engines for growth – is also
pertinent. The recent conclusions of the
Competitiveness Council emphasized the importance
of maintaining a vigorous and competitive economy
and a strong industry across the whole value chain.
The Council called on the Commission to seize the
opportunities arising from new sources of growth,
add value to products and services, boost
investment and fully exploit the expertise of
European industry, in particular of SMEs.
This calls for more entrepreneurship and
innovation and collaboration across and along
value chains and for the redefinition of industrial
value chains.
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9. Innovation can happen anywhere, but it is at the
borders between different sectors where most
innovation happens and gives rise to emerging
industries. Spill-overs between industries and cross-sectoral
innovation offer new growth and business
opportunities as new industries emerge and old ones
are transformed. This cross-sectoral innovation
process is driven by a mix of new technologies,
service innovation and creativity and the need for
environmental sustainability.
I will now give you an overview of Commission
actions that support the role of emerging
industries in Europe's Industrial Renaissance.
The EU's Single Market for goods and services is a
valuable asset, notably in times of increasing
globalisation. The Juncker Commission will renew
the strategy for its completion building on its
strengths and eliminating remaining obstacles. The
Single Market portfolio has been merged with
9

10. that of industry and entrepreneurship under the
responsibility of Ms Bienkowska, the Commissioner
for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and
SMEs. This sends a strong signal to business of the
EU's commitment to establish a competitive
framework for its industry by completing the
internal market and unlocking the untapped growth
potential of our economy, including in new
emerging areas.
To exploit this potential, we must understand where
these new areas of activity are and what is driving
them so policy makers can make informed decisions
on where to allocate scarce resources to best help our
companies and entrepreneurs take advantage of the
new business opportunities. To this end, the
European Cluster Observatory identifies and
analyses where and how clusters of related industries
are transforming themselves and where new
specialisation patterns give rise to the emergence or
renewal of industries. This work is complemented by
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11. the Business Innovation Observatory which
delivers intelligence on the latest business and
industrial innovation trends across Europe.
But knowing which industries are transforming
and where innovation is most likely to happen is
not enough.
We must also ensure that they have the best
conditions for succeeding. Traditionally, industrial
policy and initiatives tend to follow a narrow
approach, which does not necessarily take into
account the particularities of new industrial value
chains or the cross-sectoral dimension of emerging
industries. Policy makers need to change their
thinking from a sector-specific approach to
making use of the synergies that arise from cross-sectoral
innovation and collaboration.
At regional level this implies not only focussing on
smart specialisation priorities in sectoral silos but
11

12. to also facilitate cross-overs between them.
Emerging industries largely build upon a
combination of different competences, so an
environment that establishes and supports close
contacts within and beyond industrial sectors is a key
factor for their success.
Clusters can provide such an environment that
facilitates new forms of cooperation by combining
technologies, services and products from different
sectors and by channelling innovative tools and
instruments. The European Industrial Renaissance
Communication calls for a better use of the
potential of clusters to create favourable
innovation ecosystems for groups of SMEs as a
means to promote growth. It goes on to say that the
focus should not be limited to industrial sectors, but
also to facilitate cross-sectoral and cross-border
collaboration.
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13. So, the Horizon 2020 action 'Cluster facilitated
projects for new industrial value chains' has been
designed to capitalise on this role of clusters as
'brokers' fostering cross-border collaboration
between, and cross-sectoral innovation in and by
SMEs. With an estimated €140 million for the 7-
year period it will support at least 3000 SMEs by
2020 that shall develop and test solutions for value
chain innovation.
This leads me to how best to support new
entrepreneurs and specialised SMEs in emerging
industries. The keywords here are flexibility,
simplicity and ease of access. Existing business
support initiatives are still very much addressed to
traditional industries and implemented according to
old-fashioned administrative principles that do not
reflect the industrial or technological reality of the
21st century.
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14. Therefore, I am pleased to present the SME
Instrument, which is a transversal action that applies
right across the Horizon 2020 programme. It
provides ‘easy innovation support’ to individual
SMEs in the form of lump sums up to €50.000 for the
development of innovative marketable projects. In
addition, SMEs can profit from the assistance of
the Enterprise Europe Network whose members
are able to identify tailor-made coaching services
for SMEs benefitting from the SME Instrument.
Also, across all the EU’s funding programmes, we
are experimenting with new models for providing
business support such as through growth and co-working
centres, business transfer and matchmaking
platforms, innovation and knowledge voucher
schemes, crowd-funding and hybrid financing.
I also believe we must help them to enter
international value chains. Many regional and
national markets in Europe either have a small part of
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15. the value chain or have too small a market to allow
for continuous growth beyond a certain size.
The Enterprise Europe Network helps small
companies across all sectors to seize business
opportunities in Europe and beyond and it has
become an important gateway for SME
internationalisation.
When it comes to establishing long-term
cooperation with strategic international partners,
such cooperation is often facilitated by clusters.
Under COSME we support European Strategic
Cluster Partnerships that reinforce cluster
collaboration across borders and sectors and
implement joint internationalisation strategies.
And the European Cluster Collaboration Platform
with more than 950 registered cluster organisations
facilitates the search for European and
international partners.
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16. To sum up, if we really are serious about facilitating
the emergence of new industries and transforming
existing industries in Europe and about helping our
companies become part of global value chains - and
we are - then we need to be much more aware of
where new ideas are most likely to emerge and
what drives them in order to ensure that they
develop into viable business propositions. And we
need to provide them with adequate support to better
exploit the transformative power that arises from
cross-sectoral innovation and collaboration. This
is the spirit of Europe’s Industrial Renaissance.
I wish you a successful conference!
Name of main contact person: Lisbeth Bahl Poulsen
Telephone number: 95447
Directorate/Unit: DG ENTR D.5
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6. Background information
Conference scope
Emerging industries have a considerable potential to revolutionise and reshape Europe's
industrial landscape. They are evolving from new industrial value chains or from the
transformation of existing industries and in either case are driven by key enabling
technologies (KETs), new business models or societal challenges and environmental
challenges.
To ensure long term competitiveness of the European Industrial base, European
industries must continue to innovate and define a long-term strategic agenda for the
development of their competitiveness, building on their existing know-how but also on
collaboration with companies both within their traditional value chain and in other
sectors. Tomorrow’s challenges and evolved consumer expectations call for products and
services of a highly complex nature, assembling subcomponents produced by specialised
SMEs, each bringing a specific dimension, whether from a technological, creative,
craftsmanship or environmental perspective. Today’s globalised economy calls for
European companies to be supported in developing new long term competitive
advantages, building on multidisciplinarity and the integration of diverse KETs and other
advanced technologies.
The Commission Communication "For a European Industrial Renaissance" has
recognised this necessity by strongly underlining the importance of innovation and
technological advancement as the main sources of competitiveness for EU industry.
Consequently, the redefinition of industrial value chains plays a crucial role in the
creation of emerging industries and Europe's industrial modernisation. In order to make
best use of the potential of emerging industries it is necessary to provide a clear picture
of current and future trends and developments, to set the right policy framework for a
favourable ecosystem and appropriate business support measures and to address the
needs of specialised SMEs in emerging industries.
Against this background, the European Emerging Industries Conference 2014 shall
address the three following topics:
1. What is there at the horizon? – Understanding emerging industries and trends in
Europe.
2. How to support and stimulate emerging industries? – Creating a favourable policy
framework and involving key actors.
3. What do entrepreneurs need? – Providing the right business environment and
support.
1. What is there at the horizon? – Understanding emerging industries and trends in
Europe
In contrast to traditional industrial sectors, emerging industries are characterised by their
hybrid position between different fields of economic activity. Based on a highly skilled
workforce, they typically result from the combination of different entrepreneurial areas
and technologies and cross-sectoral spill-overs, eventually, leading to the creation of new
high value-added goods and services. In addition, resource efficient eco-solutions as well
as technological advancement in and through KETs, require understanding and
knowledge on how to combine and integrate these new industrial opportunities within

18. different sectors in order to enable structural change. However, grasping the dynamics of
emerging industries and the main innovation drivers behind them, such as creativity,
cross-cutting technologies and services and resource efficient eco-innovative solutions
remains a challenge. Therefore, helping stakeholders understand current trends and
developments in emerging industries in Europe is essential in order to take full advantage
of their potential to strengthen competitiveness, and create growth and jobs.
2. How to support and stimulate emerging industries? – Creating a favourable
policy framework and involving key actors
A key enabling factor in facilitating the development of emerging industries is the setting
of the right policy framework for a favourable ecosystem. Policy makers can put in place
measures to enable cross-sectoral cooperation. Traditionally, industrial policy tends to
follow a narrow approach, which does not necessarily take into account the particularities
of new industrial value chains and the cross-sectoral dimension of emerging industries.
Policy makers need to consider policy frameworks which stimulate new approaches
'outside the box' in order to exploit the potential that emerging industries present.
Yet, different regions exhibit different framework conditions resulting from their
industrial past and their current situation. This requires smart policies and instruments
adapted to surrounding conditions. Smart specialisation strategies take into account a
region's characteristics which allow for better targeted public funding in the framework
of the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) to contribute more efficiently to
high-value added activities for the regional economy. Within this context, the cross-sectoral
dimension towards fostering emerging industries needs to be further explored, so
that policy makers can make best use of a region's strengths while not following an
exclusively sectoral industrial policy approach.
3. What do entrepreneurs need? – Providing the right business environment and
support
In order for emerging industries to flourish, a favourable business environment that
addresses the needs of entrepreneurs is essential. With this regard, the conference will
deal with three sub-topics in more detail: clusters, finance and internationalisation.
a) As emerging industries largely build upon a combination of different competences, a
business environment that establishes and supports close contacts within and beyond
industrial sectors is a key factor for their success. Stakeholders from different sectors and
backgrounds need to be brought together in order to foster exchange of ideas and allow
for new perspectives and business solutions to arise. Clusters can be a favourable
environment for cross-sectoral as well as cross-regional and cross-border cooperation,
but this needs to be facilitated by cluster organisations or other SME intermediaries
which can enable the interplay of different innovation drivers that stimulate the
development of emerging industries. In this regard, the Commission Communication
"For a European Industrial Renaissance" emphasised the central role of clusters in
creating favourable innovation ecosystems for the promotion of growth and the objective
of involving clusters deliberately beyond single industrial sectors.
b) Alongside the necessary business support for fruitful cross-sectoral cooperation,
emerging industries rely on access to finance. This is most often provided by public
funding because private investors remain hesitant in providing investment to non-traditional
industrial sectors whose innovation actions are often deemed as 'high risk
activities'. On the one hand, emerging industries' entrepreneurs need support to explore
better ways of presenting the business case for their innovative activities by elaborating
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19. clear bankable proposals, thus allowing financial institutions and private investors to
become less risk-averse by getting a better understanding of emerging industries. On the
other hand, private investors must be sensitised to the value added and potential of goods
and services created by cross-sectoral economic activities and the use of intangible
values such as creativity or resource efficiency.
c) The successful commercialisation of an innovative idea often implies expanding
beyond borders and going international. Internationalisation, however, does not only
imply commercialisation but rather also includes fostering alliances across national
borders by identifying and building partnerships with suitable local partners or engaging
in international research, development and innovation (RD&I) collaboration. National
and European business support programmes as well as cluster organisations can offer
assistance in establishing contacts and networking opportunities to drive forward
internationalisation within the EU Single Market and with regard to third countries. They
can offer important support and information related to international property right,
patents and standardisation. Nevertheless, SME business support programmes need to
better understand and adapt to the needs of emerging industries in order to offer an
efficient framework to foster growth in precisely those fields that could have the most
impact in international markets.
European Commission actions
Following a 2013 call for proposals “Clusters and Entrepreneurship in Support of
Emerging Industries” 6 new large-scale demonstrator actions have been selected
covering the areas of mobile services and personalised medicine, nano- and biotech for
healthcare, low carbon economy, biopolymers and smart technologies. It is specifically
targeting regions that are in a transition phase characterised by the need to restructure
their economies by capitalising on the transformative power of creativity, resource
efficiency and cross-cutting technologies and services to modernise traditional
manufacturing sectors. It is integrating regional clusters and local networks around them
with a view to creating stronger regional ecosystems for emerging industries in the future
by establishing ‘open spaces’ or brokerage platforms to stimulate radical innovation
through cross-sectoral cooperation.
On this basis, the Horizon 2020 action “Cluster facilitated projects for new industrial
value chains” has been designed to be implemented as part of “Innovation in SMEs”
under the “Industrial Leadership” heading, starting in 2015. The action shall facilitate the
development of new cross-sectoral industrial value chains across the EU, building upon
the innovation potential of SMEs. Cross-border and cross-sectoral collaboration between
different regions and value chains shall be supported to help SMEs generate, take up and
better capitalise on all forms of knowledge, creativity, craftsmanship and innovation.
Clusters and other business networks that represent favourable ecosystems shall
coordinate and facilitate the resulting “systemic actions”. The call will follow a two-stage
submission procedure with a first deadline for submission of concept notes on 30 April
2015 and a second deadline for submission of full proposals by shortlisted projects on 09
September 2015. The overall budget for 2015-2020 amounts to EUR 140 million with a
budget of EUR 24.9 million for 2015 which will result in the selection of 5 to 10
projects.
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