EUROPEAN FORUM FOR INNOVATION (EFI) 2011 IN ROME SETS RECORD FOR PARTICIPATION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) December 7, 2011 -- GHENT, Belgium – December 7, 2011 - European Alliance for Innovation hosted its second European Forum for Innovation (EFI) in Rome, far exceeding the achievements of its first year. A record number of speakers and attendees participated in person and online via social media and a live stream provided by Telecom Italia. The three-day event which ended on Friday, December 2, consisted of over 70 speakers providing key notes, participating in panels and presenting the latest developments in innovation initiatives in Europe to attendees from around the world.

“With over 800 participants, I couldn’t be happier with the results,” said EAI President Professor Imrich Chlamtac at the close of the event. “Events like EFI 2011 are important because they bring people together to focus on the obstacles to innovation and collaborate on solutions. And today, with live streaming and social media, the event is able to reach a much broader audience, providing more perspectives and possible solutions. For example, the event provided a venue for questions from students and new entrepreneurs to interact directly with representatives of the EU. EFI was a great representation of what EAI is; an organisation to foster collaboration from the grassroots up through to the leaders of European innovation policy.”

Speakers at EFI included the President of the Autonomous Province of Trento, Lorenzo Dellai, and Vice President of the European Commission, Neelie Kroes who joined by video. “In the developed world it is Innovation that drives productivity, it is innovation that finds new, more efficient ways to do things, and it is innovation that can now transform our economy.” stated Kroes. Professor Ward Hanson of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research helped set the stage for the event with a motivating key-note which he summed up with the statement, “Successful innovation policy is one that produces the right conditions for great products to emerge, that allows fair competition, that creates a platform for growth that all can hope to participate in, and that encourages risk taking.”
Mr. Raffaelle Liberali, Director for Energy DG Research & Innovation, cited the change in mentality toward innovation within the European Commission stating, “last year the Innovation Union was proposed with strong political support from all member states, and now we are implementing it.”

The event included an SME coaching and investor pitch session on day three, where APRE, the Agency for the Promotion of European Research (L’Agenzia per la Promozione della Ricerca Europea), brought a wide variety of entrepreneurs to the EFI 2011 community to present their businesses and ideas for funding to the community.

Professor Chlamtac added, “EAI is a fundamentally new approach to innovation. With no limitations on access, participation and idea exploitation opportunities, EAI offers organisations and individuals a revolutionary ecosystem that makes innovation happen in an unprecedented way. This year’s EFI event, with its live streaming, in itself demonstrates of the potential of empowering grassroots innovation through new media. EFI brought together representatives of the corporate world, SMEs, professional societies and administration, who reaching out to thousands of individuals for online participation and millions for web access, together build and create an ecosystem of grassroots innovation matchmaking.”

The European Alliance for Innovation (EAI) is a vibrant eco-system for fostering ICT enabled innovation to improve European competitiveness and to benefit society. EAI is unique in its use of open e-platforms to inspire matchmaking, collaboration and to reduce fragmentation among all relevant actors, from organisations to individuals. Through active participation, organisations find ideas and talent, and individuals find organisations for their ingenuity and craft.
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If you would like more information about the event you can visit www.efi.eai.eu or contact Alessandro Bertoni at +39 0461 408400 ext.663 or alessandro.bertoni@eai.eu

You can also visit our social media pages at:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/eai.eu
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/1484079?trk=tyah

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