About Open Innovation 2.0 Conference

The European Commission’s Directorate-General CONNECT in the shape of the Open Innovation Strategy and Policy Group (OISPG) in partnership with the European Committee of the Regions, the Municipality of Cluj-Napoca, the Innovation Value Institute, ARIES Transylvania, iTech Transilvania Cluster, Transylvanian Clusters Consortium, MasterCard and Dublin City Council launched the FREE REGISTRATIONS to the Open Innovation 2.0 Conference 2017 taking place in the picturesque city of Cluj-Napoca, Transylvania region, in Romania (13th – 14th June 2017). The event will take place at Hotel Grand Italia in Cluj-Napoca.

Established four years ago, the Open Innovation 2.0 Conference (OI2) is a high-level event that brings together innovation experts, policy-makers, academic scholars, practitioners and individuals who are engaged in various aspects of innovation and entrepreneurship. The OI2 conference is bringing strong synergies between the topics of Digital Innovation Hubs and SME/Startup activities in south-east Europe on which European Commission’s Directorate-General CONNECT is also putting an emphasis on.

“The conference is giving practical insight on the developments in practise, and bridges the theory to practice on all levels “declares mr. Bror Salmelin – adviser for Innovation Systems at the European Commission, Directorate General for Communications, Network, content, and Technology (DG CONNECT)

“The fact that Cluj-Napoca has been chosen to host this Conference in 2017 reflects the recognition of the local and regional efforts to create an open and functional innovation ecosystem.” declares Mr. Emil Boc – Mayor of Cluj-Napoca.

DG Connect via OISPG already communicated some details of the OI2 Conference agenda. The event plenaries will discuss examples on national policy development (like Austrian Open Innovation Strategy), examples of ecosystem creation (in context of industrial transformation), dissemination of open innovation through the establishment of Digital Innovation Hubs; and citizen engagement in large scale pilots and experiments.

The event has several prominent speakers confirmed, like Prof Piero Formica on the renaissance of innovation, Director Peter Droell from European Commission in industrial renewal, Woman entrepreneur of the year Michela Magas on Industry Commons; Prof Noburu Konno from Japan Innovation Network, and alike. The audience is a balanced mix of all quadruple helix stakeholder groups: industry, academia, public sector and civic society! Interactivity is ensured by the design of the event throughout the two very inspiring days.

The conference’s highlights will be VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) times – giving serendipity in the innovation process a chance, STARTS (Science, Technology and ARTS) – stressing out the interactions between these fields, digital transformation of the society and industries, Innovation Radar and OI2 ecosystems best practices.

Fifth edition of the prestigious Innovation Luminary Awards Gala Dinner will also take place between Day 1 and Day 2 of the conference. The event will be by invitation only, but it will be fully reported on media and social networking channels.

The Open Innovation 2.0 Conference 2017 in Cluj-Napoca will be the main event amongst a series of happenings: the conference will be preceded by an Innovation Dialogue (10th – 11th of June 2017), and Citizens’ Dialogue on 12th June. The OI2 Conference will feature a small innovation exhibition which offers visibility for OI-related projects and activities, showcasing best practices to be multiplied.

Cluj-Napoca is the 2nd city of Romania, situated in the heart of Transylvania region. As an elite academic center of the country, hosting 11 universities, enrolling more than 80.000 students, Cluj-Napoca showcases on of the most colorful cultural city canvas of Eastern Europe and a growing ICT hub. Open Innovation 2.0 Conference 2017 is a good opportunity to discover this hidden gem of Europe.