STI in Flanders - Policy and Key Figures - 2022 (full version).pdf by Vlaanderen-be

POLICY & KEY FIGURES 2022

STI IN FLANDERS

We dedicate this editon of the STI in Flanders in honour of our colleague Niko Geerts who passed away November 2021. STI in Flanders is a publication of The Flemish Government, Department of Economy, Science and Innovation Flemish Government Department EWI Koning Albert II-laan 35, bus 10 B-1030 Brussels, BELGIUM Tel.: +32 2 553 59 80 info.ewi@vlaanderen.be www.ewi-vlaanderen.be Publisher Johan Hanssens, Secretary-General This edition was made possible thanks to contributions from various members of the Department of Economy, Science and Innovation, the Agency for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Flemish Department of Foreign Affairs, Flanders Investment and Trade and Statistiek Vlaanderen. Special thanks to the policy research centre ECOOM (www.ecoom.be) for calculating the Flemish figures for STI topics such as R&D expenses, R&D personnel, human resources, (co)-publications, citations, patents and the innovation rate. Date of publication March 2022 Content revised until January 2022 The reproduction of content of the “STI in Flanders” publication is only allowed with a reference to the source. The Department of Economy, Science and Innovation is not liable for any use of information in this edition. D/2021/3241/101 Concept & Design The Oval Office Cover © Tom Dhaenens

STI IN FLANDERS SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION POLICY & KEY FIGURES 2022

4 STI IN FLANDERS

TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION BY THE MINISTER FOREWORD 1 INVESTING FOR AN INNOVATIVE AND PRODUCTIVE ECONOMY 1.1 We will innovate ourselves out of the crisis 1.2 Productive investments

2 MAKING ADDITIONAL INVESTMENTS TO BECOME A DIGITAL FRONTRUNNER 2.1 Imec - chip lab of the world 2.2 Smart cities - digital and customer-oriented local authorities as frontrunners 2.3 Digital transformation programme for the media sector in Flanders 2.4 Breakthrough in Industry 4.0

3 INNOVATION OFFENSIVE FOR SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5

Bioeconomy impulse programme Innovation for a water-secure Flanders Flanders, a top region for hydrogen Strengthening energy research Going circular is a smart move

4 RESILIENCE THANKS TO A HIGH-PERFORMANCE CARE ECONOMY 4.1 Impulse programme for innovation in health and care

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

13 13 14

15 15 16 16 16

CHAPTER 1

FLANDERS: INNOVATION HUB IN THE HEARTH OP EUROPE

1 GEOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT

2 INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT: DIVISION OF R&D&I COMPETENCIES IN THE BELGIAN FEDERATION

2.1 Direct support for R&D&I in the broad sense 2.2 Research related to the community 2.3 Access to finance

3 SOCIO-ECONOMIC, TECHNOLOGICAL AND SCIENTIFIC CONTEXT

27 28 28

3.1 Performance of Belgium and/or Flanders in international perspective 32 3.2 Focusing on strengths and “spearhead domains” 34

17 17 17 17 18 18

CHAPTER 2

GOVERNMENT ACTORS

1 FLEMISH ADMINISTRATION

1.1 Policy area Economy, Science and Innovation 19

2 GENERAL ORIENTATIONS OF FLEMISH STI POLICY

2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5

Policy documents in the field of R&D&I More resources for R&D Recent initiatives: focus on twin transition Smart Specialisation in Flanders Monitoring and reporting of the R&D&I policy

46 48 48 51 52

CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH ORGANISATIONS

1 HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

1.1 University Associations 1.2 Universities 1.3 Funding

2 STRATEGIC RESEARCH CENTRES 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4

imec VIB VITO Flanders Make

56 56 56

59 61 63 64

4 OTHER FLEMISH KNOWLEDGE INSTITUTES

5 INSTITUTES GOVERNED BY OTHER AUTHORITIES

6 POLICY RESEARCH CENTRES

9.1 Cooperation among knowledge actors within Flanders 9.2 Technology transfer

70 70

10 PERFORMANCE FROM INSTITUTIONS BENCHMARKED INTERNATIONALLY

3 FLEMISH SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTES

5.1 Federal authority 5.2 International institutions, organisations or platforms in the STI field

9 COOPERATION AND OUTREACH TO BUSINESSES

CHAPTER 4

ENTERPRISES

1 BUSINESS ENTERPRISE SECTOR

2 INFRASTRUCTURE AND FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES

3 COLLABORATION: INNOVATIVE NETWORKS AND RESEARCH-BUSINESS LINKS

66 67

3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4

Cluster policy Local and thematic initiatives Collective (research) centres Research – business links

78 80 80 81

4 BUSINESS EXPENDITURE ON R&D

7 OTHER BODIES OF PUBLIC INTEREST IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE AND INNOVATION

8 RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURES

6 STI IN FLANDERS

CHAPTER 5

CITIZENS

1 SCIENCE COMMUNICATION

2 CITIZEN SCIENCE

3 STEM-INITIATIVES

4 SCIENCE CAREERS

5 QUADRUPLE HELIX MODEL

3 GOVERNMENT SUPPORT FOR INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES 3.1 FWO-instruments 3.2 VLAIO support

99 99 100

ANNEX I

BELGIAN INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT

102

1 FEDERALISM IN BELGIUM

103

1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5

The Communities The Regions One Flemish Government Budget Competencies of the Flemish Government

103 104 104 105 106

CHAPTER 6

INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES

1 EU-LEVEL

1.1 Policy preparation and follow-up 1.2 EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation and COSME 1.3 European and international initiatives on R&I with Flemish participation 1.4 Smart specialisation spearhead domains in the EU context 1.5 EU Regional Policy 1.6 Vanguard Initiative 1.7 VLEVA

2 BILATERAL AND INTERNATIONAL 2.1 Bilateral and international co-operation and agreements 2.2 International organisations 2.3 International activities from research organisations

ANNEX II

MAIN R&D&I ACTORS

108

ANNEX III

FUNDING OF R&D

118

1 INTRODUCTION

119

94 94 95 95

2 GERD

119

3 BERD

122

4 NON-BERD

124

5 GBARD

126

96 98

6 ESTIMATE CALCULATION METHOD FOR PUBLICLY FINANCED R&D INTENSITY (1% OBJECTIVE)

128

7 THE EU FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME FOR RESEARCH AND INNOVATION HORIZON 2020 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4

Introduction Participation by Flanders Benchmark for Flanders Top participating organisations

8 EU REGIONAL POLICY FUND (ESIF) AND R&D&I SUPPORT 8.1 Objectives 8.2 Priority axes 8.3 Budget

ANNEX VI

STI PRODUCTIVITY OR STI OUTPUT?

152

1 INTRODUCTION

153

2 SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS

153

3 CITATIONS

155

4 CO-PUBLICATIONS

156

137

5 SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES

157

137 137 137

6 PATENTS

157

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

162

LIST OF FIGURES

171

LIST OF TABLES

173

130 130 132 135 136

ANNEX IV

HUMAN RESOURCES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

138

1 INTRODUCTION

139

2 S&T STUDENTS

139

3 S&T GRADUATES

140

4 R&D PERSONNEL

142

5 MOBILITY OF RESEARCHERS

144

ANNEX V

INNOVATION EFFORTS BY ENTERPRISES IN FLANDERS (CIS RESULTS)

146

1 CIS: GLOBAL RESULTS

147

2 TOTAL INNOVATION OVER TIME

149

3 PRODUCT INNOVATION AND BUSINESS PROCESS INNOVATION

151

JAN JAMBON M i n i s t e r- P re s i d e n t of the government of Flanders, Flemish Minister for foreign Af fairs, Culture, I C T a n d Fa c i l i t y Management

My government has set itself the ambition to become one of the top 5 innovative knowledge regions in Europe. This publication provides an impressive overview of the innovation landscape that the Flemish Government has established since its acquired competence over science and innovation shows that Flanders is one of the European hot spots to invest in for those companies seeking added value through innovation.

To further boost our innovation ecosystem, a close cooperation between government, knowledge institutes, businesses and citizens is required. In my policy note 2019-2024, I have therefore set out to adopt the new innovation model which is known as the quadruple helix model which ties together the aforementioned actors. This publication sets out the main initiatives and actors through which we connect with the four helixes. It presents a profound overview of the results of flemish policy on science, technology and innovation in Flanders. It is clear Flanders possesses all the means to get the most out of the quadruple helix.

HILDE CREVITS Flemish Minister for Economy, Innovation, Work, Social Economy and Agriculture

10 STI IN FLANDERS

FOREWORD

The Department of Economy, Science and Innovation of the Flemish Government is pleased to present its sixth edition of the “STI in Flanders”. The aim is to present in-depth information about Science, Technology and Innovation policy in Flanders, highlight important figures or indicators, describe the research and innovation landscape, and present an overview of the main actors active in the field of R&D&I. This publication is updated on a regular basis. We are happy we can build on the previous work of our colleague Niko Geerts who offered us much details on the STI-landscape in Flanders in the earlier editions of this publication. The Government of Flanders is aware of the importance of research and innovation as a necessary condition for maintaining wealth and well-being in Flanders. As early as the mid-1990s, it started to elaborate a broad-based STI policy, which has since been developed through a whole series of initiatives, treaties, parliament acts, decrees, agreements, decisions, MoU’s and statements, which strive towards a common goal or seek to achieve other legislative measures that shape, implement and evaluate policy in the broad field of science, research and innovation. This is underpinned by a substantial public budget for research and innovation.

This “STI in Flanders” publication provides an overview of Science, Technology and Innovation policy and organisations in Flanders aimed at a broad public.

In 2021, the overall budget of the Flemish Government amounted to over 56 billion euro. The budget (across all policy areas) for science and innovation policy of the Flemish Government reached 3.842 billion euro, of which 1.99 billion euro for R&D in the strict definition. In addition to this Flemish budget, research and innovation actors in Flanders annually have at their disposal about 293 million euro from federal budgets and 190 million euro from the EU Horizon 2020 programme. Hence, the total public budget for R&D (in a strict sense) available in 2020 to the various R&D actors in Flanders was just over 2.5 billion euro. Furthermore, total expenditure on R&D from all (public and private) actors jointly (GERD) reached 9.350 billion euro in 2019. This represents for the Flemish Region an R&D-intensity of 3.35% (2019). If the R&D-efforts from Flemish institutes located in the Brussels Capital Region are included, the (Flemish Community) R&D-intensity reaches 3.43% (2019). The Regional Innovation Scoreboard (RIS) 2021 ranks the Flemish Region in the top group

of "innovation"leader"; it is ranked with a 27th position in the list of EU (sub-) regions. The Flemish Government has committed itself in its 2019-2024 government coalition agreement to reach the 3% target of R&D intensity by 2024. This commitment is translated into 195 million euro one-off investments in R&D-infrastructure during this period, and an increase of 250 million euro in the annual R&Ibudget. This comes on top of a 500 million euro increase in the annual budget during the previous five year government period. Based on the Eurostat statistics Flanders reached the objectives already in 2019 (3.35%) and will continue its investments the following years to stay above the 3% target. The government also steps up its efforts to implement the quadruple helix model, in which various stakeholders from government, business organisations, STI actors in Flanders and civil society join forces to develop initiatives, set policy targets, or maintain important efforts for the long term in the field of R&D and innovation. Another important characteristic of the policy for the coming years, is a more mission oriented policy. All these efforts should bring Flanders in the top 5 innovative regions, as ranked by the EU Regional Innovation Scoreboard.

This “STI in Flanders” publication provides an overview of Science, Technology and Innovation policy and organisations in Flanders aimed at a broad public. It bundles various types of information on policy, institutes, as well as different statistical data of the broad Flemish R&D&I landscape. After a first general chapter on the political and economic context of Flanders, you are guided through the landscape according to the quadruple helix model. I wish you a pleasant reading of this sixth edition of “STI in Flanders”!

JOHAN HANSSENS Secretary-general Department of Economy, Science & Innovation

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POLICY PRIORITIES 2021-2024 BY MINISTER HILDE CREVITS

Still, the corona crisis also offers opportunities. It sparks an important ambition to make investments now which are fully tailored to the needs of people and companies. With clear and sustainable emphases that will improve Flanders’ economic clout. 2021 will therefore be the year of investment in resilience.

2020 will be a year to remember. It will go down in history as the year of the corona crisis. Our society and economy have been shaken to their foundations, with major social and financial consequences. Efforts have been required from each of us, and the impact on the economic fabric is particularly severe.

“ We should harness this transformative power of the twin digital and climate transition to strengthen our own industrial base and innovation potential.” HILDE CREVITS Flemish Minister for Economy, Innovation, Work, Social Economy and Agriculture

We will invest through innovation, in our companies, in environmental factors and in our researchers and knowledge centres. We will leave no one behind. We can accelerate the turnaround we have in mind by working together. We must fully grasp the opportunities offered by the recovery! We will focus our approach very explicitly on the recommen dations for recovery from the expert committees installed by the Government of Flanders. But also on the recommendations from the European Commission, in light of the recovery plan that we wish to submit to Europe for funding under the Recovery and Resilience Facility. From the Economy and Innovation competence, we will develop a powerful recovery policy that will bring our region to an economy of the future. We cannot simply return to the economic situation of early 2020. Instead, in 2021, we will make a turnaround, while accelerating the necessary transitions and realising stronger economic growth. In doing so, we will act upon the message expressed by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen at the time of her appointment: In order to realise this vision, the recovery policy will focus on innovation and productive investment, with particular emphasis on: • The digital economy • A sustainable and circular economy • A resilient care economy In addition to the recovery, however, sustained attention must still be given to measures for containing the coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, we support companies in dealing with the consequences of the Brexit.

INTRODUCTION BY THE MINISTER

1 INVESTING FOR AN INNOVATIVE AND PRODUCTIVE ECONOMY In the first place, the Government of Flanders is implementing its coalition agreement. This means that in 2021 a new impetus of €30 million for R&D and €15 million for research infrastructure will be given in the Economy, Science and Innovation (EWI) policy area. On top of this, the Government of Flanders will allocate a substantial envelope for one-off investments, and we are counting on resources from the EU recovery fund. In this way we will arrive at a government-wide investment programme of €4.3 billion. In the area of enterprise and innovation, I will now implement the package of recovery measures that will bring our region to an economy of the future. We will not simply return to the economic situation of early 2020. Instead, we will make a turnaround, accelerating the necessary transitions and attaining steady economic growth.

1.1

WE WILL INNOVATE OURSELVES OUT OF THE CRISIS

Innovation takes centre stage in the approach to the recovery. Primarily, because innovation is needed to keep our companies competitive and productive, so that existing jobs are retained and new jobs are created in Flanders. The business community in Flanders is at the forefront of innovation in Europe. Investments amounting to 2.40% of GDP underline the R&D intensity of companies and strongly contribute to the fact that with an intensity of 3.35% for 2019, Flanders has reached the 3% R&D target. Innovation policy is increasingly succeeding in reaching small(er) companies as well. However, the spread of R&D across more sectors and business types remains a challenge for our region. After the corona crisis, innovation will determine the competitiveness of our companies and economic growth even more than before. Therefore, we will immediately allocate an additional €100 million from the recovery provision for companies' R&D projects. An additional €60 million from the recovery provision will be used to strengthen the research field and accelerate R&D.

To this end, the projects and initiatives set out in the Economy and Innovation policy memorandum will have to be accelerated and significantly strengthened. We will appropriate a recovery budget of more than €600 million (including 70 million in capital).

14 STI IN FLANDERS

1.2

PRODUCTIVE INVESTMENTS

In the short term, we will provide targeted investment impulses in three areas: research infrastructure, business parks and the renewal of commercial cores. Excellent scientific research is not possible without extensive research infrastructure. Such infrastructures are also crucial for scientific breakthroughs that contribute to addressing societal challenges. International research infrastructures provide researchers with opportunities that exceed the investment capacity of a single country or region and which were not available before. We will therefore support the participation of our knowledge institutions in international research infrastructures. Through these investments, we will also contribute to increasing

public R&D expenditure and reaching the 3% target. The Flemish Government will invest an additional 195 milion euros in research infrastructure between 2020 and 2024. We will also invest in more quality space for enterprise, because if Flanders is to be a top region in Europe, it must continue to invest in this. This means that we need to transform existing, outdated business parks into modern sustainable 21st century business parks. We will create more space for green and blue corridors, exploit the potential of heat grids and solar energy and improve water management. We will also adapt the road infrastructure with more space for safe cycling. In order to speed up the renewal of outdated business parks, we will deploy a recovery budget of €10 million.

INTRODUCTION BY THE MINISTER

2 MAKING ADDITIONAL INVESTMENTS TO BECOME A DIGITAL FRONTRUNNER

A rapid breakthrough in digital innovation is needed. Digital applications are the new lever for growth in productivity and product innovations. We will accelerate the roll-out of various initiatives, such as the digital policy agendas on artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. This will enable us to organise our factories and offices, as well as our mobility and agriculture in a smarter way. The plans for a 5G network in Flanders also remain high on the agenda. However, additional investments in digital research infrastructure, venture capital and application areas are necessary. Different investment priorities will help us to become a digital frontrunner.

2.1

IMEC - CHIP LAB OF THE WORLD

Imec is a world leader in the research and development of new nanotechnology and new digital application areas, such as education, energy and care. It employs 4,000 researchers. The latest generations of chips in laptops and smartphones were developed in Leuven. This is partly owing to a research infrastructure that is unique in the world. We must give imec every opportunity to defend and expand this position. This is why we will provide additional capital to increase imec's cleanroom capacity. For the expansion at imec, we will invest €40 million. Imec also generates important added value for wealth creation in Flanders, in particular by creating spin-offs through capital participations and a policy which allows them to grow into scale-ups. So far, 120 unique spin-offs have been established. A recent example is Azalea Vision, a spin-off that will put a smart artificial lens for the human eye on the market. Flanders has a minority stake in imec.xpand, the independently managed investment fund of approx. €117 million that takes participations in promising nanotech companies. The first investment period of the fund is about to expire, which is why Flanders will contribute €30 million in capital to a second xpand fund.

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2.2

SMART CITIES - DIGITAL AND CUSTOMERORIENTED LOCAL AUTHORITIES AS FRONTRUNNERS

The introduction of digital applications at local authorities is in the interest of citizens and local entrepreneurs. In EU rankings we are performing below average in this respect. That is why we need to encourage our cities and municipalities to test and scale up smart city applications. This will increase citizen participation and improve the quality of information and service delivery to businesses and citizens, as illustrated by the frontrunners. In doing so, we will also stimulate and showcase our technology and ICT companies and offer opportunities for international breakthroughs. For this purpose we will deploy €20 million from the recovery provision.

2.3

2.4

BREAKTHROUGH IN INDUSTRY 4.0

'Industry 4.0’ stands, among other things, for the transition to data-driven local industry that is internationally competitive. Flanders Make is focusing on industry-driven technological research and is an essential lever for underpinning the transition to Industry 4.0. As a strategic research centre, Flanders Make works on production monitoring, artificial intelligence and robots. The research results are applicable for SMEs and large companies in Flanders, as well as in the social economy. This promotes product and production innovation in key sectors in Flanders, such as the automotive and engineering industries. These innovations will lead to greater quality, more sustainability and higher productivity. In order to strengthen the research power of Flanders Make, we will appropriate an additional €6.5 million.

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION PROGRAMME FOR THE MEDIA SECTOR IN FLANDERS

We will invest in a broad cooperation programme with the various media actors, in collaboration with the Minister responsible for Media. The objective is to better guarantee the reliability, diversity and findability of information. The media sector is undergoing a digital upheaval. Digitisation offers enormous possibilities in terms of efficiency, interactivity, personalisation, service improvement and data-driven journalism. In order to retain a strong position in a digital market dominated by international platforms, an ambitious innovation project will be drawn up. Knowledge will be developed around mediaspecific algorithms and data-driven media content. Investments will also be made in the development of a common cloud-based production platform for the media sector in Flanders. Finally, we will support the roll-out of a common initiative in the fight against disinformation, inter alia by using AI. For this digital transformation programme for the media sector in Flanders, we will earmark €10 million from the recovery provision.

INTRODUCTION BY THE MINISTER

3 INNOVATION OFFENSIVE FOR SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS Through innovation, we must create sustainable solutions that improve the quality of life and sustain it for future generations. Innovation is the key to achieving international climate, energy and environmental goals and commitments in a realistic way. But this should also generate economic added value for our companies, as well as boost employment. To this end, we will develop various additional mutually reinforcing policy initiatives in the fields of bioeconomy, hydrogen, energy, water and circular economy. We will launch a real innovation offensive for sustainable solutions. Taking into account the EU's ambitious climate project, attention will also be paid to the accompanying measures Flanders needs to take now in order to be able to anchor its industry in a climate-proof manner in the long term.

3.1

BIOECONOMY IMPULSE PROGRAMME

Through research, innovation and knowledge sharing, we will lend an impulse to the use of bio-based raw materials. In a bioeconomy, biogas and biomass are produced sustainably and used for biobased products. Wood, grass and straw are, just like biomass, ideally suited for the sustainable production of chemicals. Residual flows from agriculture can be reused in the bioeconomy as raw materials. New bio-economic findings will help our entrepreneurs to develop e.g. ecological plastics from green organic building blocks. We will invest in an innovative bioeconomy to make us less dependent on petroleum products and other natural resources. Since this is a crucial element in creating a sustainable future for our basic industries, we will thus contribute to the transition to a carbon-neutral society. For a bioeconomy impulse programme, we will invest €10 million from the recovery provision.

3.2

INNOVATION FOR A WATER-SECURE FLANDERS

Our region is confronted with water scarcity, while water is indispensable to some major economic activities. Flanders needs a science-based robust water system. This will increasingly allow us to guarantee the water supply and absorb climate shocks. We will combine the available expertise in water management, treatment and use in a research group. Our university research groups, the Flanders Knowledge Centre Water (VLAKWA) and the imec project 'Internet of Water Flanders’ (network of sensors in water pipes, among other things) have already laid the necessary foundations. Thanks to new technology, we will realise water storage and buffering, increased water reuse and use of new water sources. The water research group will develop the necessary knowledge for this purpose and ensure knowledge dissemination and demonstrations to accelerate implementation among the actors. For water research and innovation, we will earmark €3 million per year. We will build knowledge on drought-resistant crops and new crops such as vegetable proteins. To this end, we will release €6 million from the recovery provision. We will also help companies to invest in water-saving techniques. For this purpose we will increase the ecology support through VLAIO by €10 million.

3.3

FLANDERS, A TOP REGION FOR HYDROGEN

An essential component of a sustainable economy is hydrogen. Therefore, we will roll out a hydrogen vision and plan for research and industrial development of hydrogen production in Flanders. Through innovation, we will create cheaper sustainable hydrogen, the production of which will become economically more competitive with hydrogen based on natural gas (which releases CO2). We will use hydrogen as a (building block for) sustainable raw material or fuel for our industry or, for example, for shipping, trucks and buses. We will support innovative initiatives such as those developed by the four ports in Flanders. Flanders will respond fully to the European

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R&D initiative for hydrogen (so-called IPCEI) by supporting breakthrough projects in Flanders. Through additional investments totalling €125 million from the recovery provision, we will realise the ambition to rank among the leaders in Europe.

3.4

STRENGTHENING ENERGY RESEARCH We regard innovation and technology as the key to a sustainable energy supply for Flanders in the global context of the climate challenge. As an excellent research centre in Europe, Flanders’ EnergyVille is working, inter alia, on solar energy, battery storage, electrical grids, thermal systems and energy for buildings and districts. We will strengthen energy research to scientifically underpin the necessary energy transition, for example through 'living labs'. This will allow us to work in a cost-efficient manner, to obtain support and at the same time to build up a strong industrial fabric (spin-offs, attraction of new activities, etc.). We will earmark €3 million for energy research.

3.5

GOING CIRCULAR IS A SMART MOVE

In the context of the recovery, we should fully stimulate the circular economy and, in particular, circular construction. The construction sector has a major impact on materials use in Flanders: some 30% to 40% of our waste originates from the sector. The development of a circular construction sector will therefore serve as a lever for sustainable and employmentintensive growth. We will encourage the circular use of construction materials through innovations for improved sorting of construction and demolition waste on site, its recycling and/or reuse in useful applications. For circular construction, we will invest €10 million from the recovery budgets. There is also great potential for the circular economy in electronics and textiles. Electric batteries, e.g. for cars, are crucial for the greening of transport. We cannot continue to import all those high-grade metals from other countries, but should instead recycle and reuse electronics and parts from old batteries and computers. This should also give rise to new circular business models. We will use innovation to turn our manufacturing industry into a circular industry, with the social economy also fulfilling a key role. For innovation towards a circular economy we will invest €15 million.

INTRODUCTION BY THE MINISTER

4 RESILIENCE THANKS TO A HIGHPERFORMANCE CARE ECONOMY Through innovation we can strengthen our care system, the quality of care in Flanders as well as the associated pharmaceutical and technological industries. The Flemish Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), the Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp (ITG) and our university hospitals provide us with solid foundations in terms of knowledge. With Janssen Pharmaceutica, Flanders has a particularly important R&D facility. Imec too makes important connections between nanotechnology and care applications.

4.1

IMPULSE PROGRAMME FOR INNOVATION IN HEALTH AND CARE

We will work on a plan and an approach to stimulate research in key areas of the medicine and care of the future. Effective medicine will have to take increased account of the patient’s specific characteristics and how they respond to treatments, e.g. with respect to certain cancers. Analysis and rapid interpretation of data play a pivotal role in designing, monitoring and evaluating high-impact therapies. Tailored medicine is the future, but scalability is the challenge to also achieve affordability. New scientific insights into cell development will enable us to repair tissue. We speak of regenerative medicine to help people with a worn knee or to regenerate organs such as kidneys or livers. The care of patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes can be greatly improved through proper monitoring by means of measuring equipment on the patient's body, supplying information to care providers and informal carers. Such solutions often require new combinations of knowledge from sectors outside the care sector. Breakthroughs in these areas can promote not only economic growth, but also well-being in our region. In this light, we will ensure rapid implementation in hospitals and care institutions in Flanders. Coordination between the main stakeholder groups of industry, knowledge centres and care is a factor for success. We will provide €6 million for an impulse programme for care and health.

20 STI IN FLANDERS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This publication “Science, Technology and Innovation in Flanders” (or “STI in Flanders” in short) aims to give you an in-depth overview of the Flemish landscape resulting from Flanders’

FLANDERS’ STI IN A QUADRUPLE HELIX MODEL

STI-policy. In contrast to previous editions, this edition has been built up along the lines of the quadruple helix model. An introductory chapter on the various contexts in which one has to situate Flanders is followed by chapters on government, research organisations, enterprises and citizens. The annexes provide you with overviews and more in-depth information.

I GOVERNMENT ACTORS

Figure 1

• Department EWI • Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) • F landers Entrepreneurship and Innovation (VLAIO)

IV CIVIL SOCIETY

II KNOWLEDGE INSTITUTIONS

• Citizen & Open Science • STEM • VARIO

• 5 University Associations (5 universities + 13 university colleges) • 4 strategic research centres: imec (nano & digital technology), VIB (life sciences), VITO (cleantech), Flanders Make (industry 4.0)

III BUSINESS 7 clusters in domains: • sustainable chemistry • agro-food • advanced materials • specialised logistics • energy & smart grids • medtech • blue economy

• > 15 scientific institutes

CHAPTER 1 explains how Flanders is the largest region in Belgium. As such it is a central region in Europe and part of a prosperous economic area referred to as the Blue Banana. Flanders is a tertiarised economy. The tertiary sector stands for 73.1% of gross value added and 77.7% of employment in 2017. Both Flanders and Belgium are ranked as strong innovators in EU rankings. Flanders, as a political entity, is a combination of a “region” and a “community” each adding their own competencies. in terms of legislation and budget, scientific research is mainly a community competence, whereas innovation is almost completely a regional competence. As a consequence of the strongly devolved Belgian state structure, it is not possible to speak about one Belgian research and innovation system, but rather multiple R&I-systems. The chapter concludes with an overview of economic and combined technological-economical specialisation profiles based on relative specialisations patterns. CHAPTER 2 brings the spotlight on government actors and focuses in particular, but not exclusively, on the Flemish policy area Economy, Science and Innovation (EWI), in charge of scientific research and innovation. It consists of a department that prepares, monitors, evaluates and reports on public policy in the field of enterprise (economic support and entrepreneurship), science and innovation; a council for policy advice; and a number of agencies that are charged with the implementation of the policy decisions. These include the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship (VLAIO), Participation Company Flanders (PMV) and Limburg Reconversion Company (LRM). This chapter also sheds light on the general orientations of the Flemish STI policy. The Flemish Government has committed itself in its 2019-2024 government coalition agreement to reach the 3% target of R&D intensity by 2024. This commitment is translated

into 195 million euro one-off investments in R&D-infrastructure during this period, and an increase of 250 million euro in the annual R&I-budget. The government will also focus on the continued implementation of the quadruple helix model and gear towards a more mission oriented policy. In 2019 alone, under the previous government agreement, the annual budget for R&D&I was increased with 280 million euro. This chapter highlights initiatives that were financed with this increase, in particular new policy initiatives such as the ones related to artificial intelligence (32 million euro per year), cybersecurity (20 million per year) and the Moonshot CO2 (20 million euro per year) as well as thematic initiatives aimed at the digitalisation of Flanders. Furthermore, this chapter explains how the smart specialisation strategy of Flanders is the product of the STI-landscape characterised by a combination of bottom up programmes complemented with 10 focal points (i.e. 4 strategic research centres and 7 spearhead clusters, see further chapters). In addition, information is given on publications and reports where one can find monitoring and reporting of the R&D&I-policy. Lastly, this chapter features more information on the international activities of the government. The first focus of Flanders is the European Union. The policy area EWI plays an important role at the EU level, both in terms of policy preparation (taking part in negotiations between Member States) as well as policy implementation (EU Framework for Research and Innovation, COSME, EU Regional Policy…). This part gives an extensive overview given of European and international initiatives in which Flanders or Flemish research actors participate and provides information on the Vanguard Initiative, an inter-regional network of 32 regions that was initiated by Flanders. Besides the European Union, initiatives are also rolled out in the bilateral and other international field. Apart from the Department Economy, Science and Innovation, important actors are the Flemish Department of Foreign Affairs as well as Flanders Investment and Trade.

22 STI IN FLANDERS

CHAPTER 3 highlights the research organisations, commencing with the five university associations and their universities (Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, Leuven, Hasselt). It also provides more information on their funding sources. Moreover, all information relating to on-going research conducted at the Flemish universities can be consulted via the Flanders Research Information Space research portal (FRIS) by browsing through the database using several search options (by research projects, organisations or persons) at www.researchportal.be.

This edition of STI in Flanders has been built up along the lines of the quadruple helix model.

A second group of key research actors are the strategic research centres, of which Flanders has four. Imec (Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre) is a world-leading research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies, employing around 4,000 researchers. It creates disruptive innovation in application domains such as healthcare, smart cities and mobility, logistics and manufacturing, energy and education. The Flemish Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) is an independent research institute where some 1,700 top scientists from Belgium and abroad conduct pioneering basic research in domains such as brain & disease research, cancer biology, microbiology, molecular neurology or inflammation research. The Flemish Institute for Technological Research is an independent research centre in the area of cleantech and sustainable development. Lastly, Flanders Make is the Flemish strategic research centre that aims at stimulating product and production innovation in the Flemish manufacturing industry, thus supporting the further digital transition towards Industry 4.0 and (consequently) further strengthening the international competitiveness of the Flemish manufacturing industry. This chapter further gives information on the main research infrastructures, an overview of collective research centres supporting different economic sectors, information on cooperation amongst research organisations and with businesses (technology transfer), the international activities from STI-actors and how this is supported by the government. The chapter concludes with the performance of institutions in a selection of well-known international rankings.

CHAPTER 4 focuses on enterprises. They are of major importance within the STI system in Flanders. 76% of R&D in Flanders was funded by the business enterprise sector in 2019 (BERD of 2.40%). However, even though a group of high-technology SMEs has arisen in recent years and continues to grow steadily, innovation efforts are still largely concentrated in certain industrial sectors and large companies.

CHAPTER 5 relays information on initiatives towards the fourth helix, citizens. Important efforts are made as regards science communication, through science information actors (e.g. Technopolis), media actors and science festivals. Since 2018 a yearly call for Citizen Science project proposals is launched. Attracting more people towards STEM-careers remains a challenge for Flanders. A STEM Action Plan 2012-2020 was developed, which will be extended to 2030 under the current government. Lastly, initiatives are developed to make science careers more attractive.

The competitiveness of the Flemish economy is strengthened amongst other by stimulating cooperation between companies and between companies and knowledge centres. One very important instrument in this regard is the cluster policy. Flanders has seven large-scale spearhead clusters: Catalisti (sustainable chemistry), Flanders’ Food (agro-food), Strategic Initiative Materials (advanced materials), Flanders Logistics Cluster, Flux50 (energy), the Blue Cluster (sea-related activities) and HealthTech Flanders (personalised medicine). Apart from support for the spearhead clusters, several instruments are in place to support research-business links, such as mandates allowing researchers to perform business-oriented research in close relation with enterprises, initiatives on collective research, knowledge diffusion and living labs.

MAIN RESEARCH AND ECONOMIC ACTORS IN THE FLEMISH STI-LANDSCAPE

Finally, CHAPTER 6 takes a look at the internationalisation aspects of the Flemish STI-landscape. As an entity competent for both domestic as international affairs regarding its competences, Flanders has built a strong track record on the European and international level.

ANTWERP 4 Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO) 5 Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA) 6 University association Antwerp 7 Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) 8 8 Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK CEN) 8 25 KMDA - CRC 19 Logistics (VIL)

EAST FLANDERS

Figure 2

WEST FLANDERS 17 Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) 23 Blue Cluster

11 Flemish Institute of Biotechnology (VIB) 2 Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries & Food (ILVO)

3 University association Ghent 18 Strategic Initiative Materials in Flanders (SIM)

24 HealthTech 23 17

Bruges

25 5 Antwerp 6 19

Ghent

24 3 1 18 2

Hasselt

16 14 21 15 20 22

BRUSSELS-CAPITAL 14 Agency for Archaelogical Heritage 15 Research Institute for Nature & Forest (INBO) 16 University association Brussels 20 Chemistry & Plastics (Catalisti) 21 Smart Grids Flanders (Energy) 22 Flanders’ FOOD

11 8

Leuven

LIMBURG 9 Flanders Make 10 University association 11 Interuniversity Micro-Electronics Centre (IMEC) 8 Limburg 12 University association KU Leuven 13 Botanic Garden Meise

FLEMISH BRABANT

26 von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics

Strategic research centres Scientific institutes University associations Other knowledge & research centers (non-exhaustive) Spearhead clusters

24 STI IN FLANDERS

CHAPTER 1

FLANDERS: INNOVATION HUB IN THE HEART OF EUROPE

26 STI IN FLANDERS

1 GEOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT

Europe

Flanders is situated on the European continent. Centrally located within the European Union, it is the northern region of Belgium.

EUROPE IN THE WORLD Figure 3

THE BLUE BANANA Berlin

Figure 4 Amsterdam London

Brussels

Paris

FLANDERS AS A CENTRAL REGION IN EUROPE Figure 5

Belgium’s neighbouring countries are the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and France. The North Sea forms a natural border with the United Kingdom.

Flanders is part of the area that is sometimes referred to as the Blue Banana. This area runs from the north of Italy to the United Kingdom over (parts of) Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands. It is a series of densely populated urban areas responsible for a substantial part of the economic added value within the European Union.

CHAPTER 1 FLANDERS: INNOVATION HUB IN THE HEARTH OF EUROPE

2 INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT: DIVISION OF R&D&I COMPETENCIES IN THE BELGIAN FEDERATION While certain policy areas remain exclusively federal (e.g., defence policy, monetary policy, nuclear power research), other domains have largely or even completely been transferred to either the Communities or the Regions. The latter is the case for the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) domain: in terms of legislation and budget, scientific research is mainly a community competence, whereas innovation is almost completely a regional competence. In Belgium, almost 80% of the total public R&D&I support is managed by the Communities and Regions. Flanders counts for 56% of all Belgian public R&D support (2020). The overall policy budget of Flanders now adds up to 56.6 billion euro of which 3.016 billion euro aimed at scientific research and innovation (2021i). The federal authority remains responsible for a limited number of research programmes (notably in the field of climate and sustainable development), the support of research infrastructures of national interest, several federal scientific institutes, and a small number of exclusively attributed research themes, including the Belgian space policy, ‘sustainable’ nuclear energy and polar research at the Antarctic station. In addition, framework conditions such as IPR, normalisation, standardisation, tax credits and scientific visas for researchers also are exclusively managed by the federal authority. Tax credits aimed at R&D have become very substantial in Belgium in recent years. There is the so-called patent box (a lower tax rate on profits from a company’s own innovation), a fiscal exemption of salaries’ social contribution for R&D employees at research/

scientific institutes and companies in Belgium, a tax credit for investments in patents and R&D-assets, and a tax exemption for regional subsidies. As a consequence of this state structure, it is not possible to speak about one Belgian research and innovation system. Given the almost complete autonomy of the regions to set up their own system, there are rather three R&I-systems (two large and one small) that compete and cooperate with one another, pretty much like the different R&I-systems of the EU Member States do. The various activities and policy instruments that Flanders deploys in the field of science, research and innovation, can be divided into the following categories:

2.1

DIRECT SUPPORT FOR R&D&I IN THE BROAD SENSE

This includes: • subsidies or other support channels for basic, fundamental, cutting-edge and applied research that is conducted by researchers at universities, institutes, companies, knowledge networks, etc.; • all business-oriented support (e.g., technology transfer, technolog y advice, technolog y scans, networking , dissemination of innovation, knowledge and technology, valorisation or research results, feasibility studies, knowledge vouchers, etc.); • various forms of collective research (joint industry-science research, innovative networks, clustering); • promotion and popularisation of STI (in education, society, business, science centres, etc.), mobility of researchers, etc.

28 STI IN FLANDERS

2.2

2.3

This includes:

Support for start-ups, spin-offs, participations, seed capital, risk capital, guarantees, fast-growing or technology-oriented businesses, business angels, loans, etc.

RESEARCH RELATED TO THE COMMUNITY

• broad innovation policy, as well as scientific research policy (fundamental, applied and strategic basic research); • (research at) higher education institutions (university colleges, universities); • (research at) public research organisations (PROs); • (research at) scientific institutes and policy research centres of the Flemish Community; • (research at) various institutes that generate knowledge or scientific output; • infrastructure in the field of research and innovation (small, medium-scale and large-scale research infrastructure, such as supercomputers, data collections, networks, clean rooms, etc.); • science parks, technology parks, incubator sites, etc.; • policy research for the fields for which Flanders is responsible: economic support, industrial policy, entrepreneurship, social economy, public works, employment, environment, nature conservation, forestry, agriculture, energy (except for nuclear energy), heritage, (primary, secondary and higher) education, water management, transport, vocational training, health, culture, tourism, care, health and well-being, data transmission, sports, media, youth, etc.

ACCESS TO FINANCE

CHAPTER 1 FLANDERS: INNOVATION HUB IN THE HEARTH OF EUROPE

3 SOCIO-ECONOMIC, TECHNOLOGICAL AND SCIENTIFIC CONTEXT Flanders’ population accounts for about 58% of Belgium's total population, whilst its surface area covers about 44% of the country. The major part of the companies and the active population of Belgium are in its northern region, which also has a higher employment rate.

as measured in GDP per capita - is about 22% higher than the EU-27 average. The small Brussels Capital Region causes a major “capital city” effect, with its strong presence of company headquarters and public administrations. If the wealth generated by the daily commuters from Flanders into the Brussels Capital Region were attributed to their residence in the Flemish Region, the Flemish GDP per capita would rise to 30% above the EU27 average. Total expenditure on R&D (GERD) in Flanders, which reaches almost 9.35 billion euro (3.35% of Flemish GDP), equates to over 62% of the Belgium total (2019) and the Flemish R&D intensity exceeds the national value for Belgium ((for details see Chapter 2).

As a result, the economy of Flanders represents about 59% of the Belgian economy (as measured in GDP). It is also a very open economy: According to the ESA 2010 methodology Flemish exports of goods and services accounted for 97.7% of its GDP in 2019 (partly due to the ‘transition’ effect and the ‘gate’ (harbour) effect). On the other hand, the relative wealth of Flanders -

30 STI IN FLANDERS

KEY FIGURES ON FLANDERS (FLEMISH REGION), BELGIUM AND EU-27 Table 1 YEAR SURFACE AREA

UNIT

FLANDERS

BELGIUM

EU-27

km2

13,521

30,528

4,272,773

POPULATION

1/1/2020

million

6.64

11.52

447.32

GDP IN CURRENT PRICES

2020

billion euro

265.0

451.2

13,384.413

EXPORT

2020

billion euro

300

370

GERD

2019

billion euro

9,350

15,110

GDP PER CAPITA (PPS)

2020

euro

35,500

34,800

29,700

R&D INTENSITY

2019

3.35

3.17

2.12

ANNUAL PUBLIC BUDGET FOR R&D&I FOR FLANDERS, (OF WHICH PUBLIC BUDGET FOR R&D IN STRICT SENSE), BY FUNDING AUTHORITY:

2021

million euro

3,543 (2,523)

72.7

FLEMISH AUTHORITY:

3,017 (1,999)

FEDERAL AUTHORITY:

334 (334)

EU / HORIZON 2020:

190 (190)

EU / ERDF + INTERREG:

2 (0)

EMPLOYMENT RATE (% OF THE 20-64 YEARS OF AGE)

2020

The following table provides an overview of the weight of the main branches in the economy of the EU-27 and Flanders.

74.7

CHAPTER 1 FLANDERS: INNOVATION HUB IN THE HEARTH OF EUROPE

SHARE OF THE MAIN BRANCHES (AND CERTAIN SUB-BRANCHES) IN GROSS VALUE ADDED AND IN EMPLOYMENT IN THE EU-27 AND FLANDERS, 2018, % 1 Table 2 GROSS VA

EMPLOYMENT

EU-27

FLANDERS

EU-27

FLANDERS

PRIMARY SECTOR

1.8%

0.9%

1.8%

0.9%

SECONDARY SECTOR

27%

26%

23.80%

21.40%

INDUSTRY (WITHOUT CONSTRUCTION)

19.7%

18.8%

17.9%

15.6%

CONSTRUCTION

5.5%

6.3%

5.8%

71.2%

73.1%

74.4%

77.70%

TRADE, TRANSPORT, ACCOMMODATION AND FOOD SERVICE ACTIVITIES

19.2%

20.7%

24.5%

22.8%

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION

5.1%

3.9%

3.0%

2.7%

PROFESSIONAL, SCIENTIFIC, TECHNICAL, ADMINISTRATIVE AND SUPPORT ACTIVITIES

11.4%

16.9%

11.9%

16.3%

100%

HIGH-TECHNOLOGY MANUFACTURING

2.4%*

2.3%

1.1%

1.3%

MEDIUM HIGH-TECHNOLOGY MANUFACTURING

6.1%*

5.7%

5.1%

3.9%

LOW AND MEDIUM LOW-TECHNOLOGY MANUFACTURING

6.4%

8.8%

10.1%

9.2%

TOTAL KNOWLEDGE-INTENSIVE SERVICES

39.8%

42.2%

39.0%

46.3%

KNOWLEDGE-INTENSIVE HIGH-TECHNOLOGY SERVICES

5.2%

4.0%

3.0%

3.7%

TOTAL LESS KNOWLEDGE-INTENSIVE SERVICES

35.0%

33.9%

31.1%

30.0%

TERTIARY SECTOR

TOTAL

32 STI IN FLANDERS

The most important tertiary sectors in Flanders are ‘trade & repair’, ‘consultancy & testing’, ‘real estate’ (only according to gross value added), ‘administrative and support services’ (mainly according to employment), ‘education’ and ‘transportation & storage’. Flanders’ share of the secondary sector is 26% in gross value added and 21.4% in employment. The relatively greater importance of the secondary sector in gross value added than in employment is an indication of its overall greater labour productivity, due to a greater exposure to international competition by trade, and the higher capital investment in these sectors. The main branches, apart from ‘construction’ are ‘food & beverages’, ‘chemicals’ (mainly according to gross value added) and Pharmaceuticals. Eurostat provides a classification of the technology intensity of industry and the knowledge intensive services. Flanders has a significantly higher share of knowledge intensive services compared to the EU-27, but performes worse than the EU27 average for medium high-technology manufacturing and knowledge intensive high-technology services.

3.1

PERFORMANCE OF BELGIUM AND/ OR FLANDERS IN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

Belgium and/or Flanders are listed in several EU or other international rankings based on (several) R&D&I criteria or indicators. The main indexes are:

3.1.1

EUROPEAN INNOVATION SCOREBOARD, EIS 2021

In the 2021 edition, Belgium is ranked for the first time since the start of the EC’s EIS-ranking in the first group of 'innovation leaders'. In previous editions Belgium was always part of the second group ‘strong innovators’, but now is ranked as the 4th EU member state overall. In terms of dimensions, Belgium scores in the top-5 for six out of twelve dimensions namely ‘Use of information technologies’, ‘Linkages’, ‘Attractive research systems’, ‘Finance and support’, ‘Firm investments’ and ‘Sales impacts’. In terms of indicators, Belgium scores remarkably better than the EU-27 average (=100%) for the following indicators: ‘Population with tertiary education (150.6%)’, ‘Foreign doctorate students (223%)’, ‘Enterprises providing ICT training (186.7%)’, ‘business process innovators (158.1%)’, Innovative SMEs collaborating with others (226.6%), ‘Public-private co-publications (184.7%)’, ‘Employment in innovative enterprises (156.7%) and ‘Resource productivity (178.8%)’. Compared to 2014, Belgium has improved its score more than the average EU-score.

CHAPTER 1 FLANDERS: INNOVATION HUB IN THE HEARTH OF EUROPE

3.1.2

REGIONAL INNOVATION SCOREBOARD, RIS, 2021, FROM THE EC

Flanders is a ‘leader - innovator’ (= performance > 125% of the EU average), like some other EU regions such as London (UK), East of England (UK), Utrecht (NL), Noord-Holland (NL), Hamburg (DE), Stuttgart (DE) and Ile de France (FR). Overall in the EU (ranking of 240 regions) Flanders ranks 27th whereas the two other Belgian regions rank 14th (Brussels Capital Region - ‘innovation leader’) and (Walloon Region 67th - ‘strong innovator’). However, it is important to note that the RIS ranks a combination of regions both at the NUTS1 and the NUTS2 level. If the Flemish provinces (NUTS2) would be considered separately, as is done for e.g. the Netherlands or Germany, the resulting score would differ. The RIS for Flanders shows that relative strengths compared to the EU are in the categories of “Innovative SMEs collaborating with others”, “Business process innovators”, “ Innovation expenditures per person employed“, “R&D expenditures business sector”, “Most cited scientific publications”, “International scientific copublications”, “Tertiary education” and “Employment innovative enterprises” and “Public-private co-publications”. It scores weaker for “Design applications” and “Lifelong learning”. The difference with the Belgian average is very limited indeed, which is evident because the Belgian figure and data consist for the largest part of the Flemish data therein.

3.1.3

GLOBAL INNOVATION INDEX, GII, 2021

The GII (from INSEAD, Cornell University and WIPO) considers 81 innovation input- and output-indicators into a global score listing 132 countries/nations/territories. Belgium ranks 22th, resulting from a 21st position for input and 26th position for output. Strengths are ‘education’, ‘knowledge workers’ and ‘business environment’. Among the 7 main categories, its best score is for ‘human capital and research’ (8th position). For 5 indicators it reaches the top 8 of the world: school life expectancy, years/ logistics performance / university-industry collaboration / GERD financed by abroad, % GDP / software spending, % GDP.

3.1.4

COMMUNITY INNOVATION SURVEY, CIS, 2019

The CIS contains a broad set of indicators on innovation activities of enterprises and provides information on environmental benefits due to innovation. With a score of 70% (versus 68% for Belgium) Flanders ranked 2nd during the period 2016-2018 in the list of the highest proportion of enterprises with innovation activity (product innovations, business process innovations and/or ongoing or abandoned innovation activities), behind Estonia (73%) and ahead of Cyprus, Germany and Norway (all 68%). The EU average is 50% of enterprises of 10 employees or more that reported innovation activity during the period 2016-2018.

34 STI IN FLANDERS

3.2

3.2.1

FOCUSING ON STRENGTHS AND “SPEARHEAD DOMAINS” The relative specialisation index can be a useful indication to map the specialisation structure of the science, innovation and economy system, which in turn can be a starting point for the future potential for smart specialisation. This index compares the distribution of activities in science production, technology production, economic performance from a region or a country with the average distribution of the same type of activities in the whole of Europe (or the world). The statistics on respectively the scientific publications, patents and exports are used as proxies for these kinds of activities that can be considered as successive steps in the innovation trajectory, from idea to market. A more than average share of these suggests a specialisation in that specific domain.

SCIENTIFIC SPECIALISATIONS

The scientific specialisation pattern of Flanders is rather typical for a mature economy with a long tradition in scientific research that covers the whole spectrum. The Flemish profile is similar to that of most Western countries, with life sciences and medical sciences as the dominant publications areas. Annex VI provides more details on the scientific publication performance (as well as on the citations and co-publications) and contains a spider web display that benchmarks Flanders to the world standard.

3.2.2

TECHNOLOGICAL SPECIALISATIONS

This section considers the technological specialisation pattern of Flanders. The RTAN index (Relative Technological Advantage Normalized Index) is used for mapping technological specialisation. It is based on a breakdown of EPO patents in 35 technology domains (ISI, Fraunhofer Gesellschaft). Patent data provide an insight in technological progression since they represent an indicator that is used to get a picture of the innovation degree within an organisation, region or innovation system. The index represents the share of a given technology domain in the Flemish patent portfolio, compared to the share of that technology domain in the patent portfolio of a reference group: EU-15, US, Canada, Switzerland, Japan and South-Korea. An RTAN index between -1 and 0 implies relative under specialisation in Flanders, an index between 0 and +1 implies that Flanders is specialised in that domain. The radar graph (see Figure 7) reveals that Flanders has a relatively strong technological specialisation in chemical domains (e.g. food chemistry, macromolecular chemistry, polymers), semiconductors, civil engineering (roads and water engineering), pharmaceutical applications, biotechnology, analysis of biological materials, microstructures and nanotechnology, textiles and paper machinery and other specialised machinery, handling, environmental technology and chemical engineering.

This specialisation is driven on the one hand by several Flemish companies with strong in-house R&D in sectors such

CHAPTER 1 FLANDERS: INNOVATION HUB IN THE HEARTH OF EUROPE

Flanders represents about two thirds of the total Belgian patent portfolio, whereby 83% of patent activity is accounted for by private companies (see Figure 7).

as machinery/mechatronics, foods, materials, civil engineering and particularly pharmaceutics (which is the largest hightechnology sector in Flanders). Several niches in consumer goods, furniture and games are also relatively specialised in technology production, compared to their counterparts abroad. On the other hand, these specialisations also reflect the activity of the different Flemish strategic research institutes: nanotechnology (imec), biotechnology (VIB), materials and energy (VITO, see page 58, strategic research centres) ) and specialised research departments at the five universities of the Flemish Community (see page 56).

TECHNOLOGICAL SPECIALISATION (RTAN) OF FLANDERS BASED ON THE EPO PATENTS, 2009-2012, 2013-2016 AND 2009-2016, INDEX BETWEEN -1 AND +1 Figure 6 Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy Civil engineering Other consumer goods

0.4

Furniture, games Transport

0.2

Basic communication processes Computer technology

Mechanical elements Thermal processes and apparatus

Audio-visual technology Telecommunications Digital communication

IT methods for management

0.0

Semiconductors

Other special machines -0.2

Textile and paper machines Engines, pumps, turbines

Optics -0.4

Measurement

Machine tools

Analysis of biological materials

Handling Environmental technology Chemical engineering Micro-structure and nano-technology Surface technology, coating Materials, metallurgy Basic materials chemistry Source: ECOOM

Control Medical technology Organic fine chemistry Biotechnology Pharmaceuticals Macromolecular chemistry, polymers Food chemistry 2009-2012

2013-2016

2009-2016

36 STI IN FLANDERS

3.2.3

ECONOMIC SPECIALISATIONS

To establish the degree of economic specialisation, the Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) is used. It benchmarks the breakdown of Flemish export in sectors (NACE) to the sectoral breakdown of export in a set of reference regions and countries. The figures reveal a very strong specialisation of Flanders in printing and reproduction of recorded media and strong specialisations in the manufacture of electrical equipment, manufacture of chemicals and chemical products and manufacture of food products, beverages and tobacco. These are usually sectors that are closely linked to the intermediate position of Flanders in international value chains, whereby Flanders represents a link to larger economies, in particular

Germany. In addition, Flanders is relatively specialised in a “traditional” sector like food products: it is a very important industrial sector in terms of employment with a wide set of specialisations such as pork meat, frozen vegetables and potatoes, etc. Also, the manufacture of basic metals, manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment sector remains an economic specialisation in Flanders. The economic specialisation pattern of Flanders (see Figure 11) reflects that of a mature and (still) highly diversified economy. In most sectors, the Flemish economy has been able to maintain a critical mass and remain competitive, while the under-specialisation in some sectors is due to the conditions in Flanders (e.g. mining).

ECONOMIC SPECIALISATION (RCA) PATTERN OF FLANDERS BASED ON THE RELATIVE EXPORT SHARES, 2009-2012, 2013-2016 AND 2009-2016, INDEX BETWEEN -1 AND +1 Figure 7 Manufacture of food products, beverages and tobacco 1.0

Manufacture of furniture, other manufacturing 0.5

Manufacture of other transport equipment

Manufacture of textiles, wearing apparel, leather and related products Manufacture of wood and of products of wood and cork, except furniture; articles of straw and plaiting materials Manufacture of paper and paper products

0.0

-0.5

Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers

Printing and reproduction of recorded media

-1.0

Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c.

Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products

Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations

Manufacture of electrical equipment Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products

Manufacture of rubber and plastics products, Manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products

Manufacture of basic metals, Manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment

Source: ECOOM

2009-2012

2013-2016

2009-2016

CHAPTER 1 FLANDERS: INNOVATION HUB IN THE HEARTH OF EUROPE

3.2.4

COMBINED TECHNOLOGICAL ECONOMICAL SPECIALISATION PROFILES

The coherence of specialisations in the subsequent stages of the innovation trajectory for a specific industry, from idea to (export) market, can be considered as competitive advantage of a region or country for this specific industry. However, the correspondence between these classifications is only partially assured, hence there is no direct match between science classifications and technology classifications. Between technology and economic classifications this matching has been achieved based on the so-called “Fraunhofer classification”. The figure below represents the alignment between technological (RTA) and economic (RCA) specialisation patterns in Flanders. For most domains, technological and economic specialisation are in line with one another. They are both high for ‘Printing and reproduction of recorded media’, ‘Manufacture of food products, beverages and tobacco’, ‘Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products’, ‘Manufacture of wood and of products

of wood and cork, except furniture; articles of straw and plaiting materials’, ‘Manufacture of rubber and plastics products’ and ‘Manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products’. They are both low for ‘Other transport equipment’, ‘Manufacture of machinery and equipment’ and ‘Manufacture of furniture, other manufacturing’. For some domains however (see Figure 12), technological specialisation in Flanders is not fully translated into economic specialisation: ‘Manufacture of basic pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical preparations’, ‘Manufacture of paper and paper products’, ‘Manufacture of textiles, wearing apparel, leather and related products’ and ‘Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products’. On the other hand, for some domains, a considerable economic specialisation in Flanders is not fully mimicked in the Flemish technological specialisation pattern: ‘Manufacture of electrical equipment’, ‘Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers’ and ‘Manufacture of basic metals, manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment’.

COMBINATION OF THE RELATIVE TECHNOLOGICAL SPECIALISATION PATTERNS (RTA) WITH THOSE FOR ECONOMIC SPECIALISATION (RCA) (2009-2016) Figure 8 4.00 3.50

Manufacture of electrical equipment; 0.57; 3.34

3.00 2.50

Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products; 1.46; 2.10 Manufacture of basic metals, Manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment; 0.75 ; 1.38

2.00 1.50 1.00 0.50 0.00

Manufacture of food products, beverages and tobacco; 1.39; 1.71

Manufacture of wood and of products of wood and Manufacture of cork, except furniture; articles of straw and plaiting motor vehicles, Manufacture of rubber and plastics products, Manufacture materials; 1.17; 1.23 of other non metallic mineral products; 1.10; 1.03 trailers and semi trailers; 0.32; 1.03 Manufacture of paper and Manufacture of basic Manufacture of furniture, other paper products; 1.07; 0.84 pharmaceutical products manufacturing; 0.86; 0.51 and pharmaceutical Manufacture of textiles, wearing apparel, preparations; 1.79; 0.63 leather and related products; 1.09; 0.41 Manufacture of machinery Manufacture of other transport Manufacture of computer, and equipment n.e.c. c.; equipment; 0.28; 0.04 electronic and optical products 0.83; 0.48 0.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

1.40

1.60

1.80

2.00

Source: ECOOM

For the calculation of the RCA values the NACE export value information of the following reference countries and regions were used: Flanders, Belgium, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom NACE sector 19 (Manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products) were not included in the calculation. The reason is the missing export values for several EU-countries, whereby a distorted representation of the RCA values is created. NACE sector 18 (Printing and reproduction of recorded media) has the highest RTA and RCA values (2.08; 14.27). This sector were not included in the graph in order to visualize, more clearly, the other sectors.

38 STI IN FLANDERS

CHAPTER 2

GOVERNMENT ACTORS

40 STI IN FLANDERS

1 FLEMISH ADMINISTRATION The Flemish administration comprises numerous public services, which are currently grouped in 10 policy areas. Each policy area has one department and several agencies.

THE 10 POLICY AREAS OF THE FLEMISH ADMINISTRATION Figure 9

Chancellery, Public Governance, Foreign Affairs and Justice

Finance and Budget

Education and Training

Welfare, Public Health and Family

Economy, Science and Innovation

Culture, Youth, Sport and Media

Work and Social Economy

Mobility and Public Works

Agriculture and Fisheries

Environment

CHAPTER 2 COVERNMENT ACTORS

1.1

POLICY AREA ECONOMY, SCIENCE AND INNOVATION

At the governmental level a single minister (Ms. Hilde Crevits) is responsible for both scientific research and innovation. The public authority charged with STI policy is the EWI policydomain. EWI (= Economie, Wetenschap en Innovatie) manages the broad field of Economy, Science and Innovation, through the EWI Department (that prepares, monitors, evaluates and reports on policy), and a few agencies that execute and implement policy measures in the fields of scientific research, innovation, entrepreneurship and industrial policy.

1.1.1

GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT

The role of the EWI Department is to prepare, monitor, evaluate and report on public policy in the field of enterprise (economic support and entrepreneurship), science and innovation, thereby contributing to greater wealth and well-being in Flanders. Its levers are the promotion of: • excellence in scientific research; • an attractive and sustainable business climate; • a creative, innovative and entrepreneurial society.

Figure 11 represents the public bodies that are active in the EWI policy area as of 2021.

ECONOMY, SCIENCE AND INNOVATION (EWI) POLICY AREA FROM THE FLEMISH GOVERNMENT, ANNO 2021 Figure 10

Flemish minister of Economy, Innovation, Social Economy & Agriculture

Department of Economy, Science & Innovation

Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) Target group = Researchers

Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship (VLAIO)

Flemish Advisory Council for Innovation & Enterprise (VARIO)

Investment Company (PMV)

Investment Company (LRM)

Target group = Entrepreneurs & Companies

42 STI IN FLANDERS

The strategic aims of the EWI Department regarding STI are: • create a sustainable economic tissue and facilitate entrepreneurship; • stimulate innovation and creativity; • stimulate knowledge creation and knowledge valorisation; • putting Flanders on the map internationally in the field of economy, science and innovation; • develop itself as knowledge centre within the Flemish authority for delivering and use of insights in the field of economy, entrepreneurship, scientific research and innovation. More specifically, within the STI field, the EWI Department: • prepares all legislative initiatives or position papers in the field of science, research and innovation; • promotes close co-operation between research institutions, higher education institutions and companies; • prepares multi-annual management agreements with a number of organisations, such as the four Flemish strategic research centres, the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ)…; • evaluates policy instruments and organisations that receive governmental and public support; • coordinates all R&D&I topics, including the governance activities under the EU Framework Programme for R&I; • has a representative in the General Representation of the Flemish Government to the EU (AAVREU) within the Permanent Representation of Belgium to the EU; • participates in the advisory groups from the EC (ERAC) and OECD (CSTP); • monitors the execution of policy measures and reports on policy developments in the STI domain towards the Flemish, federal and international (mainly EU and OECD) policy level; • holds responsibility for the direct implementation of several policy (support) instruments, specific on-off initiatives, participation fees or representational positions. Examples of these are: the support for the BOF (Special Research Fund), the IOF (Industrial Research Fund), and the PWO (Practice oriented scientific research at university colleges), governmental representatives in strategic research centres or public knowledge organisations, membership fees e.g. of EMBRC (European Marine Biology Resource Centre).

1.1.2

POLICY ADVICE

The ‘Vlaamse Adviesraad voor Innoveren en Ondernemen’ (VARIO), the ‘Flemish Advisory Council for Innovation and Enterprise’, advises the Flemish Government and the Flemish Parliament on its science, technology, innovation, industry and entrepreneurship policy. It is formally part of the policy area Economy, Science and Innovation. The council advises on its own initiative as well as on request. It works independently from the Flemish Government and the Flemish stakeholders in the field of science, innovation, industry and enterprise. The chairman and nine members of the VARIO take part in a personal capacity. The VARIO exists since 2017. Its predecessors were the ‘Vlaamse Raad voor Wetenschap en Innovatie’ (VRWI, or Flemish Council for Science and Innovation, 2010-2016) and the ‘Vlaamse Raad voor Wetenschapsbeleid’ (VRWB, or Flemish Science Policy Council, 1985-2009). Policy advice on socio-economic themes is also formulated by the Social and Economic Council of Flanders (SERV), which is formally part of the policy area Public Governance and the Chancellery. In it are represented the various Flemish employer organisations and trade unions.

1.1.3

AGENCIES

Whereas the Flemish Government’s departments prepare, monitor, evaluate and report on public policy, a number of agencies are charged with the implementation of the policy decisions. They make up four of the five agencies that fall under the EWI policy area. The funding agencies have established a wide variety of initiatives and support instruments to implement R&D&I-policy. These agencies are: • • • •

FWO: Research Foundation Flanders; VLAIO: Flanders Innovation and Entrepreneurship; PMV: Flemish Investment Company; LRM: Limburg Investment Company.

CHAPTER 2 COVERNMENT ACTORS

RESEARCH FOUNDATION FLANDERS (FWO) The Research Foundation Flanders1 (FWO) is the agency that supports ground-breaking fundamental and strategic research at the universities of the Flemish Community. The FWO also stimulates cooperation between the Flemish universities and other research institutes and promotes equal opportunity. Its main mission is to deepen knowledge about people and their environment. The FWO funds both excellent and promising researchers, as well as research projects, following an interuniversity competition and an evaluation by national and international experts. The only criterion is the outstanding quality of the researcher and the research proposal. Researchers can apply for support from the FWO through a broad range of funding instruments.

are the specific attention and monitoring of open science (Open Access and Open Data), the expansion of international and intersectoral mobility, the monitoring of output and impact of the different programs, more attention for breakthrough, interand transdisciplinary research and research collaboration and the audit of the panel structure. The overall part of the annual budget of the FWO is granted by the Flemish Government and amounts to approximately 335 million euro.

A system of peer review by the scientific community is used to assess all applications and scientific activity reports. To this end, the FWO has organized several scientific committees, including top researchers from Belgium and abroad. The FWO’s scientific committees, called “FWO Experts Panels”, are crucial to ensuring the excellence of FWO-funded activities. There are Expert Panels that are specialised committees for a specific scientific research discipline and there are interdisciplinary committees, which cover all the scientific research disciplines of Flemish concern. Each committee consists of several experts, the majority always being affiliated to a non-Flemish university. The main instruments of the FWO are support to fellowships (PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, etc.) and to research (via grants and projects). Furthermore, extensive means are available for research infrastructure, promoting international cooperation and mobility, including participation in multilateral initiatives or in “big science” research facilities, such as CERN. Finally, the FWO also awards scientific prizes to distinguished researchers, often in collaboration with private companies. Since 2019 there is a new Governing Agreement between the FWO and the Flemish Government. This Governing Agreement 2019-2023 sets out the strategic and operational goals for the coming period. Some new points in this Governing Agreement

1 In Dutch: Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Vlaanderen

44 STI IN FLANDERS

FLANDERS INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP (VLAIO)

VLAIO supports all types of innovators in Flanders:

Flanders Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Agentschap Innoveren en Ondernemen) is a government agency, charged with implementing the economic, innovation and enterprise policy in Flanders. It helps companies with the start-up of their activities, the growth and continuity of their business, but also with the search for the right location, information on permits, financing, investments in innovation and ecological technologies, and other topics. VLAIO also hosts the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) Flanders, and acts as the managing authority for the EU ERDF calls and support in the Flemish Region. In short, VLAIO manages all economic and innovation support for companies located or active within the Flemish Region.

• Companies that are actively innovating, from small start-ups to multinationals with a branch in Flanders; specific attention is paid to SMEs, although partnerships between companies and knowledge centres are also eligible for innovation support. As of 2016, VLAIO supports a number of ‘innovative business networks’ (following a call in 2015, see Chapter 4), and selected a few spearhead clusters; • Individual researchers and research centres can apply to VLAIO for the appropriate support and can also receive funding, advice and contacts with potential partners for innovative scientific research, applied research and technology transfer; • Organisations of various types (e.g. collective research centres) that stimulate innovation in Flanders can receive financial support.

VLAIO was established in 2016 after a merger of the Agentschap Ondernemen (AO, Enterprise Flanders) with the Agentschap voor Innovatie door Wetenschap en Technologie (IWT, Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology). As of 2016, VLAIO acts as the one-stop-shop for companies. In the field of innovation support, VLAIO assists companies, research centres and knowledge centres in realising their research and development projects, by offering funding, advice and a network of potential partners in Flanders and abroad. To achieve this, it has different types of instruments at its disposal: • Direct funding: supporting the innovative projects of companies, research centres, collective research initiatives, organisations and individuals through assignments set by the Flemish Government; • Advice and services: offering support to all Flemish SMEs and large companies and research centres by helping them with their applications or by providing technological advice during their innovative projects; • Co-ordination and networking: stimulating cooperation by bringing innovative companies and research centres into contact with Flemish intermediate organisations that stimulate innovation; to this end, VLAIO manages a broad network of partner organisations and works closely with ‘Team Bedrijfstrajecten’ (a merger of the former 5 provincial innovation centres); • Policy development: supporting the Flemish Government in its innovation policy; e.g. by studying the effectiveness of the innovation initiatives and different support programmes.

The agency applies a bottom-up approach: subsidies and advice are typically awarded to initiatives proposed by the actors themselves and any project including a technological innovation component is eligible for funding. VLAIO continues to adapt its policy instruments to broaden and deepen the innovation trajectory, as well as adapting this trajectory to specific needs. The support schemes are aimed at businesses (from SME’s to large companies), research organisations, service-providing organisations, non-profit organisations, and individual persons. The main support instruments for innovation and R&D are: (more details in Chapter 4) • • • • • • • • •

R&D business projects Baekeland mandates Innovation mandates COOCK (Projecten ‘Collectief Onderzoek & Ontwikkeling en Collectieve Kennisverspreiding/-transfer') Support for cooperation and the dissemination of knowledge (TETRA, Agricultural Innovation Projects) Co-financing of international projects (ERA-Net, JTI, Eurostars, EUREKA) Spearhead clusters and cluster projects Innovative business networks Living labs, in the fields of industry 4.0 and smart cities

CHAPTER 2 COVERNMENT ACTORS

PARTICIPATION COMPANY FLANDERS (PMV) PMV (ParticipatieMaatschappij Vlaanderen) is an investment company that provides funding for promising businesses in Flanders, from their very start, through their various growth stages and even on to operating internationally. PMV also provides financing and expertise for the transition to sustainable energy, the reallocation of cultural-historical heritage, the investment in infrastructure and the efficient (re)use of space in Flanders. PMV is also functioning as the National Promotional Bank (NPB) for Flanders in the framework of the InvestEU programme. With a purpose to lower the hurdle for entrepreneurs to find financing, PMV no longer communicates about its different ‘products’. Instead, it now invites companies to come and discuss their financing needs, on the basis of which PMV will offer them the right financing mix. PMV can provide capital, loans or guarantees or a combination of these, while also having a fund of funds activity. With these instruments, PMV offers tailor-made solutions as well as standard instruments such as the Waarborgregeling (guarantees), Startlening (starting loan), Win-winlening (loan provided by friends or family, but partially guaranteed by the region) or Cofinanciering (co-financing). PMV will always investigate whether collaboration with other private parties is possible. These standard financing solutions for startups and self-employed entrepreneurs are provided under the brand name PMV/z to make PMV’s instruments more transparent for the target group. Funding solutions of PMV/z are partially made possible by the EU, namely through the COSME Guarantee and InnovFin.

“multi-valorisation” of these technology platforms rather than their development into a single application.

LIMBURG RECONVERSION COMPANY (LRM) LRM is an investment company that develops and stimulates economic growth in the Flemish province of Limburg. LRM targets all sectors and companies, from starting companies to growing SMEs and larger businesses. LRM provides lending and venture capital to companies who are related to Limburg and is a catalyst for the transition of the Limburg manufacturing economy towards an innovative and technological economy. LRM is developing qualitative clusters within the spearhead sectors in Limburg. In addition, LRM develops infrastructure, such as campuses and incubators, and gives former mining sites a makeover. LRM focuses on the following four investment domains: • • • •

Sustainable Societies; Health & Care; Smart Services & Manufacturing; Leisure & Heritage Experience

PMV also provide the Flemish Government with fudiciary management of some of its assets. One recent example is the Flanders Future Tech Fund (FFTF). This fund, set up in 2019 with an initial 75 million euro injection by the Flemish Government, aims at addressing the market failures surrounding new platform technologies that are being developed within Flanders’ strategic research centres (see page 58), universities (see page 56) and spearhead clusters (see Chapter 4). As the name ‘platform technologies’ suggests, these technologies can be used in a vast array of applications. The development towards different applications, however, is highly capital intensive. Consequently and in order to attract private investments, researchers tend to focus on the single application that can reach the market the fastest, thereby giving up on the other possible valorisations. The Flanders Future Tech Fund aims at supporting the

46 STI IN FLANDERS

2 GENERAL ORIENTATIONS OF FLEMISH STI POLICY 2.1

POLICY DOCUMENTS IN THE FIELD OF R&D&I

Policy in the field of science, research and innovation is being implemented through a whole set of policy instruments (parliament acts, decrees, ministerial decisions, government communications, concept notes, MoU’s…). The role and tasks of the major actors in the STI landscape of Flanders are defined in the “Decreet betreffende de organisatie en financiering van het wetenschaps- en innovatiebeleid” (Flemish Parliament

Act on the organisation and financing of the scientific and innovation policy), which was approved on 30 April 2009 by the Flemish Parliament (and modified thereafter). The Government of Flanders elaborates its policy through several agreements, initiatives and statements, including: • the government coalition agreement in which the various political parties that are part of the governing coalition outline their priorities for the five-yearly parliamentary term (currently 2019-2024); • the policy document of the minister charged with scientific research and innovation for the five-year governing period 2019-2024 (note: this theme is a part of an overall policy document for Economy, Science and Innovation); • the annual policy letter of the minister, which further elaborates and specifies the initiatives for the general policy framework that is announced in the policy document (note: this theme is a part of an overall policy letter for Economy, Science and Innovation) .

MEMBERS OF THE FLEMISH GOVERNMENT 2019-2024

CHAPTER 2 COVERNMENT ACTORS

• Several multi-annual strategic plans and targets that are agreed with a broad-ranging group of stakeholders from government, civil society and industry. These plans set out targets across a range of policy fields, amongst which STI is assigned a clear priority. The major plans include the transversal policy document Flanders 2050 (VISIE 2050: a long-term strategy for Flanders) and Vizier 2030 (translation of the Sustainable Development Goals to the Flemish context). The Flemish Reform Programme for the Europe 2020 strategy (in the framework of the European Semester) recaps the main policy intentions of the government as elaborated in the aforementioned documents. In its government coalition agreement 2019-2024, the Flemish Government states the ambition to become one of the top 5 innovative knowledge regions in Europe, as measured by the Regional Innovation Scoreboard. International excellence remains the most important goal of its research policy, both in fundamental and applied research. The Flemish Government has furthermore committed itself to reach the 3% target of R&D intensity by 2024. This commitment is translated into 195 million euro one-off investments in R&D-infrastructure during this period, and an increase of 250 million euro in the annual R&I-budget. The government will also focus on the continued implementation of the quadruple helix model. The policy approach sets out three strategic axes: 1. allowing enterprises to undertake, innovate and internationalise

For the period 2019-2024, the EWI policy field is part of the responsibility of the Flemish Minister for Economy, Innovation, Work, Social Economy and Agriculture, Ms. Hilde Crevits. Her policy priorities on scientific research and innovation are elaborated in the policy document 2019-2024. Six cross-cutting strategic ambitions are enumerated: 1. Allow local entrepreneurship to flourish 2. An integrated industrial policy for the future 3. Regional specialisation in regions and provinces 4. Successful enterprising in the digital society 5. Innovation for climate-neutral solutions in the industry 6. Sustainable growth through a knowledge driven circular economy The realisation of these cross-cutting ambitions is supported by measures which are divided into the categories economy, scientific research, innovation, and science communication. Apart from the aforementioned (further) implementation of the quadruple helix model, another main characteristic of the policy for the coming years is the focus on a more mission oriented policy.

2. invest further in favourable framework conditions for a strong R&D&I-system 3. invest further in the interaction between the actors of the R&D&I-system

48 STI IN FLANDERS

2.2

2.3

The Flemish Government wants to invest 3% of its gross domestic product (GDP) in R&D by the end of government period 20192024. To achieve this, it plans to increase the annual budget for R&I with 250 million EUR by 2024. It also foresees 195 million EUR in one-off investments in research infrastructure.

In 2020, responding to the COVID-19 crisis, the Flemish Government adopted a 4.3 billion euro recovery plan, called Flemish Resilience. Of this sum, over 500 million euro is invested in economy, science and innovation.

MORE RESOURCES FOR R&D

More information on funding of R&D can be found in Annex II.

RECENT INITIATIVES: FOCUS ON TWIN TRANSITION

In 2019, the Flemish Government made one-off investments for the amount of 120 million euro of which almost 45 million euro for R&D&I. More importantly, the annual budget for R&D&I was increased with 280 million euro. Two thirds of these investments went to reinforcing existing funding channels such as FWO, BOF and IOF, while one third went to new policy initiatives.

2.3.1.

RECOVERY PLAN FLEMISH RESILIENCE

The Flemish recovery plan foresees investments in five building blocks, namely government investments (1.5 billion euro) climate, sustainability and innovation (1.2 billion euro), digitalisation (800 million euro), people and society (655 million euro) and Brexit initiatives (83 million EUR). Of these investments, over 500 million euro take place within the policy domain economy, science and innovation. They will be used to accelerate the necessary transition of the economy, in particular in the field of digital and climate. About half of this package will be invested in hydrogen research and innovation (125 million euro), research infrastructure (115 million euro) and accelerating enterprise R&D-projects (100 million euro). Smaller investments are foreseen in circular economy and construction (25 million euro), vibrant city centres (25 million euro), smart cities (20 million euro) bio-economy (10 million euro), media innovation (10 million euro), business parks (10 million euro), water security (10 million euro) and care and health (6 million euro), amongst others.

CHAPTER 2 COVERNMENT ACTORS

2.3.2

GRAND POLICY INITIATIVES

Since 2019, over 70 million euro per year is being invested in three grand policy initiatives relating to artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and climate change. These initiatives were adopted in March 2019.

POLICY PLAN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE The policy plan Artificial Intelligence is aimed at strengthening Flemish competitiveness by boosting the uptake of AItechnologies by enterprises. At the same time, it also reinforces basic research in areas where Flanders has an edge over it competitors. Lastly, it aims to provide framework condition by focussing on ethics and legal aspects, as well as competences and skills. The policy plan foresees an annual investment of 32 million euro. It is composed of three complementary pillars: 1. Top strategic basic research (12 million euro annually) for the targeted development of new knowledge, scientific breakthroughs and talent at world level. This part focuses on themes where Flanders already performs excellently and where synergy can be obtained with the demand-driven implementation agenda of the Flemish business community. The research programme is co-ordinated by imec (see page 58) and focuses on four challenges: (i) hybrid, automated, reliable and actionable data science ("data science"): the help to make complex decisions; (ii) real-time & energy-efficient AI: extracting and processing information at "the edge"; (iii) multi- agent, collaborative AI for autonomous interaction between decision-making entities; and (iv) human-like AI to communicate and collaborate seamlessly with people. These challenges are applied to use cases on efficient health care, future mobility, industry 4.0 and other topics. 2. A central focus on the implementation of AI applications in businesses (15 million euro annually). A demand-driven agenda from the business community must be brought to existing government instruments, mainly of the Flemish Agency for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (VLAIO, see page 44) and relevant institutions, through open, well-organized channels and networks.

3. A strong supporting policy (5 million euro annually) that, in addition to the significant training needs aimed at the labour market, also addresses the legal, ethical, democratic and socio-economic aspects of AI. The focus is on a correct yet ambitious outreach to the population, so that innovative technologies are not regarded merely as exogenous but rather as endogenous, reinforcing evolutions, in which Flemish actors can actively participate. Initiatives under this pillar include the Knowledge Centre Data & Society (to study the legal and ethical aspects of AI) and the Flemish AI-Academy (to tackle the skills mismatch on the labour market).

POLICY PLAN CYBERSECURITY The Policy Plan Cybersecurity is set up in a similar way as the Policy Plan Artificial Intelligence, focussing on research, implementation and competences. It foresees an annual investment of 20 million euro. This plan also has three complementary pillars: 1. Top strategic basic research (8 million euro annually) to reinforce domains where Flanders is already at the forefront, such as cryptography and securing distributed systems. The research programme is carried out by a consortium of Flemish research institutions and focuses on four tracks: (i) secure software & applications; (ii) security services; (iii) system and infrastructure security; and (iv) security building blocks & secure hardware. 2. A central focus on the implementation of cybersecurity applications in businesses (9 million euro annually). VLAIO and its partner network supports companies in improving their digital readiness and raise their awareness of the importance of cybersecurity. There is also support for the concrete implementation of cybersecurity, amongst others by detecting the latest trends and technologies for different sectors in the Flemish economy so companies can adopt stateof-the-art technology. 3. A strong supporting policy (3 million euro annually) that focuses providing training and setting up a complementary awareness raising campagne. The aim is to raise awareness on the different security challenges for every Flemish enterprise. It also wants to make every citizen more aware on how to handle personal data and how to protect us in an increasingly online world.

50 STI IN FLANDERS

MOONSHOT CO2 In the coming twenty years, Flanders will invest 20 million euros every year in innovation and research that can contribute to the Flemish climate targets. The programme is referred to as a "moonshot", an ambitious investment to make a major technological leap. To tackle climate change, the industry in Flanders must fully focus on reducing CO2 emissions, more CO2 capture and CO2 reuse. Breakthroughs in this area can, moreover, allow participating companies to play a pioneering role at international level and thus give Flanders a prime mover advantage. Given the importance of chemical compounds, the spearhead cluster for the chemistry and plastics sector Catalisti (see Chapter 4) has been assigned a coordinating role. It is expected that also sectors such as construction, transport and agriculture will follow and think along. The Moonshot identifies four themes that build on the expertise and experience already present in Flanders today: 1. "Bio-based chemistry" is investigating how renewable and climate-friendly raw materials such as biomass can replace polluting fossil raw materials.

GRAND NEW POLICY INITIATIVES Figure 11

MAIN NEW POLICY INITIATIVES POLICY PLAN

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

strategic basic research

12 million euro

implementation in enterprises

15 million euro

supporting measures (skills, legal and ethical aspects, awareness raising)

5 million euro

an annual investment of 32 million euro

POLICY PLAN

CYBERSECURITY

strategic basic research

8 million euro

implementation in enterprises

9 million euro

supporting measures (skills, legal and ethical aspects, awareness raising)

3 million euro

an annual investment of 20 million euro

2. "Circularity of carbon in materials" focuses on research into the recycling and reuse of plastics. 3. " E l e c t r i f i c at i o n a n d p ro c e s s transformation" aims to electrify industrial processes and make them CO2-smart. 4. “Energy innovation” focuses on sustainable energy, a key aspect given the presence of a highly energyintensive industry in Flanders. Under this topic, there is close collaboration with flux50, the spearhead cluster for energy.

MOONSHOT CO2 supporting innovations related to reducing CO2-emissions and Carbon Capture and Usage

20 million euro

an annual investment of 20 million euro

for the next 20 years

CHAPTER 2 COVERNMENT ACTORS

2.3.3

2.4

The Flemish Government invests also in thematic initiatives that spur the digital transformation of society:

Smart specialisation aims to focus government support for innovation on regional priorities to achieve an efficient match with regional strengths resulting in a better translation of research results to valorisation and implementation.

THEMATIC INITIATIVES ON DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

• 29 million euro is being invested in a data-platform that brings together traffic data with the ambition to improve mobility (Mobili-data). • 20 million euro is being invested in a project to bring personalised digital learning to all of the Flemish education system (I-Learn). • 10 million euro is being invested in a project to develop measurement and management infrastructure that contributes to a more effective and efficient management of water reserves (Internet of Water) • 1.2 million euro is being invested in a project to offer a framework wherein interventions can be defined and implemented to counteract or reduce stress in an urban environment (Stressy) The Flemish Government has planned an integrated Flemish Agenda for Digital Entrepreneurship and Innovation during the current government period. The deployment of 5G is one of the government’s top priorities. Digitisation of the government is supported by the programme Innovative Procurement and the Flanders Information Agency. Digitisation of communities is supported through Smart Flanders, Smart Cities project calls by VLAIO and imec’s experimental space in Antwerp, which remains the centre of the Flemish Smart City policy. Lastly and noteworthy, in December 2019, the government decided to install the Flemish Open Science Board (FOSB). The FOSB needs to further integrate existing efforts from the knowledge institutes; ensure coordination on interoperability, standards and formats; and exchange knowledge between “data stewards” and other experts. The aim of both facilitating the transition to Open Science in Flanders and ensuring the connection to the European Open Science Cloud. The government foresees an annual investment of 5 million euro to further shape its Open Science policy.

SMART SPECIALISATION IN FLANDERS

The smart specialisation evolution in Flanders is driven from two angles. • At the policy level in Flanders, it is recognized that clusters play an important role in a globalised world to support competitiveness. Active collaboration between companies and with other actors such as knowledge centres is essential to establish such clusters. Hereby, appropriate choices that build on regional strengths make it possible to make a difference at the international level for a small region. • At the European level, the European regional policy (ESIF) has stimulated the regions of Europe to adopt smart specialisation to achieve more efficient use of the Interreg and ERDF funds. For the programme period 2014-2020 the concept of smart specialisation was put forward to the regions by European Commission (DG Region) and became a prerequisite for the approval for operational programmes. The situation at the European level has accelerated the implementation of an operational programme, embedded in an evolution that was already ongoing in Flanders. The Flemish innovation landscape is characterized by a bottom up approach rather than a top down approach with thematically defined programmes. In this bottom up environment, the adoption of a smart specialisation strategy is based on a long tradition in which steps were taken to focus government support to acquire critical mass. One of the first steps in focussing government support to acquire critical mass was the foundation of strategic research centres (see Chapter 3). This started in the eighties with the foundation of imec, but was continued in the following years with the most recent one, Flanders’ Make, in 2014. Such institutes receive a grant from the government and participate in different programmes for support to research institutes on a competitive basis. They are all involved in tech transfer and have an active interaction with industry.

52 STI IN FLANDERS

In addition to the foundation of the strategic research centres, several initiatives were taken to foster the collaboration between industry and non-economic actors, with continued support to clustered activities in several forms. During the 2014-2019 governing period, two types of clusters were introduced: small-scaled, short-term initiatives called “innovative business networks” (IBN) and large-scaled, longer-term initiatives for “spearhead clusters”. (See Chapter 4) The evolution in Flanders with the strategic research centres and the cluster policy has resulted in a landscape characterised by a combination of bottom up programmes complemented with 10 focal points (i.e. 4 strategic research centres and 7 spearhead clusters). For each of the focal points the government of Flanders has taken a decision to grant support to a strategic research centre or a spearhead clusters thereby marking the area as a priority for Flanders. This choice equals a specialisation strategy with 10 priority domains. Besides the implementation of a smart specialisation at the regional level, Flanders has also contributed to the concept of smart specialisation by initiating the Vanguard Initiative ‘New Growth through Smart Specialisation’ in November 2013, that has grown to include 32 regions from 13 EU member states. (See Chapter 6) The government coalition agreement 2019-2024 foresees in subregional smart specialisation.

2.5

MONITORING AND REPORTING OF THE R&D&I POLICY

The policy initiatives, budgets and statistics that describe the Flanders’ research and innovation landscape are being monitored and reported on in a structural manner at different policy levels. Most of these reports are the responsibility of the EWI Department. The various EWI agencies involved in STI also provide information and data about their own specific initiatives and budgets (e.g. through their annual reports) or conduct studies (e.g. on innovation support, by VLAIO), as does the advisory body VARIO (studies, advice, benchmarks). The main sources of policy initiatives and statistical data and indicators in the STI field include:

• “Speurgids Ondernemen & Innoveren” (Budget browser Enterprise and Innovation): provides an overview of the budget allocations for economy, science, and innovation within the whole Flemish authority, and the R&D intensity (annually); • “Flemish Reform Programme” (VHP) and “National Reform Programme” (NHP) of the Europe 2020 strategy in the framework of the European Semester (both programmes are submitted in April to the European Commission): the part that relates to R&D&I) (annually); • The Flemish Indicator Book, which contains the policy indicators that shed a light on the Flemish potential in terms of science, technology and innovation. The Indicator Book is being published every two years since 1999, coordinated by the Interuniversity Centre for Research and Development Monitoring (ECOOM); • The “3% nota”: the so-called ‘3% paper’ is a publication from ECOOM in which the official data for Flanders on GERD, BERD, GBARD, the R&D-intensity, etc. are calculated (annually). Furthermore, regular overviews of Flanders in the field of research and innovation are available through many publications and reports from the EU and the OECD in the field of R&D&I. These include the profile of Flanders described in the European Commission reports or in databases such as the report for Flanders of the RIM (Regional Innovation Monitor), the RIM policy initiative database, the Vanguard Initiative website, the S3website of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), as well as in the many country reports on Belgium such as the reports on the European Research Area (ERA), the Research and Innovation Observatory (RIO), the OECD STI Outlook, the joint EC/OECD Policy Survey (and database) on Science, Technology and Innovation Policies (STIP), the R&D&I topics in the EC’s Country Report on Belgium (European Semester), and the OECD Economic Survey Belgium report. Benchmarking the R&D&I performance is conducted by comparing the information and data that are available in the EC Regional Innovation Scoreboard (RIS), the Report on Economic, Social and Territorial Cohesion, the Belgian profiles in the EIS (European Innovation Scoreboard) and the ‘Science, Research and Innovation performance of the EU’ report etc. In-depth peer reviews that analysed and evaluated the general systemic setting of research and innovation include the “OMC peer review” of Belgium (2010), specific ERAC-reviews or surveys, or the reports from the “Soete commission” (2007, 2013) that assessed the overall innovation landscape in Flanders.

CHAPTER 2 COVERNMENT ACTORS

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CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH ORGANISATIONS

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1 HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

1.1

UNIVERSITY ASSOCIATIONS

1.2

UNIVERSITIES

The universities play a major role in (the output of) Flemish R&D. The universities generate almost 90% of all non-private scientific output in Flanders. The five universities of the Flemish Community are: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven); Universiteit Gent (UGent); Universiteit Antwerpen (UA); Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB); Universiteit Hasselt (UHasselt).

The backbone of the output generated by Flanders’ academic and other knowledge actors is shaped by the 5 university associations. These associations each bring together one of the universities with one or more university colleges. University colleges provide higher education and advanced vocational training, and their mission includes research and the provision of other services to society. The bachelor qualification is the highest obtainable at the university colleges; master diplomas (and higher) remain the preserve of the universities.

• • • • •

The 5 university associations of the Flemish Community are:

Public funding for the universities can be categorised into three budgetary flows:

• Antwerp: UA and 3 university colleges in the city of Antwerp • Brussels: VUB and Erasmushogeschool Brussel, and a cooperation agreement with the Royal Military School • Ghent: UGent and 3 university colleges, 2 in East-Flanders and 1 in West-Flanders • KU Leuven: KU Leuven and 5 university colleges diffused over various locations in Flanders • Limburg: UHasselt and university college PXL, along with TuL (= the Transnational University Limburg a cooperation between UHasselt and Universiteit Maastricht) Universities and university colleges each have their organisation that promotes dialogue and cooperation amongst them and defends their interests in a concerted way. Universities are united in VLIR (Flemish Inter-University Council), while the university colleges come together in VLHORA (Flemish Council of University Colleges).

For more information, visit www.studyinflanders.be

1.3

FUNDING

• a basic allowance (from the Flemish Government’s department Education and Training), amounting to 1,136.8 million euro in 2019, of which 394.5 million euro allocated for R&D-related initiatives; • support granted on a competitive basis; • a variety of (project-based) external (private) sources, donations, income from IPR, etc.

1.3.1

COMPETITIVE FUNDING

The Research Foundation Flanders (Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Vlaanderen, FWO) and the Special Research Fund (Bijzonder Onderzoeksfonds, BOF) mainly support academic fundamental and basic research. Both have an array of different types of funding to do so. Two complementary programmes

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH ORGANISATIONS

are aimed at attracting (Odysseus, FWO) and retaining (Methusalem, BOF) top researchers. FWO support is granted based on competition between the different universities, while BOF support is a performance-based research funding system of which the funds are allocated to the Flemish universities based on fixed competitive parameters. VLAIO and the Industrial Research Fund (Industrieel Onderzoeksfonds, IOF) mainly support industrial and applied research. VLAIO support is granted on a competitive basis, whereby applicants are evaluated on several criteria. VLAIO also provides support at academic level for research conducted at the request of companies; for example, through innovation mandates and Baekeland mandates. IOF support is a targeted subsidy for applied and strategic basic research, allocated to the universities based on fixed criteria and then granted based on intra-university competition. Extra support is provided and aimed at further strengthening academic working conditions and research excellence, e.g. through the research infrastructure programme at FWO.

research results has also increased in recent years.

1.3.3

FLANDERS RESEARCH INFORMATION SPACE

All information relating to publicly funded research at the Flemish research institutes can be consulted via the Flanders Research Information Space research portal (FRIS). You will find information on researchers, research institutes, publications and projects. From 2022 on, also metadata of patents, research infrastructure and datasets will be published on the FRIS research portal www.researchportal.be. The FRIS Research Portal offers a unique view of publicly funded research in Flanders. The portal is a source of inspiration for reporting, analyses and statistics. In this way, the government can improve its policies and respond better to trends in society. In addition, FRIS strives to bring researchers closer together, to stimulate interdisciplinary research, to enable networking between researchers and to help find experts in certain disciplines.

The major budget sources for 2021 were: • FWO (356.03 million euro), of which 76.18 million euro for strategic basic research including doctoral grants, clinical research 17.23 milion euro and 31.38 million euro for research infrastructure; • BOF (222.243 million euro); • IOF and interface activities (56.888 million euro).

1.3.2

Thanks to direct integration with the systems of the scientific institutions, FRIS offers the most recent data. A change in the database of a research center is immediately implemented on the portal. All information about researchers, research groups, publicly funded projects and all publications from 2008 onwards is accessible to everyone. In 2018, FRIS was awarded the Agoria e-Gov Award “Open Data” and “Best Project”.

PRIVATE FUNDING

Higher education institutions also receive support from private partners (to conduct contract research), donations and bequests from private persons or institutes, the federal authorities, other Flemish public bodies (mainly the Department for Education and Training) and the EU (mainly through the Horizon 2020 programme, and to a limited extend from other EU programmes such as ERDF-Interreg). Funding sources from commercialising

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2 STRATEGIC RESEARCH CENTRES Flanders aims to be a front-runner in the European knowledge society and economy by continuing to build on and utilize its existing knowledge base and by increasing its innovation potential. Apart from the universities, the leading Flemish research and innovation actors are the four strategic research centres (SRC, or ‘Strategische Onderzoekscentra’ (SOC) in Dutch), sometimes referred to as public research organisations (PRO). Each of the centres is active in a specific research area and they have co-founded several spin-off or start-up companies, often based on breakthrough research.

• World-leading research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies • Over 4,000 researchers with almost 100 nationalities • Various R&D groups in Flanders, the Netherlands, Taiwan and the US • €640 million revenue in 2019 www.imec-int.com/en

• Independent research institute doing cutting edge research on molecular mechanisms of life, from microorganisms to plants and human beings • 1,700 scientists from 75 countries • Close collaboration with Flemish universities and businesses to bridge the gap between scientific research and entrepreneurship • Achieved major biotech breakthroughs • €115 million turnover in 2019 www.vib.be

The Flemish Government concludes with each of these SRC a multi-annual management agreement including key performance indicators, in return for an annual grant. In addition, some SRC receive a grant for the execution of reference tasks on behalf of the Flemish government. The total budget from the Flemish Government for the 4 SRC reached 264.6 euro in 2021. The amount of public support for Imec alone is 111.6 million in 2021, which makes it the biggest funding from the Flemish Government awarded to any knowledge institute.

• Independent research centre focused on cleantech and sustainable development • Almost 1,000 employees from 45 countries, including over 100 people with a PhD • Interdisciplinary research and large-scale pilot installations • Focuses on the fields of energy, chemistry, materials, health technology and land use • €205 million revenue in 2019 www.vito.be

• Strategic research centre that stimulates product and production innovation for the Flemish industry • 600 full-time researchers and over 140 company members, of which 50% are Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) • Close collaboration with universities, other research institutions and businesses • High-tech research infrastructure for testing and validating new products • €65 million turnover in 2019 www.flandersmake.be

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH ORGANISATIONS

2.1

IMEC

Imec (Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre) is a world-leading research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies. Leveraging its unique combination of leadership in microchip technology with profound software and ICT expertise, imec creates disruptive innovation in application domains such as healthcare, smart cities and mobility, logistics and manufacturing, energy and education. Imec employs around 4,000 researchers from almost 100 nationalities. It is headquartered in Leuven (Belgium) and has distributed R&D groups at a number of Flemish universities, in the Netherlands, Taiwan and the USA. Morever, imec has offices in China, India and Japan. In 2019, imec’s revenue (P&L) totaled 640 million euro, of which over 100 million euro from the Flemish Government. The imec campus in Leuven (Belgium) consists of 24,400m2 of office space, laboratories, training facilities, technical support rooms, and 2 cleanrooms which run a semi-industrial operation (24/7). There is a 300mm cleanroom that focuses on advanced R&D towards (sub-)3 nm process technology and a 200mm cleanroom for R&D, development-on-demand, prototyping and low volume manufacturing of innovative technology solutions for smart applications including sensors, actuators, and MEMS, NEMS, PV technologies, wireless technologies, life sciences technologies, wearables, ... Imec has, among others, a pilot line for silicon and organic solar cells, unique laboratories for bioelectronics research, life sciences labs, state-of-the art tools for materials characterization and reliability testing, dedicated labs for sensor and imaging technologies, wireless connectivity, ...

2.1.1

IMEC’S RESEARCH

Imec’s research covers various aspects of nanoelectronics such as advanced semiconductor scaling, low power sensing and actuating, radar and radio technology, and digital technologies including data science and security expertise and AI. By setting up local and global ecosystems of partners across a multitude of industries, imec creates technology solutions enabling innovation in various domains, such as healthcare, smart cities and mobility, logistics and manufacturing, sustainable energy and smart education. Among its fields of expertise: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

CMOS and beyond CMOS technologies Advanced patterning solutions Image sensors and vision systems Silicon photonics Connected health solutions Photovoltaics GaN Sensor solutions for IoT Solutions for IoT communication Radar sensing systems Solid state batteries Data science and data security Flexible electronics Technologies for life sciences Artificial intelligence

Imec was founded in 1984 as a non-profit organization led by Prof. Roger Baron Van Overstraeten. It is supervised by a Board of Directors, which includes delegates from industry, Flemish universities and the Flemish Government. Since 1984, imec has been led by Roger Van Overstraeten, Gilbert Declerck (as of June 1999), and Luc Van den Hove (as of July 2009).

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2.1.2

2.1.3

Imec offers an ecosystem of tailored venturing support to give new start-ups and entrepreneurs a head-start on their road to market. Imec has a long history of launching start-ups and supporting innovative ideas. Imec already launched 118 spin-offs since it’s foundation in 1984.

Imec partners with other research leaders in the region to combine and leverage expertises and drive innovation and position our region as a leader in a specific research domain.

IMEC’S VENTURING INITIATIVES

Imec’s business accelerator program, imec.istart, offers selected start-ups an initial financial injection (50,000 EUR pre-seed funding), professional coaching and mentoring, access to technology and working facilities, access to its network of partners and investors. Since its launch in 2011, imec.istart helped more than 198 tech start-ups in diverse fields, ranging from multimedia and logistics to the healthcare sector, to develop into sustainable ventures. In 2019, imec.istart was granted first place in the European ‘Top University Business Accelerators’ ranking by UBI Global and was ranked fourth best in the world. Imec.xpand is a venture capital fund initiated by imec, investing in innovative semiconductor and hardware research spinouts and startups. Imec.xpand is an independently managed, gamechanging way to enable early-stage nano electronics-based innovation powered by imec, the world-leading R&D hub for nanoelectronics and digital technology.

LEVERAGING EXPERTISE TO EXCEL

Holst Centre, set up in 2005 by imec and TNO (The Netherlands), is an independent research and innovation center, developing wireless technologies and flexibel electronics, aiming at responding to the global societal challenges of tomorrow and contributing to a healthier and more sustainable world. Supported by local, regional and national governments, Holst Centre is located on High Tech Campus Eindhoven, benefiting from, and contributing to, the state-of-the-art on-site facilities. Holst Centre has over 180 employees from 28 nations. EnergyVille was set up by imec, KU Leuven, VITO, and UHasselt to perform research into sustainable energy and intelligent energy systems. EnergyVille employs 400 researchers whose work centers around six interdisciplinary domains: photovoltaics, electrical and thermal storage, power control and conversion, electrical and thermal networks, buildings and districts, strategies and markets. Solliance Solar Research was founded in 2010 as a joint venture between the Dutch TNO, the Belgian imec and ECN (the Energy research Centre of the Netherlands, that became a part of TNO since 2018. Together with the industrial and academic partners Solliance Solar Research plays a leading role in the worldwide research and development of thin-film solar technology. OnePlanet research center is a Dutch innovation center for Food, Health and Agricultural Technology. It was launched in 2019 as a collaboration between imec Radboud University, Wageningen University & Research (WUR) and the academic hospital Radboudumc focusing on the development of sustainable technologies for food, health and agriculture.

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH ORGANISATIONS

2.2

VIB

2.2.1

VIB’S RESEARCH

VIB consists of eight thematic research centres with a total of 81 research groups performing pioneering research at the campuses of the partner universities.

VIB (Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie – Flemish Institute for Biotechnology) is an independent research institute where some 1,700 top scientists from Belgium and abroad conduct pioneering basic research. As such, they are pushing the boundaries of what we know about molecular mechanisms and how they rule living organisms such as human beings, animals, plants and microorganisms. Based on a close partnership with five Flemish universities – Ghent University, KU Leuven, University of Antwerp, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Hasselt University – and supported by a solid funding program, VIB unites the expertise of all its collaborators and research groups in a single institute. VIB’s technology transfer activities translate research results into concrete benefits for society, such as new diagnostics and therapies and agricultural innovations. These applications are often developed by young start-ups from VIB or through collaborations with other companies. This also leads to additional employment and bridges the gap between scientific research and entrepreneurship. VIB also engages actively in the public debate on biotechnology by developing and disseminating a wide range of science-based information. The institute has already achieved major breakthroughs in the fields of cancer research, immunology and inflammation, neurobiolog y and neurogenetics, angiogenesis and cardiovascular disease, plant biology and plant systems biology. VIB manages 2 bio-incubators and 1 bio-accelerator in Ghent and Leuven. It’s 2019 revenue was 115 million euro, of which 77 million euro public funding.

• • • • • • • •

VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research VIB-KU Leuven Center for Cancer Biology VIB-KU Leuven Center for Microbiology VIB-UAntwerp Center for Molecular Neurology VIB Center for Inflammation Research VIB-UGent Center for Medical Biotechnology VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology VIB-VUB Center for Structural Biology

One of the institute’s strengths is the combined expertise of its scientists, who are world leaders in their field, and the core facilities that allow the use of the latest technologies on a scale that cannot be achieved by a single research group. Finding answers to the most crucial questions in tomorrow’s life sciences requires both a multidisciplinary and multilevel approach, as well as different levels of magnification and aggregation. These levels range from organism to organ and cellular and subcellular levels to molecular and even atomic levels. To enable such an approach, VIB scientists need critical mass, diversity and interdisciplinarity. Therefore, talented researchers and technicians are recruited from different academic and geographic backgrounds. Driven by curiosity, they are encouraged to think unconventionally and explore across boundaries. Cooperation between Flemish research institutions is increasingly common. For example, Neuro-Electronics Research Flanders (NERF) is an interdisciplinary research center, empowered by imec, KU Leuven and VIB. NERF studies neuronal circuits and develops new technologies to link circuit activity to brain function.

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2.2.2

VIB'S TECH TRANSFER ACTIVITIES

While research forms the basis of scientific knowledge, transferring the research results to the marketplace is of equal importance to VIB. The Innovation & Business team ensures that research results are translated into tangible products and services that find their way to patients and consumers. Financial return from tech transfer activities is reinvested in VIB’s basic research programs. Translating scientific findings into drugs for patients or products for consumers is a long and costly process, requiring skills, expertise and financial means that exceed VIB’s resources. To bridge this gap, VIB has established partnerships with several companies. Additionally, VIB’s Discovery Sciences team specifically bridges the gap between promising targets to the commercial development of products, de-risking the initial investments of interested industry partners. To fuel economic growth and accelerate the translation of VIB’s research into actual products, investment in the establishment of new start-up companies is of the utmost importance. So far, VIB has been involved in creating 22 new companies in the field of therapeutics, diagnostics, ag-bio and bioethanol, employing around 850 people. Biotech companies need appropriate infrastructure to carry out their work. VIB has invested in three biotech incubators in Leuven and two Bio-Accelerators in Ghent. The bio-incubator in Ghent now houses 10 companies with 216 employees. The Leuven bioincubator houses 16 companies with 382 employees. Ghent is also the home for the bio-accelerator which allows small companies to accelerate their development into key players. Currently, 4 companies and 575 employees are located here.

2.2.3

INVESTING IN CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY

Science and technology are inextricably intertwined. The development of new technologies often leads to breakthroughs in scientific research. VIB’s core facilities and ‘Technology Watch’ program ensure that its scientists have early access to a wide range of state-of-the-art technologies. Staying at the forefront in research also means staying on top of developments on the technology front. VIB’s Technology Watch team continuously scouts for novel technologies of potential interest to VIB and, when appropriate, mediates early access to these disruptive technologies through partnerships with cutting-edge technology providers. VIB believes in an integrated approach to the various ‘omics’ domains. This approach opens perspectives to gain more focused insights into the molecular blueprint of many development and disease processes. However, it requires a techno-scientific expertise that is impossible to create within one research group. VIB has recognized this trend and made substantial investments in embedding high-tech platforms in the institutional core and service facilities. In consultation with the Technology Watch team several leading-edge technology platforms have been implemented. VIB’s core and service facilities do not only provide their high-tech equipment and expertise to researchers within the institute; they also reach out to scientists from academia and industry. A recent evaluation by an international expert panel has confirmed the status of VIB’s core facilities as ‘gold standard’ in Europe. To solidify VIB’s position at the leading edge of technological development, VIB has recently launched the Technology Innovation Lab. This Technology Watch division focuses on providing VIB researchers to priority access to the very latest research technologies, often still in the prototype or precommercial stage. In order to significantly consolidate VIB’s expertise in single cell studies – a research field of increasing importance – the Single Cell Accelerator program was initiated. Through this initiative, VIB scientists will have access to funding to evaluate, develop and integrate emerging breakthrough single-cell technologies at VIB.

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH ORGANISATIONS

2.3

VITO

VITO (Vlaamse Instelling voor Technologisch Onderzoek - Flemish Institute for Technological Research) is an independent research centre in the area of cleantech and sustainable development in Flanders. As an innovative customer-oriented research organisation, it accelerates the transition to a sustainable world, providing knowledge and technological innovations that facilitate this transition to a more sustainable society. VITO derisks innovation for businesses and strengthens the economic and societal fabric of Flanders, with interdisciplinary research and large-scale pilot installations. VITO does this in the field of energy, chemistry, materials, health technology and land use. VITO unites different parties in a sustainable value chain. By cooperation, expansion and development of expertise, we can make smarter use of existing sustainable solutions and develop new technologies. Technology should be feasible and cost-effective. This calls for partnerships between research centres, commercial parties and the authorities, who together create impact in the sustainability transition. VITO is the driving force by providing practical knowledge, innovative processes and business models.

Anyone who wants to do sustainable business must opt for circular economy in all its forms. In 2019, VITO focused more than ever on circularity. The search for better and more sustainable forms of energy and energy management have led to new insights. In view of the challenges posed by climate change, VITO puts a lot of effort into everything to do with land use. More efficient use of agricultural land will lead to better harvests, less spraying and more profitable cultivation. By better monitoring the water in our watercourses, we can draw conclusions and make forecasts. In this way we can anticipate the negative consequences of a changing climate. VITO focuses on developing solutions that can capture and reuse CO2, reduce the energy demand for chemical processes and answer questions about the processing of plastic waste and residual flows. VITO also focuses on all environmental factors that determine our health. Through large-scale biomonitoring, VITO helps governments to draw conclusions and take measures. In 2019, VITO employed 959 employees and 103 PhD’s and postdocs of 45 nationalities. VITO had a revenue of 203 million euro of which 63 million euro public funding. Apart from Flanders, it has offices in China, India and the Middle East. 2

2 Read all about VITO’s realisations on vito.be/en/impact

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2.4

FLANDERS MAKE

Flanders Make is the Flemish strategic research centre that aims at stimulating product and production innovation in the Flemish manufacturing industry, thus supporting the further digital transition towards Industry 4.0 and (consequently) further strengthening the international competitiveness of the Flemish manufacturing industry. Flanders Make’s research focuses on the development of personalised, smart and connected products (vehicles and machines) and production systems (flexible assembly). Its 2019 revenue was 65 million euro of which 24.9 million euro of the Flemish Government. Flanders Make identifies three market trends to which it responds with its research: 1. smart interconnected products and production systems 2. customised production at the cost price of serial production 3. sustainable production centred on human needs

2.4.1

KEY COMPETENCES

Flanders Make combines its expertise in four key competences, all related to modelling and virtualisation. For each key competence, a 10-year research roadmap has been developed and a cluster has been set up in which Flanders Make works together with universities and other research institutes as well as companies on (pre-competitive) research, tailor-made innovation (for individual companies) and testing and validation. Under ‘Decision & Control’, the focus is on innovations in localisation, adaptive control and decision support for operators. Flanders Make helps the industry to measure data, interpret data and apply it in robust, self-learning measuring and knowledge instruments to improve mechatronic systems. Artificial intelligence plays a major role in these areas.

Under ‘Design & Optimisation’, Flanders Make helps developers to improve the increasingly-complex design process, by aligning the production process from the outset. Specific tools give designers near-instant insight into the different possible concepts and optimal design choices. Flanders Make also offer support for production environments, in which it takes the impact of production on the design into account. ‘Motion Products’ emphasizes products with a motion component such as vehicles and machines, helping enterprises to develop new ‘future-proof’ products which are smart, automatically adapt to the environment to provide optimal performance, and use digital, Industry 4.0 technology. The focus is on the architecture and the validation of systems, as well as the combination of autonomy and automation (autonomation) for professional applications. ‘Flexible Assembly’ is about supporting businesses in their digital transformation to become ‘factories for the future’ getting smart machines and people to work together. Research is done into flexible assembly units that can cope with multiple product variations.

2.4.2

RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE

Flanders Make provides high-tech research infrastructure where companies can test and validate their products, i.e. (components of) vehicles or machines, and optimise their production processes. All these activities take place in the three physical ‘co-creation sites’ (combining office space and research labs) of Flanders Make in Kortrijk (customised production), Lommel (vehicle development) and Leuven (machine development) and at the Flemish drone federation EUKA in Sint-Truiden on the one hand, and in the labs and test facilities of the universities (inter alia the Core Labs dedicated to the clusters) and other research institutes associated with Flanders Make on the other hand. Today, Flanders Make has more than around 600 researchers and over 140 company members (of which 50% are SMEs).

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH ORGANISATIONS

3 FLEMISH SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTES

4 OTHER FLEMISH KNOWLEDGE INSTITUTES

Within the Flemish Community, there are five scientific institutes, each managed by a department of the Flemish Government. These perform scientific research in a specific policy field. Apart from building up and diffusing the knowledge gained from scientific research, the institutes also provide advice and assistance to policy-makers, as well as services to society as whole. Furthermore, they strive to develop and exchange their knowledge through international contacts or programmes and via cooperation with other (foreign) institutes, e.g. through membership of EU research networks.

Apart from the aforementioned organisations, there exist a variety of other institutions and organisations in the public domain with activities that primarily focus on (scientific) data collection, research and/or knowledge generation. In most cases, they are mainly or to some extend supported by the Flemish Government. Some of these organisations play a prominent worldwide role in their field of activity.

• The Agency Botanic Garden Meise (Agentschap Plantentuin Meise) is a scientific research institute, that operates as a centre of excellence for research into tropical and European botany, with a collection of over 18,000 species of plants and one of the largest herbaria in the world. It has been a part of the Flemish Community, following its de-federalisation in 2014, as an agency of the EWI domain. • The Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (Instituut voor Landbouw en Visserijonderzoek, ILVO) conducts research in four main areas: plant sciences (applied genetics, breeding, crop protection), animal sciences (functional nutrition), technology and food science (food safety) and social sciences; in many cases this research is conducted in collaboration with various international partners; • The Research Institute for Nature and Forest (Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek, INBO) conducts research on themes such as fauna, flora, biotopes, areas and regions, sustainable land and water use, with a focus on factors such as ecohydrology, acidification, pollution and climate change; • The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen, KMSKA) is charged with the care of a unique art collection, composed of mainly Flemish works, complemented with several pieces from other schools; • The Agency for Archaeological Heritage (Agentschap voor Onroerend Erfgoed, AOE) conducts research into the immovable heritage of Flanders (archaeology, monuments, landscapes), focusing on themes such as the restoration of historic gardens, sea wrecks, historic organs, parks, industrial and maritime heritage, etc.

The largest knowledge institutes include: • The Flanders Marine Institute, VLIZ (Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee): is renowned for supporting coastal and marine scientific research. It does so by offering and array of services for which scientists do not have the time or resources, but that are nevertheless essential for the success of scientific research. It operates the Simon Stevin vessel (the Flemish multidisciplinary coast research ship), manages the InnovOcean campus site and the Flanders Marine Data and Information Centre, which is active in international networks such as the IOC of UNESCO,. It also houses the European Marine Board and supports the European-level initiatives EMODnet and JPI Oceans. VLIZ has been instrumental in supporting knowledge brokerage for the benefit of the Blue Economy in Flanders, where the new spearhead cluster ‘Blue Cluster’ is catalysing innovation projects among its industrial membership; • The Institute for Tropical Medicine, ITM (Instituut voor Tropische Geneeskunde, ITG): is one of the world’s leading institutes for training, research and support of tropical medicine and health care in developing countries, providing (reference) clinical services for the management of tropical diseases. ITM hosts many international reference laboratories and is an expert centre on HIV; • The Centre for Research and Conservation (CRC): is the research department of the Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp (RZSA), conducting applied and fundamental hypothesis-driven conservation research in various zoological disciplines (e.g. veterinary sciences). Research takes place in Flanders, in zoos and associated institutions, as well as in Brazil, Cameroon and Congo (bonobo research).

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5 INSTITUTES GOVERNED BY OTHER AUTHORITIES 5.1

FEDERAL AUTHORITY

Belgium has ten federal scientific establishments, most of which are located in Brussels. They cover a wide variety of research activities and collections and include museums, libraries, weather and space observatories, as well as research institutes dealing with African culture, geology and public health. Some of these bodies not only perform research in specific fields of expertise, but also have a publicly orientated scientific mission. At the administrative level, they are managed by various policy fields and under the overall responsibility of the federal State Secretary for Science, as part of the Programmatory Public Service for Science Policy (BELSPO). The federal scientific establishments have a two-fold mission: a scientific public service mission on the one hand (the development, maintenance and dissemination of scientific, technical and cultural information and documentation, collection conservation, etc.) and a research mission on the other hand (through research often conducted in partnership with the universities of the Flemish and/or French Community). As such, these establishments interact with and enhance the scientific potential and outcome generated by the actors in the Flemish STI landscape, particularly the researchers in higher education institutions who are active in the same field of activity. The federal scientific institutes are:

• • • • • • • • •

the Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA); the National Library of Belgium (KBR); the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (KBIN); the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK); the Royal Meteorological Institute (KMI); the Royal Museum for Central Africa; the Royal Museums of Art and History (KMKG); the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (KMSK); the Royal Observatory of Belgium (including the Planetarium) (KSB); • the State Archives of Belgium. In addition to these institutes, there also exist federal partner institutions and other organisations subsidised by BELSPO (for example, the University Foundation), whilst some of the federal scientific institutes report to other federal public services. E.g. in the field of health, Sciensano provides research and monitoring services on health-related risks in the broad sense (healthcare, animal health, environment, food safety, medications and vaccines…). The Federal Government also has responsibility for two other research organisations, being the National Institute for Radioelements (IRE), and the renowned Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK CEN).

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH ORGANISATIONS

5.2

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, ORGANISATIONS OR PLATFORMS IN THE STI FIELD

Apart from institutes related to or managed by the Government of Flanders and the Federal Government, there are also a few other EU or international institutions located in Flanders that collect scientific data or conduct research. Some of these receive funding or support from the Flemish Government. Examples include: • the EU Joint Research Centre (JRC) known as the Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM), location: Mol (nearby the Flemish VITO and the federal SCK/CEN); • The executive offices of the EU’s Joint Technology Initiatives for Innovative Medicines (IMI), Clean Sky, Electronic Components and Systems for European Leadership (ECSEL) Fuel Cells and Hydrogen (FCH), location: Brussels; • European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST), funding organisation for science and technology research networks, location: Brussels; • the ESA Business and Innovation Centre (ESA BIC), location: Mol and Geel; • United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS), location: Bruges; • the European Marine Board (EMB), location: Ostend; • European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet), location: Ostend; • the Project Office of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO for the International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE) programme, location: Ostend; • the Von Karman Institute for fluid dynamics, which is funded by consortium of 15 countries, location: Sint-Genesius-Rode.

6 POLICY RESEARCH CENTRES In 2001, the Flemish Government launched a centralised ‘Steunpunten’ programma (policy research centres programme) to provide a scientific basis for policy research. From 2016 on, a decentralised approach towards policy research centres was elaborated whereby every policy area was made responsible for setting up, funding and following up its own centres. The policy research centres that are active today with the EWI policy area are: • Expertisecentrum Onderzoek en Ontwikkelingsmonitoring van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap (ECOOM, Expert Centre Research and Development monitoring of the Flemish Community): an inter-university consortium in which all Flemish universities participate; • Steunpunt Economie en Ondernemen (Store, Policy Research Centre Economy and Entrepreneurship): a cooperation between KU Leuven and UGent. ECOOM is, inter alia, responsible for the calculation of the official R&D-intensity indicator of Flanders, whilst the Policy Research Centre Economy and Entrepreneurship analyses spearhead clusters and maps entrepreneurship in Flanders. In 2022 ECOOM and Store merged.

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7 OTHER BODIES OF PUBLIC INTEREST IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE AND INNOVATION Several other long-standing public institutions of the Flemish Community, which are related to science policy in a more academic context, play a promotional or advisory role. Although they are not directly involved in policy-making, they are part of the broader Flemish STI domain: • Koninklijke Vlaam se Academie van België voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten (KVAB, Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Arts and Sciences), established in 1772; • Koninklijke Academie voor Geneeskunde van België (KAGB, Royal Academy of Belgium for Medicine); • Koninklijke Academie voor Nederlands Taal- en Letterkunde (KANTL, Royal Academy for Dutch Language and Literature), established in 1886; • Stichting Technologie Vlaanderen voor Innovatie en Arbeid (STV voor Innovatie en Arbeid, the Flanders Foundation for Technology Assessment in Innovation and Work), which is a part of the SERV; • Vlaamse Academische Stem (VLAST, Flemish Academic Centre for Science and the Arts) is a non-profit organisation supported by both the KVAB and the KANTL.

8 RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURES The Flemish policy relating to research infrastructure is the responsibility of two entities, namely FWO and the EWI Department. EWI is the liaison with the relevant minister. It drafts policy and is responsible for regulations. It represents Flanders in the Belgian consultative bodies and expresses the Flemish/Belgian position in international forums. FWO supports fundamental and strategic, basic research in Flanders. The three complementary financing instruments of the FWO for research infrastructure are: the programme for mediumscale research infrastructure (150,000 to 1,000,000 euro); the programme for large-scale research infrastructure (starting from 1,000,000 euro); and the programme for international research infrastructure (IRI). EWI has published an extensive brochure 3 covering both the regional as well as the international large-scale research infrastructures. The regional large scale infrastructures covered by the brochure are: • PolyLine (smart energy) • 3teslaMRI (brain mapping) • Caps-It (infectious microorganisms with a high or unknown biosafety risk) • Cryo-TEM (Cryogenic Transmission Electron microscope) • KU Leuven FACS Core Facility (flow cytometric analysis) • NextGenQBio (Next Generation Screening in Quantitative Biology & Drug Discovery) • PacBio Sequel I (Long Read Sequencer) • PHENOVISION (plant phenotyping platform) • Q-MIP (Quantitative Molecular Imaging Platform) • SPHYNX (Studying PHYsiology with NeXt generation Molecular imaging system)

“Large scale research infrastructures in Flanders. Flemish participation in international research infrastructures 2020” www.vlaanderen.be/publicaties/large-scale-research-infrastructures-in-flanders-flemish-participation-in-international-research-infrastructures-2020

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH ORGANISATIONS

• Combined TOFSIMS-in situ SPM instrument (3D-nanochemical analysis) • Flemish Atom Probe User Facility (Atom Probe Tomography) • Freeform Optics (pilot line for advanced freeform optics) • HAXPES-lab (High Energy Photoelectron Spectroscopy system) • HyLaForm (Hybrid laser-based additive – subtractive research platform) • Lena Clean Room (MEMS & Packaging Clean Room) • MC-ICP-MS (Platform for interdisciplinary isotopic research by means of multi-collector inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry) • Multi-Nano (Multimodal Fluorescence Microscopy and Nanoscopy Platform) • NMRCORE (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy platform for Convergent REsearch) • PaRtiCLE (A Proton ResearCh beam LinE) • XCT-Centre (X-ray Computed Tomography Centre) • Library of Voices (musical heritage resources)

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9 COOPERATION AND OUTREACH TO BUSINESSES 9.1

COOPERATION AMONG KNOWLEDGE ACTORS WITHIN FLANDERS

The various Flemish R&D&I performers cooperate increasingly among each other. In some cases, this takes place through formal institutes or cooperation agreements. There is numerous cooperation through and with strategic research centres like VIB or imec, from the level of individual research groups up to the level of the university as a whole. Two examples of the latter are: • Energyville vzw: association of KU Leuven, VITO, imec and UHasselt in the field of sustainable energy and intelligent energy systems. It provides expertise to industry and public authorities on energy-efficient buildings and intelligent networks for a sustainable urban environment. This includes, for example, smart grids and advanced district heating and cooling. • Neuro-electronics Research Flanders, NERF: this basic research initiative is a collaborative venture between imec, VIB and KU Leuven. It aims to unravel the neuronal circuitry of the human brain through research that combines nanoelectronics and neurobiology. Cooperation may also take place on a project basis and include federal or international institutes that are located in Belgium. For example, ILVO cooperates with UGent and Scienscano. The InnovOcean site in Ostend is home to an array of actors in the field of marine issues: the province of West-Flanders, VLIZ (Flanders), IODE (UNESCO/IOC Project Office), the secretariats from the European Marine Board (EMB) and from the European Marine Observation and Data network (EMODnet). The EC’s JRC IRMM in Mol cooperates in Belgium with, among other, VITO, imec, KU Leuven, VLIZ and UGent.

9.2

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

Networking with the knowledge institutions in the field of innovation takes place through the business developers of the Technology Transfer Offices of the five university associations, the similar services of the strategic research centres and the knowledge diffusion actors of the university colleges. The Tech Transfer Offices of the five Flemish universities are well developed and operate independently with a focus on the valorisation of the expertise within their own university association. In order to lower the barrier for external potential partners they have developed a common website TTO Flanders, which offers a unique portal to the knowledge and technology of the five Flemish universities and thirteen university colleges and aims to: • be a unique point of contact for industry looking for research expertise and licensing opportunities • maximise the valorisation of the available university knowledge and technology for the benefit of the economy and society • further improve the collaboration between the TTOs of the Flemish universities • strengthen the performance of the TTOs by developing common means and sharing best practices • become a player on the European and international innovation scene.

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH ORGANISATIONS

To develop strategic alliances with companies, each Flemish university has created dedicated expertise centres. The expertise centres are clustered around five domain (and one residual category). • • • • • •

Health; Materials & Chemistry; ICT & Electronics; Cleantech & Energy; Engineering; Others.

Each expertise centre is coordinated by a business developer who has a liaison role in the process of the valorisation of knowledge, between on the one hand the researchers and their findings and the other hand the business and the market. The business developers have an overview of the expertise within their domain and can refer efficiently within the university and the market.

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10 PERFORMANCE FROM INSTITUTIONS BENCHMARKED INTERNATIONALLY Several international rankings exist in which academic or knowledge institutes are listed, that can provide an indication of their relative strength in an international perspective. The presence of universities from the Flemish Community in the major worldwide rankings are as follows:

RANKING POSITION OF THE BELGIAN UNIVERSITIES 2020 Figure 12

THE

ARWU

800 700 600 Top 3% 500 400

200

Top 1%

100

UMons

ULg

ULB

UCL

UHasselt

VUB

UAntwerpen

UGent

0 KU Leuven

RANKING POSITION

300

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH ORGANISATIONS

All the Flemish universities score very high on these three different rankings and belong almost for each ranking to the top 3% worldwide. The Catholic University of Leuven and the Ghent University even rank in the top 1% for all these three rankings. Each ranking uses different criteria with different weights in their calculation of the ranking position. We give the main elements for these three well known rankings. The Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2021 is an international “league table” ranking that uses 13 metrics clustered in following 5 indicators teaching, research, citations, industry incomes and international outlook. The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) 2020, the so-called “Shanghai Ranking”, scores the 1,000 universities worldwide that have the best results on indicators that are mainly focusing on research (Highly cited researchers in Web of Science, articles in Nature and Science, articles in two citation indexes of Web of Science and results on the indicators per researchers) and prestige (Alumni and staf with awards). Since 2019 all Flemish universities are part of this ranking. The Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Ranking 2022 scores universities worldwide on the indicators Academic reputation, Employer reputation, Faculty/student ratio, Citations per faculty, International faculty ratio and International student ratio. Next to this three well known rankings, the European Commission asked to develop another type of ranking. Since 2014 the online ranking tool U-Multirank is active. The U-Multirank is different than the other rankings because it scores the universities in groups from A “very good” to E “weak”. This meets a frequently recurring criticism of rankings, namely that the allocation of ranking positions makes performance differences between universities appear larger than they really are. Through an online tool www. umultirank.org it is possible to compare universities based on the criteria of your own choice. The 35 different criteria are grouped into 5 dimensions: Teaching & learning, Research, Knowledge Transfer, International Orientation and Regional Engagement.

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CHAPTER 4

ENTERPRISES

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1 BUSINESS ENTERPRISE SECTOR Enterprises are of major importance within the STI system in Flanders. 76% of R&D in Flanders was funded by the business enterprise sector in 2019. However, they are a very heterogeneous group. Most large companies are clearly innovation-active. Some of them have significant research budgets. Given the industrial texture in Flanders, most of these large enterprises belong to multinational groups, so that their research policy is not exclusively determined in Flanders. Alongside the large, innovation-intensive companies, a group of high-technology SMEs has arisen in recent years and continues to grow steadily. Moreover, even though the large majority of SMEs do not conduct research directly, many of them outsource research to some extent, so that they can also be regarded as innovation-oriented. According to the Community Innovation Survey (CIS) carried out in 2019, 70% of all companies (2016-2018) in Flanders can be called innovative (= had either product innovations, business process innovations and/or ongoing or abandoned innovation activities). Nevertheless, innovation continues to be largely concentrated in industry and large companies. International comparisons demonstrate that the share of people employed in (medium) high-tech industry and high-tech services in Flanders is almost comparable to the EU average (8.9% versus 9.0% for the EU-27 in 2019). The R&D activities (expenditure) within companies in Flanders are mainly focused on the following high-tech sectors (2019): chemicals and pharmaceuticals (NACE 20-21) account for 33.8% of total BERD (based on a sample); motion picture, video and TV production, computer programmes, engineering, and technical testing and analysis activities (NACE 59-63, 71-72) account for 20.6%. information technology, electronic products, optical products and electrical equipment (NACE 26-27) account for about 10.5%; machinery and transport (NACE 28-30) account for more than 9.1%. © Shutterstock

CHAPTER 4 ENTERPRISES

2 INFRASTRUCTURE AND FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES In Flanders, several science parks, research parks, incubators and accelerators offer facilities for research-based young companies and innovative enterprises. Often, these are spin-off companies from a university or a PRO and are located close to the knowledge centre in question. In some cases, an incubator is specifically oriented towards a particular scientific area.

• V-Bio Ventures Fund (VIB) investing in European start-up companies and young companies in biopharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and agricultural improvements. It was initially set up by the Flemish Government, which still holds a minority stake in the company. It is noteworthy to mention the following initiatives:

Universities and strategic research centres are increasingly able to professionally guide spin-off companies, e.g. with finding the appropriate CEO, financial structure, and administrative issues. An important trend is the establishment and elaboration of different types of incubators. An overview of business centres and incubators can be found at www.vlaio.be/nl/anderedoelgroepen/foreign-investors/information-foreign-investors/ finding-right-location. The various private risk capital funds providers in Flanders include the large banks in Belgium, and specific funds such as Capital@Rent, Capricorn, Down 2 Earth Capital, Falcon Fund, Hummingbird Ventures, etc. GIMV (Flanders Investment Company) is Belgium’s most important provider of private equity and venture capital and also a major European and international market player. It was initially set up by the Flemish Government, which still holds a minority stake in the company.

• Business Angels Network Flanders (BAN Vlaanderen): a platform in which starting or growing entrepreneurs seeking risk capital are matched with informal private investors, the so-called “business angels”. The latter offer not only money but also their own know-how, experience and contacts. BAN Vlaanderen is a marketplace where demand and supply meet, rather than an investment fund. • FINMIX: a project from VLAIO aimed at companies with innovative challenges, growth ambitions or take-over plans, that use risk capital for their plans. It provides the possibility to these businesses to propose their plan to a panel of funding experts who will provide advice on the best funding mix.

An overview of risk capital providers in Flanders is available at the URL: www.vlaio.be/nl/publicaties/overzicht-van-derisicokapitaalverschaffers-vlaanderen.

There also exist several funds that are linked to the Flemish universities or the strategic research centres. Examples of these are: • the Gemma Frisius seed capital fund (KU Leuven) • the multi-sector Qbic Fund (UGent VUB, UA and VITO) • Imec.xpand, aimed at start-up companies in the sector of Internet of Things (IoT) • Imec.iStart offering coaching, support and infrastructure to (future) technology start-up companies (ranked in the top 5 of UBI Global rankings)

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3 COLLABORATION: INNOVATIVE NETWORKS AND RESEARCHBUSINESS LINKS Collaboration is an important aspect of Flemish innovation policy. It enables companies and knowledge centres to develop their internal know-how and allows them to tackle common technological issues efficiently, by using a shared platform for the demand and supply of R&D and other innovative matters.

3.1

CLUSTER POLICY

On 4 March 2016, the Flemish government approved the decree regulating support for innovation clusters in Flanders. The objective of the cluster policy is to unlock untapped economic potential and to increase the competitiveness of Flemish companies through active and sustainable cooperation between actors. The policy focuses on partnerships between Flemish companies. These companies are characterised by their growth ambitions, a high level of innovation awareness and their international outlook. In addition, they must be open to cooperation with other companies and knowledge centres, both for the realisation of their individual business objectives and for contributing to an increase in the competitiveness of a large group of Flemish companies.

Within the cluster, a cluster organisation acts as the facilitator of the network and the representative of the cluster members. Cluster organisations can be financially supported by the Flemish government for the implementation of their role as facilitators. With a support percentage of 50%, the companies should annually collect an equivalent amount of co-financing for the operation of the cluster organisation. In addition to the financial support, VLAIO offers operational support, so that the cluster organisations can optimise their operations and become better at what they already do.

The Flemish cluster policy distinguishes two types of clusters: The innovative business networks are typically smaller initiatives. They often arise bottom-up from companies that want to focus on a specific domain that has opportunities to increase their competitiveness. Innovative business networks are therefore initiatives that derive from the exploration of new, emerging domains. They receive support from the Flemish government for three years. An overview of the innovative business networks that are or were supported by VLAIO is included in Annex I. The spearhead clusters fit in with important strategic areas for Flanders. These are large-scale initiatives that receive funding for ten years to expand their operations. Flanders has seven speardhead clusters:

CHAPTER 4 ENTERPRISES

Catalisti in the domain of sustainable chemistry. The cluster has four main innovation programmes: “Renewable Chemicals”, “Sidestream Valorisation”, “Process Intensification and Optimisation” and “Advanced Sustainable Products”.

Flanders’ Food in the domain of agro-food. The cluster has two knowledge-driven strategic objectives (lead in knowledge and lead to knowledge) and two businessdriven strategic objectives (accelerate efficient & effective innovation and cross/create value chains). The knowledgedriven strategic goals will focus on (1) World Class Food Production, (2) Resilient & Sustainable Agrifood Systems and (3) Personalized Food Products & Healthy Diets.

SIM (Strategic Initiative Materials) in the domain of advanced materials. SIM aims to further strengthen the favourable position of the Flanders Materials related eco-system, with strengths such as materials for 3D printing, nanoparticle production, handling and encapsulation.

Flanders Logistics cluster (VIL) in the domain of specialised logistics. Its programming is centred around four main themes: (1) digitization with three sub-themes: smart technology, business models and data management, (2) sustainability themes like CO2 reduction and energy efficiency objectives for logistics in smart cities, circular and sharing economy, infrastructure (3) ambition ‘Flanders gateways’, i.e. Flanders as a global connected trading partner and (4) omni-channel distribution systems for various application.

Blue cluster with an emphasis on sustainable economic activities related to the North Sea and beyond. The cluster is active in (1) coastal protection and mineral resources, (2) renewable energy and fresh water production, (3) maritime connectivity, (4) sustainable food production and marine biotechnology, (5) blue tourism and (6) ocean pollution.

flanders.healthTech focuses primarily on the crossover domains of biotech, medical and digital technologies where technological convergence generates new opportunities. To maximise its impact and reach, the focus of the cluster is not limited to the intersection where all three domains overlap, but also includes crossover opportunities where at least two of the three domains join forces.

Flux50 in the domain of energy (smart grids). 5 innovator zones have been selected: energy harbours, micro grids, multi-energy solutions for districts, energy cloud platforms, intelligent renovation.

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3.2

LOCAL AND THEMATIC INITIATIVES

Examples of place-based initiatives, driven by one or more knowledge actor(s), and supported by various public stakeholders are Leuven Inc., Leuven Mindgate, or Ghent BioEnergy Valley (GBEV) and BBEU (Bio-Base Europe). Thematic or sector-oriented organisations and networks exist in a broad variety. Examples include the FlandersBio network (life sciences – biopharmaceuticals, medical technologies or agricultural / industrial biotech products), Agoria Flanders (federation for the technology industry), MedTech Flanders (medical technology). The “Agoria International Business” helps technology companies increase their international market share and profitability by identifying business opportunities abroad.

3.3

COLLECTIVE (RESEARCH) CENTRES

Collective research centres are recognised as a scientific organisation by BELSPO (and eligible for the scheme of reduced social contributions on researchers’ salaries). Their main activities include collective research, various services of a scientific or technical nature (provided individually to their members), dissemination of technical information and training. The collective centres were founded after WWII by the Belgian business federations, usually by way of an association, and over the years several of other institutes have gained a similar status. The target groups of their applied research activities are either defined by sector or by theme. In addition, they often participate in European, federal and Flemish research programmes and carry out self-generated research to maintain their overall levels of knowledge and expertise.

These centres conduct (contract) research at the request of individual companies. These centres, including the equivalent organisations, are: • Belgian Institute for Wood Technology and the Wood Training Centre (wood.be); • Belgian Welding Institute (BWI); • Belgian Research Centre for the Cement Industry (CRIC); • Belgian Road Research Centre (BRRC); • Scientific and Technical Service Centre for the Belgian Textile Industry (Centexbel); • Belgian Building Research Institute (BBRI); • Scientific and Technological Research Centre for Diamond (WTOCD); • Collective Centre for the Belgian Technology Industry (SIRRIS), which includes several sub-sectors (e.g. “Aeronautics, Space, Security & Defence Industries”); • Coatings Research Institute (CORI); • Research Centre for of certification and standardisation (CRICOCCN); • Belgian Ceramic Research Centre (BCRC) (includes ceramics, glass and bricks industry); • Metallurgic Research Centre (CRM) (for ferro and non-ferro metals); • Tecnolec / Volta (electrical business).

CHAPTER 4 ENTERPRISES

3.4

RESEARCH – BUSINESS LINKS

The Flemish Government has developed a number of initiatives to increase the valorisation of research results, to better diffuse technology, and to strengthen the direct links between companies seeking to innovate and researchers from higher education institutions. Support is available to companies, institutions, networks and private individuals (researchers). In addition, promotional campaigns, such as “Ik innoveer!” “I innovate!” with focus at low innovation-intensive companies and SMEs have been set up to better diffuse innovation among smaller and less-technological firms. Other examples of current measures towards business include: • Baekeland mandates and innovation mandates allowing researchers to conduct research with a specific businessoriented purpose in close relation with the business, • support via the TETRA Fund aimed at applied-research projects, • the support for the university colleges to professionalise the knowledge diffusion towards SME’s “Blikopener” (“Mind opener”), • ‘Collective Research & Development and Collective Knowledge Dissemination/Transfer (COOCK)’ is a policy instrument that focuses on groups of companies, with the aim of valorising (basic) research results by accelerating the introduction of technology and/or knowledge, • “Proeftuinen” (Living Laboratories, or test beds), were set up in various domains. These are structured test environments in which organisations can test innovative technologies, products, services and concepts, using a representative sample of individuals, who are used as testers in their normal living and working environments. Current Living Labs are active in the fields of Industry 4.0 and Smart cities.

4 BUSINESS EXPENDITURE ON R&D Business Expenditures on R&D (BERD) represent 6,705 billion euro, of which the chemical and pharmaceutical sector led the way with 34% (2019). Other main performers were motion pictures, video and TV production, computer programmes, engineering, technical testing and analysis activities. The top50 R&D-active companies jointly represent almost 60% of all R&D expenditures in Flanders. Of all total foreign investments in Flanders in 2019 (representing 5.20 billion euro), 22.5% took place in the R&D sector. In 2019, the R&D intensity in the business sector was 2.40%, in increase in comparison with 2018 (2.04%). Flanders therefore ranks higher than the EU-27 average, France, the Netherlands, Finland, Germany and Austria, but lower than Japan and Sweden. For more information on BERD, see Annex III.

The measures geared towards knowledge institutes are discussed under chapter 3.

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CHAPTER 5

CITIZENS

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1 2 SCIENCE CITIZEN COMMUNICATION SCIENCE Since 1994 the popularisation of science, technology and innovation is considered an essential part of the STI policy in Flanders and is implemented in a Science Communication Policy Plan. The objectives are to strengthen the scientific and technological potential of all citizens, and in particular of youngsters. Too few young people opt for science and technology disciplines in education and in labour. Increasing the scientific literacy of society at large is also an important goal. A number of science information actors contribute to the science communication policy: the Science Centre Technopolis (www. technopolis.be), the Science Communication Expertise Centres at the Universities and Colleges, RVO-society (www.rvo-society.be), and several others are involved. Their specific activities are posted on the Science Communication Agenda hosted bij Eos Wetenschap (www.eoswetenschap.be). Media actors such as the Flemish Radio and Television Broadcasting (VRT), the science popularisation publisher EOS (www.eos.be), Journalismfund.eu are also involved. The general public can meet with scientists, science educators and science communicators and interact with them in several ways at science festivals such as the Flemish Science Day, Day of Biotechnology, Sound of Science festival, and& festival and Supernova but also in Science shops, Science bars etc.

Since 2018 calls for Citizen Science project proposals are launched regularly in collaboration with Scivil, the knowledge centre for Citizen Science. Scientific projects rely on the active participation of citizens for data gathering and data processing. Researchers from universities, university colleges and research centres initiate the projects. They collaborate with trained science communicators to reach and to engage the general public. In 2018 the FWO and the Royal Academy of sciences launched a comprehensive project “Science Agenda: people's questions to scientists”. They collected 10,559 questions which where categorized in 5 clusters: society, science and technology, biology, health and medicine and culture. From 2019 onwards these themes were further elaborated both in science policy (artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, personalised medicine) as in new science communication initiatives: science podcasts, video’s “Science figured out”, blogs etc. New approaches will be explored whereby sandbox environments will be created by opening up data from knowledge institutes and companies, so that entrepreneurial citizens and small companies can develop and test new solutions. In 2021, Sci Mingo, one of the science policy actors launched with support of the Flemish Government a science communication academy where young PhD students and scientists can acquire the necessary science communication skills.

CHAPTER 5 CITIZENS

3 STEMINITIATIVES

4 SCIENCE CAREERS

Even though the figures are going in the right direction, attracting more people towards STEM-careers still remains a challenge for Flanders. In 2019, 20% of the total number of degrees awarded in higher education were degrees in mathematics, science or a technological discipline. This share increased by approximately 1 percentage point between 2015 and 2019. In 2021, the seventh edition of the STEM Monitor (an annual report the Flemish government uses to monitor the popularity of STEM courses of study) for school year 2019-2020 was published, reporting an increase in the number of pupils in STEM courses of study in the second and third grades of secondary education. During school year 2010-2011, 53,806 young people entered courses of study centred around STEM, compared to 56,423 in school year 2019 - 2020, an increase of more than 2,600 pupils. Around 45 percent of all pupils leaving secondary education have a STEM diploma, which is more than 1.5% higher than in 2010-2011.

Working as a researcher could be made more attractive by the development of more transparent career paths and specific programmes to attract foreign talents or externally active Belgian (Flemish) researchers that offer perspectives. Flanders’ ambition to be a successful knowledge society can only be realized if it continues to invest in high-level research and good researchers.

To stimulate youngsters to choose for STEM-careers, a STEM Action Plan 2012-2020 was implemented. Under the current government, a STEM Agenda 2030 is under development. The STEM Agenda 2030 will focus on attracting more people towards STEM courses and careers, on STEM specialists and on the general strengthening of STEM competences in society at large: 'STEM literacy'. Concretely, the STEM Agenda 2030 is structured around 4 strategic objectives: 1. Society is aware of the importance of STEM competences. 2. Everyone with an interest and talent in STEM can find the way to a suitable STEM study program. 3. STEM education and training responds to the evolutions and transitions in business, research and society. 4. STEM competences are deployed as much as possible according to the needs, developments and transitions in business, research and society. The implementation of the Agenda will be realised on the basis of a biennial list of projects, linked to a biennial monitoring.

Apart from the regular funding channels, such as the Special Research Fund (BOF) or the grants, fellowships and research projects from the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), several specific initiatives were developed to encourage excellent researchers and support these in a long-term career path. These include budgets for the “tenure track mandates” that lead to a position within the ZAP (Senior Academic Staff) and Methusalem (long term support for excellent researchers), worth a total of about 29.0 million euro in 2021, as well as the Odysseus programme, a multi-annual brain gain initiative. Moreover, the Flemish government supports the training on career development and transferable skills of PhD students and other young researchers through funding of the Doctoral Schools at the Flemish universities within the framework of the OJO-support (support of young researchers), worth 5 million euro in 2021.

5 QUADRUPLE HELIX MODEL In line with the ambitions to implement the quadruple helix model, the current government has asked VARIO for advice on a method for better implying citizens and civil society in the development and deployment of policy initiatives.

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CHAPTER 6

INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES

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Since 1993, the Belgian Communities and Regions have been able to execute their competencies at the EU and international policy level. The international aspects of STI cover a wide range of activities and institutions, embedded at the public, semipublic and private level. Consequently, no single administrative entity or agency has been set up to specifically manage these international aspects. This means that all the different public and private actors that are interested or eligible can initiate their own policy initiatives and programmes at the international level. Since acquiring external competence, a substantial effort has been made to internationalize STI policy. More concretely, this policy is shaped by the preparation and follow-up of policy initiatives at the bilateral (towards a region or a country), interregional, inter-governmental, EU and international (OECD, UN) policy levels. The main policy focus is on the EU level.

1 EU-LEVEL Flanders needs to align its priorities in the field of R&D&I as much as possible with the priorities defined at the EU-level regarding the grand challenges, the European Research Area, the Europe 2020 strategy (European Semester) and Horizon 2020 / COSME programmes. Such goals can be achieved by striving towards excellence, increasing budgets, facilitating researcher mobility and participating in EU and international cooperation programmes and networks. This is particularly relevant for the future well-being of Flanders, given its open economy and the high proportion of international companies active in R&D. In addition to funding from the Flemish and the federal authorities, research actors also receive important amounts from various EU programmes (mainly Horizon 2020 and, to some extent, COSME and ERDF).

1.1

POLICY PREPARATION AND FOLLOW-UP

In the Council of the European Union meetings dealing with research and innovation policy, Belgium is represented by its Communities/Regions, whilst the federal authority acts as assessor. Consequently, Flanders is one of the authorities directly involved in the preparation of decisions within the Council, and takes its turn to represent Belgium according to a rotation system agreed with the other authorities. The meetings of the Council Working Group are attended by the Flemish attaché for research and innovation, who is assigned to (and is an integral part of) the Belgian Permanent Representation to the EU. Principal fields of action include the Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development, the European Research Area (ERA) and all related R&D&I matters in the broadest possible sense (for example, SFIC, ESFRI, etc.).

CHAPTER 6 INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES

Active involvement in the EU’s research and innovation policies includes: • preparation and follow-up of the ministerial decisions within the EU Competitiveness Council (Research); • the EU’s Horizon 2020 and COSME programmes: preparation of the programme themes, act as National Contact Point (NCP), involvement as programme committee members in Horizon 2020, the ERA networks, OMC networks, and other support actions; • preparation and participation in the meetings of the ERAC, the entity that advises the European Commission, the Council and the EU Member States on their research and innovation policy; • participation in the bilateral meetings between the Commission and Belgium for the European Semester (Fact Finding Mission); • participation in various EU initiatives in the f ield of R&D&I, such as the JTI (Joint Technology Initiatives), ESFRI (international large research infrastructure), the EIT (European Institute for Technology) and JPI (Joint Programming Initiatives) (see further in this chapter); • contributions to or revision of the many reports and consultations involving the European Commission in the field of scientific research and innovation (e.g. the Flemish and Belgian National Reform Programmes for the European Semester, the various ERA reports, the report of the Research and Innovation Observatory (RIO), the EC/OECD STI Policies report…); • active involvement in the discussions and preparations for the programmes under the new EU Multi-Financial Framework 2021-2027, such as the Digital Europe Programme, Connecting Europe Facility 2 and Horizon Europe.

1.2

EU FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME FOR RESEARCH AND INNOVATION AND COSME

A major focus - and a major source of R&I budget – lies at the EU level; namely, the participation in the EU’s Framework Programmes for Research and Innovation. Framework programmes (FPs) have been implemented since 1984 and cover a period of several years. Since 2014, the eighth FP named Horizon 2020 is active. The participation data (status October 2020) on the Horizon 2020 programme show that actors in Flanders are participating strongly. With a financial return of 2.68%, Flanders is scoring above the expected level (see also Annex III). The percentages for FP7, FP6 and FP5 were 2.50%, 2.12% and 2.19% respectively. Regarding Horizon 2020 so far, 669 Flemish participants take part some 3,614 times in 2,615 projects, which generates approximately 1,649.5 million euro (from January 2014 until October 2020) or about 190 million euro yearly. KU Leuven is the strongest Flemish (and Belgian) participant, and the only Belgian university in the top-10 of all academic participants in the FP. Behind KU Leuven, imec and UGent complete the top-3 of Belgian participants and together they represent 745 million euro, which is about a quarter of the total Horizon 2020 contribution to Belgium. In total, 7 Flemish knowledge institutes rank in the Belgian top-10: KU Leuven, imec, UGent, UA, VUB, VITO and VIB in descending order. In January 2020, evidence of the allocated budget for the participation in COSME, the EU’s programme for small and medium-sized enterprises, shows that close to 40 million euro went towards various actors from Flanders, including the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) Vlaanderen. This represents a little over 1.5% of the total budget for the period 2014-2020.

90 STI IN FLANDERS

1.3

EUROPEAN AND INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS & INITIATIVES ON R&I WITH FLEMISH PARTICIPATION

1.3.1

SITUATION UP TO 2021

Since 2007, various variable geometry initiatives have been set up at the EU level, whereby certain countries can participate in research and innovation as part of or complementary to the EU Framework Programme themes. These initiatives strive towards the accomplishment of a European Research Area. In several cases, actors from Flanders have joined in these projects and have occasionally received public support (from the EWI Department, VLAIO (previously IWT), FWO or Belspo). The following figure provides a tentative overview of the initiatives in which Flanders or Flemish research actors participate. The figure is mainly about, but not limited to EU-initiatives. JOINT TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVES (ARTICLE 187-INITIATIVES): • Innovative Medicines Initiatives 2 (IMI2) • Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 (FCH2) • Electronic Components and Systems (ECSEL) • BioBased Industries (BBI) • Clean Sky 2 • EuroHPC (member of the LUMI consortium) • Shift2Rail • Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research Joint Undertaking (SESAR) JOINT PROGRAMMING (ARTICLE 185-INITIATIVES): • Eurostars • Active and Assisted Living (AAL)

JOINT PROGRAMMING INITIATIVES: • Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND) • Cultural Heritage and Global Change • A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life (HDHL) • More Years, Better Lives (MYBL) • Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) • Agriculture, Food security & Climate Change (FACCE) • Connecting Climate Knowledge for Europe (JPI Climate) • Urban Europe - Global Challenges • Water Challenges for a Changing World (Water JPI) • Healthy and Productive Seas and Oceans (JPI Oceans) ERA-NETS: • ANIHWA • Aquatic Pollutants • ASPERA-2 • Biodiversa • BlueBio • CHIST ERA II • CHIST ERA IV • C-IPM • CONCERT-Japan • CORNET • EN SGplusRegSys • ENSUF UE • ENSUGI • ENUAC • ERAfrica • ERACoSysMed • ERA-CAPS • ERA-CVD • ERA HDHL • ERA-IB • ERA-MBT • ERA-MIN II • ERANID E-Rare 2 • E-Rare 3 • EURONANOMED II • Eurotransbio • FACCE Surplus • FOSC

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

HDHL INTIMIC HERA Cultural Encounters HERA UP Heritage Plus HIVERA ICRAD INFECT-ERA ICT-AGRI2 ICT-AGRI-FOOD JPcofuND (2) LEAP-AGRI MARTERA M.ERA-NET (II) Neuron (II) NORFACE T2S Oceanera-net cofund PhotonicSensing Quantera RUS Plus ERA-Net Smart Grids Plus Solar-ERA-net Solar-ERA-Net Cofund 2 SusAn FACCE Suscrop SUMFOREST Susfood 2 TRANSCAN Waterworks

CHAPTER 6 INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES

EUREKA!: • ACQEAU • CELTIC-Next • Eureka • EuroIPIDES • Globalstars

• • • •

ITEA Metallurgy PENTA SMART

EUROPEAN COOPERATION IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (COST) EUROPEAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (EIT) - KNOWLEDGE INNOVATION COMMUNITIES (KICS): • InnoEnergy • Climate • Manufacturing • Digital • Raw Materials • Food • Urban Mobility • Health

EUROPEAN INNOVATION PARTNERSHIPS: • Active & Healthy Ageing (AHA) • Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability • Raw Materials • Smart Cities and Communities (SCC) • Water FUTURE AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES (FET) FLAGSHIPS: • Graphene • Human Brain Project

• Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS) • e-infrastructure for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research (LifeWatch) • Infrastructures for Analysis and Experimentation on Ecosystems (ANAEE) • A Distributed Infrastructure for Life-science Information (ELIXIR) • European Marine Biological Resource Centre (EMBRC) • European Research Infrastructure for Imaging Technologies in Biological and Biomedical Sciences (Euro-BioImaging) • Integrated Structural Biology Infrastructure (INSTRUCT) • The European Organisation for Nuclear Research - Compact Muon Solenoid (CERN-CMS) • Dutch-Belgian Beamline ESRF (Dubble) • IceCube Neutrino Observatory (IceCube) • The European Organisation for Nuclear Research-Isolde Radioactive Ion Beam facility (CERN-Isolde) • Mid-Infrared ELT Imager and Spectrograph (METIS) • Système de Production d’Ion Radioactifs en Ligne de 2e génération (SPIRAL2) • Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe (Prace) OTHER INITIATIVES: • European Southern Observatory (ESO) • European Space Agency (ESA), • European Molecular Biotechnology Organisation/Laboratory (EMBO/EMBL) • Mercator Telescope • Einstein Telescope • …

SET-PLAN E U R O P E A N ST R AT E GY F O R U M O N R E S E A RC H INFRASTRUCTURE (ESFRI):4 • Digital Research Infrastructures for the Arts and Humanities (DARIAH) • European Social Survey (ESS) • Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) • Distributed System of Scientific Collections (DISSCO)

4 For more information, see the brochure “Large scale research infrastructures in Flanders. Flemish participation in international research

infrastructures 2020” at: www.vlaanderen.be/publicaties/large-scale-research-infrastructures-in-flanders-flemish-participation-in-internationalresearch-infrastructures-2020

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1.3.2

SITUATION FROM 2021 ONWARDS

The European partnership landscape will be rationalised and simplified under the new European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, Horizon Europe. Within the Horizon Europe Programme, only three types of partnerships will continue to be organised: 1. Co-programmed European Partnerships are partnerships between the European Commission and private and/or public partners based on a Memorandum of Understanding and/or contractual arrangements. Each Member State or region is responsible for implementing the R&I activities.

3. Institutionalised European partnerships are partnerships whereby the EU member states initiate – or jointly set up – R&D&I funding programmes and the European Union may decide to participate. Three different legal bases can be distinguished, namely Article 185 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), Article 187 of the TFEU which covers public-private partnerships such as Joint Undertakings, and finally the EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) which cover the knowledge triangle. The idea is that the H2020 partnerships will end, but some of them will undergo a smooth transition towards the rationalised EU partnerships foreseen under ‘Horizon Europe’. The following figure illustrates what form the H2020 partnerships will take under Horizon Europe.

2. Co-funded European Partnerships are European public-public co-funded partnerships between the European Commission and the EU countries. National or regional research and Innovation funding agencies and other public authorities form the core of the consortium. The topics of the call for proposals related to a particular partnership are included in the Horizon Europe’s Work Programmes.

EVOLVING EU PARTNERSHIP LANDSCAPE Figure 13

HORIZON 2020

HORIZON EUROPE ERA-net cofund

P2p (public-to-public partnerships)

ejp cofund

co-funded european partnerships

art. 185 initiatives institutionalised european partnerships

EIT kics

ppp (public-private partnerships)

jus / art. 187 initiatives cppp

co-programmed european partnerships

CHAPTER 6 INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES

In total, the European Commission – through a process of cocreation – has identified 50 potential European partnerships5 in 2019. These identified partnerships will be subject to a selection procedure through the Strategic Coordination Process, in which the Member States and the European Commission participate on an equal footing. The selected partnerships (i.e., titles or themes) will be formalised via the Strategic Plan that will be drafted for the first wave (set-up from 2021-22 onwards). A second wave of partnerships will be selected and formalised in an updated Strategic Plan (2023-24). The following fourteen European partnerships will be selected for the first wave, with Flanders participating in thirteen of the fourteen partnerships. There is no Flemish contribution to the European Partnership on Metrology, only the Federal Public Service Economy participates.

• Co-programmed European Partnerships: – European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) Partnership • Co-funded European Partnerships: – European Partnership for Chemicals Risk Assessment 6 – European Partnership – ERA for Health7 – European Partnership on Transforming Health and Care Systems 8 – European Partnership – Driving urban transitions to a sustainable future 9 – European Partnership for Clean Energy Transition10 – European Partnership Rescuing Biodiversity to Safeguard Live on Earth11 – European Partnership for Blue Oceans12 – European Partnership Water Security for the Planet13 – European Partnership for Innovative SMEs14 • Institutionalised European Partnerships based on Article 185 – European Partnership on Metrology15 • Institutionalised European Partnerships based on Article 187 – EU-Africa Global Health Partnership 16 – European Partnership for High Performance Computing17 – European Partnerships for Key Digital Technologies18

Initially the Commission had identified 49 European partnerships, but due to the COVID 19 pandemic, an additional partnership “Pandemic Prepardness and Societal Resilience” has been announced.

Predecessors under H2020 were Human Bio-monitoring (HBM4EU) and a number of other actions.

Ca. 10 previous and current ERA-NET actions.

Predecessors under H2020 were AAL2 (Art. 185), JPI ‘More Years, Better Lives’ and others.

Predecessor under H2020 was JPI Urban Europe.

Predecessors under H2020 were around 10 existing ERA-NET Cofund actions.

Predecessors under H2020 were ERA-NET Biodiversity, EKLIPSE and ESMERALDA

Predecessors under H2020 BONUS, MARTERA, JPI Oceans, BlueBio.

Predecessor under H2020 was Water JPI.

Predecessor under H2020 was Eurostars-2.

Predecessor under H2020 was EMPIR (Art. 185).

Predecessor under H2020 was EDCTP2 (Art. 185).

Predecessor under H2020 was EuroHPC (Art. 187).

European Partnerships for Key Digital Technologies.

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1.4

SMART SPECIALISATION SPEARHEAD DOMAINS IN THE EU CONTEXT

In 2012, following the Communication ‘Regional Policy contributing to smart growth in Europe 2020’, the EC set up S3 Platforms to assist EU countries and regions to develop, implement and review their Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3). The EC’s Joint Research Centre maps the profiles forwarded by various authorities in Europe. The Flanders’ profile consists of seventeen priorities that are part of a smaller group of specialisation domains. Examples of the Flemish specialisations include: • “Micro- and nano-electronics and embedded systems, mechatronics (part of ‘Smart systems’ smart specialisation domain)"; • “Pharmaceutical applications of biotechnology, with focus on clinical trials, neuro-degenerative and infectious diseases, molecular diagnostics, and nanotechnology for medical applications (part of ‘Sustainable chemistry’ smart specialisation domain)"; • ”Sustainable energy technologies with focus on hydrogen, wind energy and electrical vehicles (part of ‘Sustainable living’ smart specialisation domain)"; • “Specialised industrial value chains and logistical services for food, pharmaceuticals, recycling, offshore maintenance (part of ‘Value-added logistics’ specialisation domain)”. The complete overview is available online at the S3 platform.19

1.5

EU REGIONAL POLICY

VLAIO is responsible for the execution of the Flemish programmes related to the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). ERDF is one of the five European Structural and Investment Funds. With these funds, the European Commission aims to achieve the Europe 2020 targets. The goal of ERDF is to strengthen the economic and social cohesion by pursuing a better balance between the different regions. To achieve this, the Fund has two strands: (1) invest in growth and employment (with a focus on the less developed regions in the Union) and (2) European Territorial Cooperation through Interreg (to foster cross-border, transregional and interregional cooperation). The multi-annual operational ERDF programme 2014-2020 sets out 4 priorities: • Strengthening research, technological development and innovation, • Enhancing the competitiveness of SME’s, • Supporting the shift towards a low-carbon economy in all sectors, • Sustainable urban development. The programme is being executed across the whole of Flanders, with specific strategies for certain regions (Limburg, WestFlanders, Kempen) or cities (Antwerp, Ghent). The programme has an EU-budget of approximately 175 million euro for the whole period. Together with the national contribution, the total financing amounts to approximately 415 million euro (see also page 123). EFRO Interreg is a collection of multiple programmes that, together with other EU funds or programmes (e.g. the Framework programme for R&I), operate within the same EU 2020 framework aimed at sustainable growth and jobs. Flanders uses these programmes to complement and strengthen the EFRO Flanders programme.

s3platform.jrc.ec.europa.eu/regions/be2

CHAPTER 6 INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES

Distinction can be made between three types of programmes that Flanders manages and executes in cooperation with other regions: • Cross-border programmes are aimed at cooperation between bordering regions of different countries. Flanders takes part in the programmes Flanders-Netherlands, Euregio Meuse-Rhine, France and 2 Seas. • Transnational programmes cover a larger area and are aimed at wider cooperation between multiple regions. Flanders takes part in the programmes North Sea Region and North-West Europe. • Interregional programmes cover thematic cooperation between regions and are not bound geographically, contrary to the two aforementioned types. Flanders takes part in the programmes Interreg, URBACT en INTERACT.

1.6

VANGUARD INITIATIVE

An important initiative in the development of a more focused demand-driven approach is the so-called “Vanguard Initiative”, an inter-regional network of currently 32 regions from 13 EU Member States. Among these regions are for example Baden-Württemberg, the Basque Country, Lombardy, NorthRhine Westphalia, Saxony, Rhône-Alpes, Wallonia, Catalonia, and Scotland. The Initiative’s main ambition is to contribute to the European agenda and boost industrial transformation by innovation in the EU as well as set up networks among regions of different (non-bordering) countries in several domains. The cooperation of the regions also aims at generating an evidence base to support the EU Commission in the development of Smart Specialisation Platforms in key growth areas. As such, the Vanguard Initiative supports the development of innovative industrial value chains in Europe by building on smart specialisation (S3) strategies. More specifically, it aims to provide industrial stakeholders with easier access to (connected) demonstration facilities. These activities are based on a four-step Vanguard Initiative methodology: learn, connect, demonstrate, commercialize. This methodology is being applied in 5 industryled pilot actions, each based on one priority area (KET) in Europe.

Flanders takes the lead in the pilot action called “High Performance Production through 3D Printing”. This focuses on creating a (virtual) platform for 3D printing infrastructure, capacities and competences aimed at developing a European demonstration and piloting network. Moreover, Flanders is also involved in all the other existing pilot actions: • Bio-Economy – Interregional cooperation on innovative use of non-food Biomass; • ADMA Energy - Advanced Manufacturing for Energy-Related Applications; • NANO - New nano-enabled Products; • ESM - Efficient and Sustainable Manufacturing. The Vanguard Initiative seeks to lead by example in developing interregional cooperation and multi-level governance for supporting clusters and regional eco-systems to focus on smart specialisations in priority areas for transforming and emerging industries. Vanguard regions want to build synergies and complementarities in smart specialisation strategies to boost world-class clusters and cluster networks, through pilots and large-scale demonstrators. These investments will strengthen Europe’s competitive capacity to lead in new industries in the future and develop lead markets that offer solutions to societal challenges.

1.7

VLEVA

The Flemish-European Liaison Agency (VLEVA) is a not-forprofit association which is subsidized on a structural basis by the Flemish Government. VLEVA’s mission is to form a link between the EU and the civil society and local authorities in Flanders. In the field of STI VLEVA monitors the calls from various EU initiatives, in order to provide maximal information on opportunities for EU programme participation for actors from Flanders. It also takes part in the European Regions Research and Innovation Network (ERRIN) for Flanders.

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2 BILATERAL AND INTERNATIONAL 2.1

BILATERAL AND INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION AND AGREEMENTS

2.1.1

DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Flanders acts internationally in all areas for which it has internal jurisdiction such as economy, innovation, education and employment. Flanders has the constitutional right to conclude internationally-binding treaties in these areas, and can appoint diplomatic representatives abroad. The Department of Foreign Affairs monitors international policy coherence and is responsible for the coordination between the various policy areas. It is also the first point of contact for foreign embassies and diplomatic representations. The Department of Foreign Affairs is the responsible administration for bilateral and multilateral treaties, agreements and declarations of intent. These agreements are often elaborated through multi-annual working programmes that cover various policy areas, one of which is scientific research and innovation. Consequently, the treaties foresee collaboration between EWI actors and one or more of their foreign counterparts. These agreements are managed by the Department of Foreign Affairs. The current active agreements include those with Estonia, Latvia, Poland, South Africa, Rumania, Lithuania, Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Bulgaria, North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany), Catalonia (Spain) and the Germanspeaking Community (Belgium). Several other agreements are currently being negotiated and various meetings are taking place with other regions and countries. Previously, general agreements were concluded in the field of R&D&I between Flanders and various non-European partners; for example, with Israel for cooperation in R&D in industry (2000) or with Alberta (Canada) for scientific and technological cooperation (1990).

The minister-president of Flanders offers Flemish STI actors (universities, university colleges, research organisations, other knowledge institutes, etc.) the possibility to participate in official missions abroad, based on the so-called “academic diplomacy” principle. During these missions, the opportunity sometimes arises to conclude general or specific cooperation agreements with actors from the region or country being visited. Flemish STI actors (universities, innovative companies, knowledge institutes) can also participate in Belgian economic missions or other official missions (e.g. State visits) that take place all over the world. These missions can be led by the King of the Belgians, the Belgian Foreign Affairs Minister, or a Belgian prince or princess. Conversely, official visits of foreign head of state, prime ministers, ministers or other officials to Belgium may also lead to cooperation with Belgian (including Flemish) actors in the field of research, or signing of agreements at the public level or bilaterally among STI actors.

2.1.2

FLANDERS INVESTMENT AND TRADE (FIT)

Another important actor in the International Flanders policy area is the Flanders Investment and Trade (FIT) agency. FIT supports the international activities of Flemish companies and attracts foreign investors to Flanders. It assists, supports and stimulates companies in international business. FIT offers tailored advice and guidance. Companies can call on its networks of contacts both at home and abroad. And it provides financial support and information on a wide range of financial incentives. Together with VLAIO, it forms the Enterprise Europe Network Flanders. FIT has a worldwide network of over 90 offices. It includes several technological attachés that focus on future-oriented, innovative and technological fields of development, specifically in growth markets outside Europe. Each attaché is active in several technological sectors that are most relevant and offer opportunities for the region concerned. Their work is coordinated by the Science & Technology Coordinator Filip De Weerdt.

CHAPTER 6 INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES

FLANDERS INVESTMENT & TRADE AGENCY: PRESENCE IN THE WORLD Figure 14

Source: © Flanders Investment and Trade (FIT) Agency

TECHNOLOGICAL ATTACHÉS AT THE FLANDERS INVESTMENT AND TRADE AGENCY Table 3 HOTSPOT

FOCUS AREA

FOCUS DOMAIN

NEW YORK

East Coast US

Digital Tech

PALO ALTO

Bay Area – West Coast US

Digital Tech & Climate Tech

PARIS

France & South Europe

Digital Tech & Health Tech

LONDON

Health Tech & Digital Tech

COPENHAGEN

Scandinavia

Health Tech & Climate Tech

MUNICH

DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)

Digital Tech & Health Tech

MUMBAI

India

Climate Tech & Digital Tech

SINGAPORE

South & Southeast Asia

Digital Tech & Climate Tech

GUANGZHOU

Pearl River Delta – China

Digital Tech

TOKYO

Japan

Health Tech & Digital Tech

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2.1.3

2.2

The EWI Department manages several multi-annual agreements and their accompanying budgets to implement actions within the framework of the United Nations (UN). These are:

In addition to the EU level Flanders also has representative functions linked to the preparation and follow-up of the policymaking of various international organisations. This includes the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations (UN). More precisely:

EWI DEPARTMENT

• the Flanders UNIDO Science Trust Fund for Industrial Biotechnology (FUSTIB); • the Flanders UNESCO Trust Fund (FUST); • the UNU-CRIS (United Nations University - Centre for Regional Integration Studies). The EWI Department prepares and monitors the memoranda of understanding (MoU) that are concluded directly between the administrations or ministers charged with R&D&I. These include, for example, agreements with Slovenia (2008) and China (2012). During ministerial missions abroad or during the official visits of foreign delegations to the Flemish minister or to public EWI entities, such agreements may be discussed and/or signed officially. In some cases, treaties that include topics relating to scientific research exist or are being prepared between Belgium and another country. These may impinge on Flemish competencies in the field of STI. Whenever it is required, the EWI Department acts as the responsible entity to monitor such agreements. The EWI Department also hosts, or is part of the Flemish delegation, during visits from foreign authorities, delegations and multilateral authorities. Conversely, it can be a part of, or represented in, Flanders’ delegations abroad. Through initiatives as the “Flanders Inspires International Visitors Programme” (FIIVP), the EWI Department presents Flanders’ strengths in the fields of economy, science and innovation, and learns from other countries and regions. The FIIVP has been on-going since 2010 and is inspired by the US “International Visitor Leadership Programme”. Its aim is to establish long-term relationships with high-level international opinion makers and decision makers by organising (once or twice a year), a broad multi-sectoral programme, usually focussed on a specific theme. Visitors come from all over the world and represent a region, country, or institution from the EU (or an international organisation).

INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS

• OECD: participation in the Global Science Forum, Steel Forum, the Committee on Science and Technological Innovation Policy (CSTP), the Technology and Innovation Policy (TIP), National Experts on Science and Technology Indicators group (NESTI), Working Party on Biotechnology, Nanotechnology and Converging Technologies (BNCT) and in thematic subgroups on e.g. ICT, biotechnology, and researchers’ mobility. A substantial contribution is provided for the OECD’s STI Outlook report (as of 2016: the STI Policy (STIP) report, jointly from the OECD STI Survey and European Commission ERAC survey); • UN: support for the Flanders UNESCO Science Trust Fund (FUST: capacity building in development countries), the Flanders UNIDO Science Trust Fund for Industrial Biotechnology (FUSTIB), United Nations University – Centre for Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS) and the project office of the Inter-governmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) for IODE at Ostend, for which EWI manages the financial support.

2.3

INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES FROM RESEARCH ORGANISATIONS

Many institutions and organisations in the field of STI have developed international links, ranging from network memberships over joint initiatives to bilateral agreements and foreign representation. Such initiatives are the result of a gradual trend towards greater internationalisation, whereby companies, universities, research institutes or knowledge centres develop bottom-up cooperation with foreign partners. All 5 universities of the Flemish Community have developed partnership and cooperation agreements with research organisations worldwide and take part in international networks and programmes. Examples include the Coimbra Group (KU Leuven), the Santander Group (UGent), the University Consortium

CHAPTER 6 INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES

International (UHasselt) and the Utrecht Network (UA). All 5 universities are a member of the European University Association (EUA). On top of that, they are part of several other international initiatives aiming to shape EU policy, such as the League of European Research Universities – LERU (KU Leuven), The Guild (UGent) and the Young European Research Universities Network – Yerun (UA). Among the Flemish strategic research centres, imec in particular has been very active at the international level. Apart from its home-based offices in Leuven and Ieper, it has also agencies in the Netherlands, Taiwan, China, India, the US and Japan. VITO has activities and representations in China, India and the Middle East. VIB has set up initiatives such as EU-life and Core For Life. Eu-life is an alliance of top research centres in life sciences to support and strengthen European research excellence. Core4Life aims at exploring the potential of coordinating and bundling core facility expertise and resources across institutes and countries to advance knowledge and to benefit the entire scientific and technological community.

3 GOVERNMENT SUPPORT FOR INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES 3.1

FWO-INSTRUMENTS

The actions of FWO are crucial to stimulate internationalisation of research and relate to: international mobility including research projects, international collaboration, international contacts, European programmes and involvement in international policy.

3.1.1

INTERNATIONAL MOBILITY

VLIZ concludes cooperation agreements with international universities, research institutions and individual research groups, and participates in international networks and projects in the field of marine sciences. ITG works with many scientific institutions, governments and organisations all over the world for the long-lasting improvement of health care and disease control in developing countries.

Incoming: • Odysseus programme: a “brain-gain” programme to attract Flemish and other top researchers from around the world (back) to the universities of the Flemish Community; • Incoming Pegasus Marie Curie Fellowships: attract excellent postdoctoral researchers to Flanders in order to contribute to the advancement of Flemish research.

In addition to the above examples of universities and (strategic) research centres, all other knowledge centres and organisations in Flanders cooperate with international partners in various initiatives, networks or actions.

Outgoing: • Outgoing Pegasus Marie Curie Fellowships: attract excellent postdoctoral researchers to Flanders in order to contribute to the advancement of Flemish research. • Several grants or fellowships, both for conferences, workshops, courses, short stays as well as for longer stays abroad.

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3.1.2

3.1.4

• Exchange agreement: scientific collaboration with other countries through the exchange of researchers via bilateral agreements with academies from: Czechia, China, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia (Science Foundation); • Scientif ic cooperation: agreements with a number of countries for the funding of potential exchange projects, namely with: Japan, Bulgaria, Poland, China, Brazil, Argentina, France, South-Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, Mexico, France-Tournesol, Hungary; • Bilateral research cooperation: with Brazil, China, Ecuador, Vietnam, South-Africa, Québec (Canada); • Lead Agency Procedures: with Luxembourg, Austria, Slovenia and Switzerland; • Big Science projects: the “Big Science” programme supports researchers at institutes of the Flemish Community who want to conduct research projects at major international research facilities, the membership for which is paid for by the Belgian Federal or Flemish government.

FWO acts as National Contact Point (NCP) in Horizon 2020 (along with VLAIO) and for COST (along with the EWI Department). FWO also participates in joint calls for ERA-Nets, funds excellent ERC-applicants who have obtained a Seal of Excellence and provides a “top-up” budget for participations (of on-going FWO projects) into joint calls for Joint Programming Initiatives.

INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION

3.1.

INTERNATIONAL CONTACTS

• International Coordination Action: support for coordination activities of international collaborative associations (i.e. those created in the context of multilateral and supranational entities such as EU, OECD, UN, UNESCO, WHO…); • Organisation of scientific meetings in Belgium: support for researchers for the organisation of scientific conferences where the international and inter-university dimension is a central element of the programme; • Scientific Research Network: support for researchers with the coordination of scientific research networks (= international networks of researchers that encourage national and international cooperation at postdoctoral level).

EUROPEAN PROGRAMMES:

3.1.5

INVOLVEMENT IN INTERNATIONAL POLICY:

The FWO cooperates with its European and international sister organisations in various networks and with other European research organisations or similar institutions; for example, the European Science Foundation (ESF), Science Europe, CECAM and the ECT.

3.2

VLAIO SUPPORT

VLAIO is the National Contact Point (NCP) for Flanders for supporting applications relating to thematic programmes within the Framework Programme for Research & Innovation, the ERA-nets, EUREKA, some Joint Technology Initiatives (JTIs), and initiatives which have phased-out such as INNO-nets. Moreover, VLAIO shares best practices with other European agencies in the innovation domain (such as TEKES from Finland or VINNOVA from Sweden) and is involved in various international networks and actions. For example, it is a member of the Association for Technology Implementation in Europe (TAFTIE), which fosters an exchange of best practice between the leading government innovation agencies supporting innovation in Europe. In the field of international innovation, VLAIO also provides cofunding for participants from Flanders to take part in European projects, e.g. EUREKA projects. EUREKA is an inter-governmental initiative to promote international cooperation through projects (as well as clusters and “umbrellas”) for applied and marketoriented industrial R&D, based on a bottom-up principle. After a quality check, the projects that are approved receive a EUREKA label. Participants from Flanders in the Eurostars innovation programme, which is aimed at innovative cross-border SMEs, are

CHAPTER 6 INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES

likewise supported by VLAIO. The agency is involved in the daily management of the EUREKA-network and the representation in the management entities of EUREKA, Eurostars and the EUREKAclusters. In the field of international cooperation via the EU Regional Development Fund, there are several ERDF-Interreg initiatives in which STI actors, public authorities and private partners from Flanders jointly support(ed) multi-annual projects. For the past multiannual period 2007-2013, these included BioBase Europe, Waterstofregio Vlaanderen - Zuid-Nederland (Hydrogen Region Flanders - South Netherlands), NanoSensEU and Organext, Food2Market, InnoFun (Funding of Innovation), TANDEM, ECOLASERFACT, GCS, SCINNOPOLI (“Scanning Innovation Policy Impact”), and SPIDER (“Supporting Public Service Innovation using Design in European Regions”), or AMCER (“Advanced Monitoring and Coordination of R&D policies at European level”, within ESPON). For 2014-2020, examples of new Interreg projects with the Netherlands are Hydrogen Network 2.0, CrossRoads2, Link2Innovate and Crosscare. Furthermore, cooperation with the neighbouring regions of North Brabant (the Netherlands) and North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) takes place within the framework of the ELAt (Eindhoven-Leuven-Aachen triangle). In recent years, collaboration has been extended to the domain of sustainable chemistry. The Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) Flanders consists of VLAIO and FIT (Flanders Investment and Trade), and provides companies with information about (innovative) internationalisation.

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ANNEX I

BELGIAN INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT

ANNEX I BELGIAN CONSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT

1 FEDERALISM IN BELGIUM 20

Belgium has two types of federated entities: Regions and Communities. That is why our state structure is so complicated. The country was divided into regions and communities because the Flemings and Walloons wanted a federal state for different reasons.

1.1

• Flemish citizens pursued cultural autonomy for all Dutch speakers, as well as for Flemish citizens living in Brussels. That is why three Communities were created: the Flemish Community, the French Community and the German-speaking Community. The word ‘community’ refers to the population group, which must be able to make decisions independently. • The Walloons mainly wanted to pursue their own socialeconomic policy. For this reason, three Regions were created: the Flemish Region, the Brussels-Capital Region and the Walloon Region. The word ‘region’ refers to the territory.

• The Flemish Community comprises all the inhabitants of Flanders and Brussels-based Flemings. Brussels Flemings live in the bilingual Brussels-Capital Region and speak Dutch. • The French Community comprises all the residents of Wallonia and French-speaking inhabitants of Brussels. • The German-speaking Community comprises all the inhabitants of the nine German-speaking municipalities in the east of Belgium.

THE COMMUNITIES

Belgium is divided into a Flemish, a French and a Germanspeaking Community.

Each community has its own legislative body, and its own government.

The Belgian form of federalism is unique in the world. Its main characteristics are briefly: • each entity has exclusive powers and competencies in various areas (no shared competencies); • each entity has its own separately elected parliament, government, administration, legislation, advisory bodies, etc.; • no hierarchy exists between the different entities regarding their competencies (no overruling is possible); • since the fourth state reform of 1993, the principle of “in foro interno, in foro externo” has been applied, meaning that each entity executes its competencies both inside and outside Belgium.

COMMUNITIES IN BELGIUM Figure 15

THE COMMUNITIES FLEMISH COMMUNITY FRENCH COMMUNITY GERMAN-SPEAKING COMMUNITY

20 Source: www.flemishparliament.eu/about-the-flemish-parliament/structure-belgium (4 February 2020)

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104 STI IN FLANDERS

1.2

1.3

In addition, Belgium is divided into three Regions: the Flemish and Walloon Regions and the Brussels-Capital Region.

Contrary to the Walloon side, the Flemish community and the Flemish region were immediately combined into one Flemish federated entity, with one Flemish Parliament and one Flemish Government. This single government and parliament can decide on all matters in Flanders and on all matters pertaining to the Flemish community in Brussels.

THE REGIONS

• The Flemish Region is made up of the territory of the five Flemish provinces. • The Walloon Region encompasses the territory of the five Walloon provinces. There are also nine German-speaking municipalities in the Walloon Region. They do not constitute a German-speaking region. • The Brussels-Capital Region encompasses the territory of the nineteen municipalities of Brussels. Each region has its own legislative body, and its own government. The regional governments and legislative bodies decide upon matters such as housing, economy, transportation, public works, the environment, spatial planning, energy, land use etc.

ONE FLEMISH GOVERNMENT

THE FLEMISH FEDERATED ENTITY Figure 17

THE FLEMISH FEDERATED ENTITY ONE PARLIAMENT, ONE GOVERNMENT

REGIONS IN BELGIUM Figure 16

FLANDERS BRUSSELS

THE REGIONS FLANDERS WALLONIA BRUSSELS

ANNEX I BELGIAN CONSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT

1.4

BUDGET

Flanders’ budget in 2021 amounts close to 50 billion euro. Its budget is for the biggest part funded by federal government resources. Flemish (supplementary) taxes make up approximately one third of the revenue. Expenditure-wise the bulk is spent on the policy areas Education and Training and Welfare, Public Health and Family. The policy area Economy, Science and Innovation is responsible for 3.7% of Flanders’ expenditure. More on R&D expenditure on page 44 and page 102.

BUDGET OF THE FLEMISH GOVERNMENT IN EUROS21 Figure 18 FLEMISH SUPPLEMENARY TAXES 4.1 BILLION (8.9%)

OTHER RESOURCES 17.76 BILLION (60.1%)

INCOME €46.2 BILLION 2021

FLEMISH TAXES 6.6 BILLION (14.3%)

FEDERAL GOVERNEMENT RESOURCES 7.75 BILLION (16.8%)

CULTURE, YOUTH, SPORTS AND MEDIA 1.31 BILLION (2.5%)

HIGHER ENTETIES 0.14 BILLION (0.3%)

ECONOMY, SCIENCE AND INNOVATION 1.96 BILLION (3.7%)

AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES 0.21 BILLION (0.4%)

ENVIRONMENT 2.16 BILLION (4.1%)

EXPENDITURE €52.7 BILLION 2021

FINACE AND BUDGET 3.26 BILLION (6.2%) MOBILITY AND PUBLIC WORKS 7.11 BILLION (13.5%)

EDUCTION AND TRAINING 14.98 BILLION (28.4%)

WORK AND SOCIAL ECONOMY 3.84 BILLION (7.9%)

WELFARE, PUBLIC HEALTH AND FAMILY 13.22 BILLION (25.1%)

CHANCELLERY AND ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT 4.77 BILLION (9.0%)

Source: “Welcome to the Flemish Parliament” (www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/63047400/vp-a5-brochure-en-v28012020-druk)

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106 STI IN FLANDERS

1.5

COMPETENCIES OF THE FLEMISH GOVERNMENT 22

The Flemish Government makes decisions about aspects of people’s lives. This means that it has a huge influence over the life of every Flemish citizen (environment, schools, welfare and so on). This is an overview of the areas on which the Flemish Parliament can legislate.

COMPENTENCIES OF THE FLEMISH GOVERNMENT Table 4

PERSONAL ASSISTANCE

• youth protection • youth policy • family policy (Child & Family) • family allowance, child birth allowances and adoption allowances • child care • policies for the elderly and the disabled • equal opportunities policies and the Equal Opportunities Centre • the integration of immigrants LANGUAGE LEGISLATION

• use of languages by the authorities • use of languages in the business community

HEALTH CARE

• hospital policy • preventive health policy • home care • policy for the elderly and homes for the elderly • mental well-being • assistance to disabled persons

EDUCATION

• all aspects of educational policy • except for a small number of matters such as compulsory education and teachers’ pensions which are a federal competence

CULTURE

• arts • cultural heritage • museums • libraries • media (the Flemish Public Broadcaster VRT) • sports and tourism

ENVIRONMENT AND WATER POLICY

• environmental protection • waste management (Public Waste Agency of Flanders OVAM) • drinking water • waste water purification • sewage systems

Source: Flemish Parliament (https://www.flemishparliament.eu/about-the-flemish-parliament/what-are-the-devolved-competences-the-flemish-parliament)

ANNEX I BELGIAN CONSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT

MUNICIPALITIES AND PROVINCES

• financial resources • administrative supervision

ECONOMY

• support to companies • permits for trading establishments • foreign trade • statistical research • professional qualifications • commercial rental legislation

LAND-USE PLANNING AND NATURE CONSERVATION

• land consolidation • parks • forest • hunting • fisheries • animal welfare

PUBLIC WORKS, MOBILITY AND TRAFFIC SAFETY

• roads • waterways and inland navigation • seaports • regional airports • regional transport (public transport agency De Lijn) • Belgian institute for traffic safety and technical inspection • driving instruction, driving schools and exam centres ENERGY

• distribution of electricity and natural gas • promotion of rational energ y consumption

HOUSING

• building of social housing • financial housing support • rental of commercial and residential properties, leases, expropriations

EMPLOYMENT

• labour market policy and employment (Flemish Service for Employment and Vocational Training VDAB) • employment programmes

AGRICULTURE AND SEA FISHERIES

• support to agricultural and horticultural companies

SPATIAL PLANNING

• town and country planning • building permits • urban renewal • monuments and landscapes

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

• international treaties regarding Flanders’ competences • Cooperative development • foreign trade

FLEMISH PROMOTION CENTRE FOR THE MARKETING OF AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE AND FISHERIES (VLAM)

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ABOUT THE FLEMISH COMPETENCES

JUSTICE POLICY FOR THE FLEMISH COMPETENCES

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ANNEX II

MAIN R&D&I ACTORS

ANNEX II MAIN R&D&I ACTORS

GOVERNMENT

Table 5

PUBLIC AUTHORITY

Department of Economy, Science and Innovation www.ewi-vlaanderen.be/en Department Chancellery and Foreign Affairs www.fdfa.be/en

Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) www.fwo.be/en Flanders Innovation and Entrepreneurship (VLAIO) www.vlaio.be www.vlaio.be/nl/andere-doelgroepen/flanders-innovation-entrepreneurship Flanders Holding Company (PMV) www.pmv.eu/en Limburg Reconversion Company (LRM) www.lrm.be/en Flanders Investment and Trade (FIT) www.flandersinvestmentandtrade.com/en

ADVISORY COUNCILS

Flemish Advisory Council for Innovation and Enterprise (VARIO) www.vario.be/en Social and Economic Council of Flanders (SERV) www.serv.be/en/serv

SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTES (FROM THE FLEMISH COMMUNITY)

Agency Botanic Garden Meise www.botanicgardenmeise.be Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO) www.ilvo.vlaanderen.be Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO) www.inbo.be Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA) www.kmska.be/en Agency for Archaeological Heritage (AOE) www.onroerenderfgoed.be

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OTHER KNOWLEDGE INSTITUTES

Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) www.vliz.be/en Institute for Tropical Medicine (ITM) www.itg.be Centre for Research and Conservation (CRC) www.zooscience.be

FEDERAL SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTES

Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA) www.aeronomie.be/en National Library of Belgium (KBR) www.kbr.be/en Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (KBIN) www.naturalsciences.be Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK) www.kikirpa.be Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium (KMI) www.meteo.be/en/belgium Royal Museum for Central Africa www.africamuseum.be/en Royal Museums of Art and History (KMKG) www.kmkg-mrah.be Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (KMSK) www.fine-arts-museum.be/en Royal Observatory of Belgium (KSB) www.astro.oma.be/en State Archives of Belgium www.arch.be

ANNEX II MAIN R&D&I ACTORS

FEDERAL RESEARCH CENTRES

Sciensano www.sciensano.be/en National Institute for Radio-elements (IRE) www.ire.eu Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK CEN) www.sckcen.be/en

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTES, ORGANISATIONS OR PLATFORMS IN THE STI FIELD, LOCATED IN FLANDERS

JRC - Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM) www.conffidence.eu/participants/ec-jrc-irmm EU Joint Technology Initiatives (IMI, Clean Sky, ECSEL, FCH) https://www.era-learn.eu/partnerships-in-a-nutshell/type-of-networks/partnerships-under-horizon-2020/publicprivate-partnerships-other-era-relevant-partnerships#JU European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) www.cost.eu ESA Business and Innovation Centre (ESA BIC) www.sbicnoordwijk.nl/esa-bic United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS) www.cris.unu.edu European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) www.emodnet.eu European Marine Board (EMB) www.marineboard.eu Von Karmann Institute (VKI) www.vki.ac.be

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OTHER BODIES OF PUBLIC INTEREST IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE AND INNOVATION

Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Arts and Sciences (KVAB) www.kvab.be Royal Academy of Belgium for Medicine (KAGB) www.academiegeneeskunde.be Royal Academy for Dutch Language and Literature (KANTL) www.kantl.be Flanders Foundation for Technology Assessment in Innovation and Work (STV voor Innovatie en Arbeid) www.serv.be/en/stichting Flemish Academic Centre for Science and the Arts (VLAST) www.kvab.be/nl/vlast

UNIVERSITY ASSOCIATIONS

Antwerp www.auha.be Brussels www.universitaireassociatiebrussel.be Ghent www.augent.be KU Leuven www.associatie.kuleuven.be Limburg www.auhl.be

STRATEGIC RESEARCH CENTRES

Interuniversity Micro-electronics Centre (Imec) www.imec.be Flanders Make www.flandersmake.be Flemish Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) www.vib.be Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO) www.vito.be

ANNEX II MAIN R&D&I ACTORS

COLLECTIVE RESEARCH CENTRES AND EQUIVALENT INSTITUTES

Belgian Institute for Wood Technology and Wood Training Centre (Wood.be) www.wood.be Belgian Welding Institute (BWI) www.bil-ibs.be Belgian Research Centre for the Cement Industry (CRIC) www.cric.be Belgian Road Research Centre (BRRC) www.brrc.be Scientific and Technical Service Centre for the Belgian Textile Industry (Centexbel) www.centexbel.be/en Belgian Building Research Institute (BBRI) www.bbri.be Scientific and Technological Research Centre for Diamond www.wtocd.be Collective Centre for the Belgian Technology Industry (SIRRIS) www.sirris.be Belgian Ceramic Research Centre (BCRC) www.bcrc.be Metallurgic Research Centre (CRM) (ferro and non-ferro) www.crmgroup.be/en Coatings Research Institute (CORI) www.cori-coatings.be Tecnolec / Volta (electrical business) www.volta-org.be/nl

INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH COOPERATION INITIATIVES

Energyville www.energyville.be/en Neuro-electronics Research Flanders (NERF) www.nerf.be/about-us

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TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OFFICES (TTO) AT THE UNIVERSITIES AND THE STRATEGIC RESEARCH CENTRES

KU Leuven Research & Development www.lrd.kuleuven.be/en UGent TechTransfer www.ugent.be/techtransfer/en VUB TechTransfer www.vubtechtransfer.be AUHA Interfacedienst www.uantwerpen.be/nl/onderzoek/informatie-voor-bedrijven UHasselt Tech Transfer Office www.uhasselt.be/techtransfer_en The TTO’s of the 4 strategic research centres www.ttoflanders.be

SCIENCE / TECHNOLOGY PARKS

Tech Lane Ghent Science Park (previously the Ardoyen and Eiland Zwijnaarde parks) (Ghent) www.techlane.be Zellik (Asse) www.researchparkzellik.be Arenberg, Haasrode (Leuven) www.wetenschapspark-arenberg.be Feed Food Health (Tienen) www.foodport.be Thor Park (Genk) www.thorpark.be Corda Campus (previously Research Campus Hasselt) (Hasselt) www.cordacampus.com/en

INNOVATION CENTRES AND INCUBATORS

For an overview: www.vlaio.be/nl/andere-doelgroepen/foreign-investors/information-foreign-investors/finding-right-location

ANNEX II MAIN R&D&I ACTORS

SPEARHEAD CLUSTERS

Chemistry and Plastics (Catalisti) www.catalisti.be Logistiek (VIL) www.vil.be Strategic Initiative Materials in Flanders (SIM) www.sim-flanders.be Flux50 (Energy) www.flux50.com Flanders’ FOOD (agro-food) www.flandersfood.com flanders.healthTech www.flandershealth.tech The Blue Cluster (blue economy) www.blauwecluster.be www.theblueeconomy.org

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INNOVATIVE BUSINESS NETWORKS (IBN) (PAST AND PRESENT)

Air Cargo Belgium www.aircargobelgium.be Bouwindustrialisatie www.bouwindustrialisatie.be Cluster BIM www.bimportal.be Digitising Manufacturing www.sirris.be/nl/ibn-digitising-manufacturing EUKA www.euka.org FLAG (Flemish Aerospace Group) www.flag.be Flanders’ bike Valley www.bikevalley.be flanders.health www.flanders.health Groen Licht Vlaanderen www.groenlichtvlaanderen.be IBN composieten www.vlaio.be/nl/begeleiding-advies/coaching-en-advies/ibn-composieten IBN Mobility as a Service (MaaS) www.its.be/maas Innovatieve Coatings www.centexbel.be/en/projects/innovatieve-coatings Offshore energy www.offshoreenergycluster.be/index_en.php Power to Gas www.power-to-gas.be/power-to-gas-nl Smart Buildings in Use www.smartbuildingsinuse.be Smart Cities Vlaanderen - IoT for Society www.vlaio.be/nl/begeleiding-advies/coaching-en-advies/smart-cities-vlaanderen-iot-society Smart Digital Farming www.smartdigitalfarming.be Space 4.0 vri.vlaanderen/nl/ibn-cluster-space-4-0 IoTValueChain -The Beacon www.thebeacon.eu

ANNEX II MAIN R&D&I ACTORS

MAIN RESEARCH AND ECONOMIC ACTORS IN THE FLEMISH STI-LANDSCAPE Figure 19

EAST FLANDERS

WEST FLANDERS 17 Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) 23 Blue Cluster

11 Flemish Institute of Biotechnology (VIB) 2 Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries & Food (ILVO)

3 University association Ghent 18 Strategic Initiative Materials in Flanders (SIM)

24 HealthTech 23 17

Bruges

25 5 Antwerp 6 19

Ghent

24 3 1 18 2

Hasselt

16 14 21 15 20 22

11 8

Leuven

LIMBURG 9 Flanders Make 10 University association 11 Interuniversity Micro-Electronics Centre (IMEC) 8 Limburg 12 University association KU Leuven 13 Botanic Garden Meise

FLEMISH BRABANT

26 von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics

Strategic research centres Scientific institutes University associations Other knowledge & research centers (non-exhaustive) Spearhead clusters

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ANNEX III

FUNDING OF R&D

ANNEX III FUNDING OF R&D

1 INTRODUCTION

2 GERD

Investments in R&D are key to ensuring a high level of productivity and maintain competitiveness in a global perspective. R&Dinvestments are also expected to be crucial to tackle grand societal challenges such as the energy and climate transition or an ageing population. In its Innovation Pact of 2003 and on subsequent occasions (Pact 2020, Flanders in Action, Vision 2050) the Flemish Government has stated its ambition to reach a 3% R&D-intensity, thus subscribing to the Europe 2020 3%-target.

In 2019, Flanders spent over 9,350 million euros on R&D (GERD). More than two-thirds of the research cost was paid by companies (the Business Enterprise Sector or BES) and almost one-third by public research institutes (PNP, GOV and HES). The R&D effort for Flanders represented almost two-thirds of the GERD for the whole of Belgium in 2019.

As will become clear in the following sections, the Flemish Government has made laudable efforts in pursuit of the 3%-target.

The R&D intensity (measured as the percentage of GERD related to GDP) of Flanders was 3.35% in 2019 (compared to 2.75% in 2016, 2.88% in 2017 and 2.93% in 2018). Flanders reaches with this figure quite well above the Europe 2020 3% target and only Korea (4.93%) and Sweden rank still higher (3.39%). Flanders ranks higher than Austria, Germany, the USA and the EU-27 average. When the total R&D intensity of the GERD (3.35% for 2019) is broken down by source of funding, 2.55% comes from private funds and 0.80% from public funds (federal, regional, community, European and international funds), which equates to 76% and 24% by private and public sectors respectively.

EVOLUTION OF TOTAL R&D SPENDING (GERD) AND THE R&D INTENSITY OF THE GERD IN FLANDERS FROM 2012 TO 2019, IN MILLION EUROS (CURRENT PRICES) Figure 20

3.5

10,000 3.35

3 8,000 2.53

2.55

2.59

2.67

2.75

2.88

2.93 2.5

6,000

1.5

4,000 5,676

5,827

6,073

6,469

6,904

7,499

7,905

9,350

2,000 0.5

0 2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017 GERD

2018

2019 R&D intensity - GERD

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INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON OF THE R&D INTENSITY OF GERD FOR 2019 Figure 21 5 4.64

4.5 4 3.5 3

3.07

2.91

2.79

3.19

3.17

3.13

3.39

3.35

3.2

2.5 2

2.15

2.12

2.18

2.2

2.23

1.5 1 0.5 0 EU-28

The Netherlands Norway

France

China

Denmark

Finland

Austria USA

Germany

Belgium

Flanders

Japan

Korea

Sweden

Source: OECD database, Main Science and Technology Indicators

France, Denmark, USA: provisional figure: EU-27, Sweden : estimated value; definition differs

R&D INTENSITY BROKEN DOWN BY SECTOR OF PERFORMANCE OR SOURCE OF FUNDS FOR FLANDERS, 2012-2019 Figure 22 12 10 2.55

8 6

1.94

2.355

2.08

2.16

1.76 0.68

0.7

0.72

0.76

1.875

0.8

0.61

0.645

2.55

2.59

2.67

2.75

2.88

2.92

0.79

0.78

0.8

0.88

0.87

0.89

1,76

1,81

1.87

1,87

2.01

2.04

2.4

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

BERD/GDP

non-BERD/GDP

GERD/GDP

public funding/GDP

3.35 0.95

private funding/GDP

Investments in R&D are key to ensuring a high level of productivity and maintain competitiveness in a global perspective.

ANNEX III FUNDING OF R&D

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122 STI IN FLANDERS

3 BERD In 2019, the business enterprise sector spent 6,705 million euros on R&D activities in Flanders, measured at current prices. This is the (BERD), which corresponds to a R&D intensity (BERD as a % of GDP) of 2.40%. This level represents an increase for the GERD compared to 2016 (1.87%), 2017 (2.01%) and 2018 (2.04%). When the total R&D intensity of the BERD is broken down by source of funding, 2.29% comes from private funds and 0.11% from public funds (2017). The share of the BERD in the GERD was 72% in 2019. The R&D activities (expenditure) within companies in Flanders are mainly focused on the following high-tech sectors (2019): chemicals and pharmaceuticals (NACE 20-21) account for 33.8% of total BERD expenditures on R&D (based on a sample); motion picture, video and TV production, computer programmes, engineering, and technical testing and analysis activities (NACE 59-63, 71-72) account for 20.6%; information technology, electronic products, optical products and electrical equipment (NACE 26-27) account for about 10.5%; machinery and transport (NACE 28-30) account for more than 9.1% In 2019, the R&D intensity in the business sector was 2.40%. Flanders therefore ranks higher than the EU-27 average, France, the Netherlands, Finland, Germany and Austria, but lower than Japan and Sweden.

ANNEX III FUNDING OF R&D

EVOLUTION OF THE R&D SPENDING BY COMPANIES (BERD) AND R&D INTENSITY FOR THE BERD, FROM 2012 TO 2019, IN MILLION EUROS (CURRENT PRICES) Figure 23

2.4

7,000 6,000 5,000

1.77

1.82

1.87

2.25

2.04

2,01

2.5 2 1.75 1.5

4,000

1.25

3,000

2,000

0.75 3,956

4,025

4,245

4,535

4,712

5,236

5,498

6,705

1,000

0.5 0.25

0 2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

BERD

2019 R&D intensity - BERD

INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON OF THE R&D INTENSITY OF BERD FOR 2019 Figure 24

3.73%

Korea 2.53%

Japan Sweden

2.43%

Flanders

2.40%

Belgium

2.34%

USA

2.27%

Austria

2.20%

Germany

2.20%

Finland

1.83%

Denmark

1.82%

The Netherlands

1.46%

France

1.44%

EU-27

1.40%

Norway 0.00%

1.14%

0.50%

1.00%

1.50%

2.00%

2.50%

3.00%

3.50%

4.00%

Source: OECD database, Main Science and Technology Indicators Denmark: provisional figure; EU-27, France, USA: estimated value; USA; definition differs

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124 STI IN FLANDERS

EVOLUTION OF THE R&D SPENDING BY GOV, HES AND PNP (NON-BERD=GOVERD+HERD+PNP), FROM 2012 TO 2019, IN MILLION EUROS (CURRENT PRICES) Figure 25

4 NON-BERD Globally the share of R&D spending by the public sector within total R&D spending stays stable between 2014 and 2019. R&D spending by the public sector (non-BERD = GOVERD + HERD + PNP) amounted to 2,645 million euros in 2019. About 42% of this amount was spent by public research institutes (GOV) and 57% by higher education institutions (HES). There is an increase in the R&D expenditure (in absolute terms) of the public sector in 2018 and 2019. The R&D intensity for the public sector (non-BERD as a % of GDP) in Flanders amounted to 0.94% in 2019. After a stagnation between 2012 and 2015, a steady increase between 2016 and 2019 can be remarked. When the total R&D intensity of the non-BERD is broken down by source of 0.27% is funded privately and 0.67% by public funds (2019). The GOVERD and HERD (2019) can be broken down by different fields of science. For the GOV sector, this indicates the dominant position of engineering and technology (80.9%). For the HES sector, the most important fields of science are the medical sciences (30.2%), the natural sciences (17.4%), the social sciences (17.5%) and engineering & technology (15.8%).

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

2011

PNP HERD

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

1,032

1,069

1,136

1,122

1,167

1,306

1,313

1,389

1,505

GOVERD

572

635

652

684

745

859

923

989

1,104

NON-BERD

1,614

1,720

1,803

1,828

1,934

2,192

2,263

2,407

2,645

EVOLUTION OF THE R&D INTENSITY FOR THE NON-BERD (GOVERD, HERD AND PNP) FROM 2013 TO 2017 Figure 26 0.90% 0.80%

0.79%

0.78%

0.80%

0.50%

0.48%

0.89%

0.87%

0.52%

0.50%

0.51%

0.34%

0.35%

0.37%

0.94%

0.70% 0.60% 0.50% 0.40% 0.30%

0.31%

0.54% 0.40%

0.29%

0.02%

0.01%

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

0.20% 0.10%

0.00%

HERD

GOVERD

PNP

NON-BERD

ANNEX III FUNDING OF R&D

INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON OF THE FUNDING OF THE HERD BY COMPANIES FOR 2019, IN %. Figure 27 16.0 14.6

14.0

13.5 11.7

12.0

10.0 8.3

8.0

7.2

6.0

5.4

5.0

4.0

3.6

3.4

3.1

2.8

2.4

2.0

1.9

0.0 Flanders

Belgium

Germany

EU-27

Austria

The Netherlands

USA

Japan Sweden

France Finland

Denmark Norway

Source: OECD database, Main Science and Technology Indicators France, Denmark : provisional figure; EU-27: estimated value; USA, Germany: definition differs; figure for Germany, France, USA (2018) and Sweden (2017)

INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON OF THE R&D INTENSITY OF HERD AND GOVERD FOR 2019

For the GOVERD, the most important source of funds in 2019 was abroad (50.6%), followed by government funding (41.1%) and thirdly the companies (7.7%). For the HERD, government funding was again the most important source of funds (69.1%), followed by the companies (14.6%) and abroad (8.5%). The proportion of the HERD that is supported by (domestic) companies for 2019 ranks higher internationally than any of the EU-27 countries and is more than twice the figure for the EU-27 as a whole. Only Germany has a similar proportion. In other words, companies are both an important client and an important source of funds for the research carried out at the Flemish higher education institutions.

Figure 28 0.99%

Denmark

0.08%

0.84%

Sweden

0.12%

0.74%

Norway Finland

0.71%

Austria

0.68%

0.27% 0.23% 0.23%

0.60%

The Netherlands Germany

0.56%

Flanders

0.54%

0.12% 0.44% 0.40%

0.53%

Belgium

0.25%

0.46%

EU-27

0.24%

0.44%

France

0.27%

0.37%

Japan USA 0.00% HERD

0.25%

0.37% 0.20%

0.29% 0.40%

0.60%

0.80%

1.00%

1.20%

For the R&D intensity of the HES, Flanders scores above France and the EU-27 average. The Netherlands (0.60%), Finland (0.71%), Austria (0.68%), Norway (0.74%), Sweden (0.84%) and Denmark (0.99%) have a much higher R&D intensity for the HES. The R&D intensity of the GOV is higher in Flanders than in Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Austria, France and the EU-27 average. Flanders’ results are lower than Germany. In summary, for both figures, Flanders is maintaining its international position.

GOVERD

Source: OECD database, Main Science and Technology Indicators France, Denmark (GOVERD): provisional figure; EU-27: estimated value; USA (HERD), Germany (GOVERD) and the Netherlands (GOVERD): definition differs; figure for USA and Sweden (2018)

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126 STI IN FLANDERS

5 GBARD This section examines in detail the R&D support received from Flanders, in particular that of the Flemish government, and compares it with that of other countries. GBARD (Government Budget Appropriations for R&D) is an indicator used by the OECD and Eurostat. The table below shows an international comparison of the GBARD as a percentage of GDP. The calculation method of the Flemish figure is explained further in this chapter. It is clear that the trends for GBARD, expressed as a percentage of GDP, differ between countries. In some countries there is stagnation; in others there is even a drop over a period of several

years. Figure 31 compares Flanders with selected countries for 2020. Because of the worldwide financial and economic crisis, followed by measures taken for the benefit of the economy, it is necessary to proceed with caution when comparing budgets. The most recent year with data for all the compared countries is the year 2020 (Table 6). Flemish Government R&D funding + Flemish share of the federal funding (35.5% ESA. 56% for the rest). Belgium figure: Commissie Federale Samenwerking. CFS/STAT: final budget Flanders + provisional budget other authorities).

INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON OF GOVERNMENT BUDGET APPROPRIATIONS OR OUTLAYS FOR R&D (GBARD) 2020. EXPRESSED AS A PERCENTAGE OF GDP(R) Figure 29

1.20%

1.00%

0.80%

0.60%

0.40%

0.20%

0 Korea

Germany Finland

Norway

Denmark

Austria Netherlands Japan

Sweden

Flanders

Estonia

Belgium

Greece

France

Spain

United Luxembourg Czech United Republic Kingdom States

Portugal Lithuania Ireland Slovak Republic Turkey Hungary Poland Mexico Australia

Slovenia Italy

Defence

Source: OECD database. Main Science and Technology Indicators Flanders: Speurgids 2021

Civil

ANNEX III FUNDING OF R&D

INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON OF GOVERNMENT BUDGET APPROPRIATIONS OR OUTLAYS FOR R&D (GBARD), EXPRESSED AS A PERCENTAGE OF GDP(R) Table 6 Source: OECD database. Main Science and Technology Indicators

COUNTRY

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

KOREA

1.14

1.1

1.06

1.04

1.09

NORWAY

0.81

0.86

0.93

1.03

0.98

1.02

1.15

GERMANY

0.9

0.87

0.88

0.9

0.92

0.94

0.98

1.09

0.85

0.87

SWITSERLAND

0.94

2020

0.97

ICELAND

1.01

0.83

0.85

0.93

0.95

0.96

0.91

DENMARK

1.02

0.91

0.89

0.97

GREECE

0.48

0.44

0.52

0.54

0.5

0.62

0.7

0.96

CROATIA

0.61

0.71

0.8

0.74

0.72

0.76

0.78

0.89

FINLAND

0.99

0.97

0.95

0.84

0.83

0.84

0.87

AUSTRIA

0.8

0.79

0.8

0.78

0.76

0.87

FLANDERS

0.68

0.73

0.65

0.67

0.74

0.71

0.8

0.82

JAPAN

0.71

0.7

0.65

0.66

0.65

0.69

0.76

0.65

0.64

0.63

0.67

0.65

0.7

0.79

SWEDEN

0.82

0.78

0.79

0.78

0.73

0.77

EU (27)

0.69

0.68

0.66

0.65

0.68

0.75

NETHERLANDS

0.73

0.71

0.7

0.67

0.71

0.69

0.74

BELGIUM

0.64

0.68

0.61

0.62

0.66

0.63

0.7

0.73

ESTONIA

0.81

0.71

0.68

0.67

0.6

0.71

0.63

0.7

FRANCE

0.71

0.69

0.64

0.63

0.59

0.63

0.69

CZECH REPUBLIC

0.64

0.63

0.6

0.58

0.6

0.62

0.64

LUXEMBOURG

0.64

0.61

0.59

0.64

0.63

UNITED KINGDOM

0.56

0.55

0.53

0.51

0.52

0.55

0.56

ITALY

0.52

0.51

0.52

0.51

0.55

0.63

SPAIN

0.56

0.54

0.52

0.61

SLOVENIA

0.48

0.43

0.41

0.4

0.42

0.45

0.53

SERVIA

0.37

0.39

0.41

0.36

0.38

0.37

0.4

0.46

CYPRUS

0.34

0.35

0.33

0.32

0.31

0.36

0.45

RUSIA

0.58

0.55

0.53

0.47

0.41

0.4

0.45

POLAND

0.37

0.43

0.41

0.33

0.36

0.29

0.44

0.42

SLOVAK REPUBLIC

0.39

0.38

0.41

0.37

0.36

0.37

0.38

0.39

PORTUGAL

0.4

0.36

0.38

0.37

0.36

0.35

0.36

LITHUANIA

0.36

0.34

0.33

0.31

0.29

0.31

0.33

TURKEY

0.38

0.33

0.34

0.35

0.34

0.35

0.28

HONGARY

0.65

0.28

0.39

0.35

0.3

0.27

0.28

LATVIA

0.14

0.16

0.19

0.21

0.22

0.23

0.27

BULGARIA

0.24

0.25

0.24

0.2

0.21

0.2

0.22

0.24

IRELAND

0.4

0.37

0.28

0.27

0.25

0.23

MALTA

0.27

0.22

0.25

0.2

0.18

0.2

0.22

0.23

ROMANIA

0.21

0.26

0.28

0.19

0.17

0.19

0.13

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128 STI IN FLANDERS

6 ESTIMATE CALCULATION METHOD FOR PUBLICLY FINANCED R&D INTENSITY (1% OBJECTIVE) For the period after 2017, no R&D survey data by sector is yet available. A cautious estimate is being made of the growth path necessary to reach the 1% objective (the publicly financed share of the above mentioned 3% objective) by 2020. Consequently, for the present purpose, as in previous EWI Budget Browsers, a calculation is included to approximate the results of the most recent years. The combined efforts of the government are calculated by elaborating different variants. 1. The own efforts of the Flemish Government This is the Flemish GBARD in the strict sense, funded by the Flemish Government only.

2. The efforts of the Flemish Government + the Flemish share of federal government R&D funding In Flanders, R&D activities are also funded by federal government R&D funds. When this share received from the federal government is added to the Flemish GBARD in the strict sense (1), a GBARD is obtained for Flanders that is probably closer to reality. This variant is consequently the most suitable for an international comparison of the GBARD. When calculating Flanders’ share of federal government funding, the following formula is used: 35.5% of the funding from the European Space Agency (source: Flemish Council for Science and Innovation – VRWI) and 56% for the remainder of the total federal R&D funding.

3. The efforts of the Flemish Government + the Flemish share of federal government R&D funding + the Flemish return from the funds of the EU Framework Programs for Research and Technological Development In another variant, the Flemish return from the EU Framework Programs for Research and Technological Development can also be added, since this too represents R&D activities funded publicly. However, the result of this calculation can no longer be considered as GBARD, but is actually a third variant that can be used for calculating the publicly financed share of the R&D intensity. The results of this calculation are given in the table. The figure for 2021, initial budget (i), is estimated at 0.93% of GDP(R).

ANNEX III FUNDING OF R&D

EVOLUTION OF THE R&D BUDGET AND R&D INTENSITY Table 7

BUDGET

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

Flemish Government (1)

1130.08

1224.02

1227.57

1236.01

1243.50

1397.77

1298.43

1394.71

1597.69

1625.73

1951.59

1858.01

1999.06

Flemish Gov. + Flemish share of federal gov. (2)

1390.35

1506.84

1511.54

1533.79

1544.56

1693.07

1576.34

1677.08

1937.19

1924.22

2238.36

2184.99

2332.57

Flemish Gov. + federal share + EU-FP (3)

1550.35

1666.84

1671.54

1693.79

1704.56

1883.07

1766.34

1867.08

2127.19

2114.22

2428.36

2374.99

2522.57

BBPR (million euro) (4)

201219.10

210003.70 218478.80 224665.00 228326.90 233234.70 242129.30

251412.60

261263.40 269886.20 279227.30

264986.22 285679.53

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

Flemish Government (1)

0.56%

0.58%

0.56%

0.55%

0.54%

0.60%

0.54%

0.55%

0.61%

0.60%

0.70%

Flemish Gov. + Flemish share of federal gov. (2)

0.69%

0.72%

0.69%

0.68%

0.73%

0.65%

0.67%

0.74%

0.71%

0.80%

0.82%

Flemish Gov. + federal share + EU-FP (3)

0.77%

0.79%

0.77%

0.75%

0.81%

0.73%

0.74%

0.81%

0.78%

0.87%

0.90%

0.88%

IN MILLION EURO

PUBLIC R&D INTENSITY AS % OF GDP®

(1% OBJECTIVE)

1. Flemish Government budget for R&D: final budgets 2009-2020; initial budget 2021. 2. Flemish share in the federal government R&D funds: ESA distribution key at 35.5% for Flanders (source: VRWI) and the remainder of federal government R&D funds estimated at 56% for Flanders. Federal government R&D funds: source: CFS/STAT; for 2018 and 2020i the initial budget of 2020 was used. 3. 2008 – 2013: estimated return based on final results of the Flemish return for the Seventh Framework Programme – 2014 – 2020: estimated return based on final results of the Flemish return for the Horizon 2020. Sources: eCorda data, reworked by EWI. 4. GDP(R): Gross Domestic Product by Region. Source: 2009-2019 NBB; july-2021 Hermreg - Research Centre of the Flemish Government (Studiedienst van de Vlaamse Regering), July 2021.

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130 STI IN FLANDERS

7 THE EU FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME FOR RESEARCH AND INNOVATION HORIZON 2020 7.1

INTRODUCTION

Horizon 2020, the current framework programme for research and innovation, is the EU programme with the largest budget for supporting research and innovation activities for the 20142020 period. Horizon 2020, further Horizon 2020, has a budget of €74.8 billion.

In addition, there are two specific objectives: 1. Spreading excellence and widening participation 2. Science with and for society and three smaller blocks: 1. European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT)

Horizon 2020 is organised around three main pillars 2. Joint Research Centre (JRC) 1. Excellent Science: Activities under this pillar aim to reinforce and extend the excellence of the Union’s science base and to consolidate the European Research Area in order to make the Union’s research and innovation system more competitive on a global scale. 2. Industrial Leadership: This pillar aims to speed up development of the technologies and innovations that will underpin tomorrow’s businesses and help innovative European SMEs to grow into world-leading companies. 3. Societal challenges: This pillar aims to encourage an integral, multidisciplinary approach to finding solutions for grand societal challenges.

3. Euratom The table below shows the structure of the Horizon 2020 programme: The data used in the present section were taken from the database that the European Commission makes available via the electronic platform e-CORDA. The release date of the data is 8th of October 2020, when about 82% of the available budget over the total period has been allocated.

ANNEX III FUNDING OF R&D

HORIZON 2020 PROGRAMME STRUCTURE Table 8 EUR million in current prices

I. EXCELLENT SCIENCE, OF WHICH:

24,232.1

European Research Council (ERC)

13,094.8

Future and Emerging Technologies (FET)

2,585.4

Marie Sklodowska-Curie actions

6,162.3

Research infrastructures

2,389.6

II. INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP, OF WHICH:

16,466.5

Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies (*), (****)

13,035

Access to risk finance (**)

2,842.3

Innovation in SMEs (***)

589.2

III. SOCIETAL CHALLENGES, OF WHICH: (****)

28,629.6

Health, demographic change and well-being

7,256.7

Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy

3,707.7

Secure, clean and efficient energy

5,688.1

Smart, green and integrated transport

6,149.4

Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials

2,956.5

Europe in a changing world – Inclusive. innovative and reflective societies

1,258.5

Secure societies – Protecting freedom and security of Europe and its citizens

1,612.7

IV. SPREADING EXCELLENCE AND WIDENING PARTICIPATION

816.5

V. SCIENCE WITH AND FOR SOCIETY

444.9

VI. NON-NUCLEAR DIRECT ACTIONS OF THE JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE (JRC)

1,855.7

VII. THE EUROPEAN INSTITUTE OF INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY (EIT)

2,383

TOTAL

74,828.3

(*)

Including euro 7,423 million for Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) of which euro 1,549 million for photonics and microand nanoelectronics, euro 3,741 million for nanotechnologies, advanced materials and advanced manufacturing and processing, euro 501 million for biotechnology and euro 1,403 million for space. As a result, euro 5,792 million will be available to support Key Enabling Technologies. (**) Around euro 994 million of this amount may go towards the implementation of Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan) projects. Around one third of this may go to SMEs. (***) Within the target of allocating a minimum of 20% of the total combined budgets for the specific objective “Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies” and the priority “Societal challenges” for SMEs, a minimum of 5% of those combined budgets will be initially allocated to the dedicated SME instrument. A minimum of 7% of the total budgets of the specific objective “Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies” and the priority “Societal challenges” will be allocated to the dedicated SME instrument averaged over the duration of Horizon 2020. (****) The Fast Track to Innovation (FTI) pilot actions will be funded from the specific objective “Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies” and from the relevant specific objectives of the priority “Societal challenges”. A sufficient number of projects will be launched in order to allow a full evaluation of the FTI pilot.

131

132 STI IN FLANDERS

7.2

PARTICIPATION BY FLANDERS

Flanders participates 3,614 times in 2,615 projects in Horizon 2020. This equates to a total participation funding for Flanders of 1,649.5 million euros. Flanders is responsible for the major part of the total Belgian number of participations. projects and coordinators, as well as the largest share of the participation grants. The total Flemish participation funding represents 2.68% of the total funding received from the European Commission for participating in Horizon 2020. Marie Curie (MSCA), ICT and FOOD are at present the three thematic priorities with the highest number of participations from knowledge actors in Flanders. As shown in Table 8, the Flemish participation was most successful (in terms of financial return) in the thematic priorities Improve knowledge on science communication, Information and communication technologies, Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine and maritime and inland water research, Biotechnology and Advanced Materials..

The Flemish participation was most successful in the thematic priorities Improve knowledge on science communication; Information and communication technologies; Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine and maritime and inland water research; Biotechnology and Advanced Materials.

ANNEX III FUNDING OF R&D

FLEMISH PARTICIPATION IN HORIZON 2020 BY PRIORITY Table 9

PILLAR

CROSSTHEME

Crosstheme

SCIENCE

CODE

NUMBER NUMBER OF PRO- OF PARTIJECTS CIPATIONS

FUNDING % [MEUR]

RETURN

CROSST

EU.0.

0.8%

11.45

0.7%

2.4%

0.8%

11.45

0.7%

2.4%

Total

European Research Council

EXCELLENT

PROGRAMME

ERC

EU.1.1.

190

199

5.5%

286.42

17.4%

2.5%

Future and Emerging Technologies FET

EU.1.2.

2.4%

52.53

3.2%

2.2%

Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions

MSCA

EU.1.3.

571

713

19.7%

194.56

11.8%

3.2%

Research Infrastructures

INFRA

EU.1.4.

2.2%

23.10

1.4%

1.1%

899

1,078

29.8%

556.61

33.7%

2.5%

EU.2.0.

0.0%

0.00

0.0%

Total

Industrial Leadership - Crosstheme

INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP

INDLEADCROSST

Information and communication technologies

ICT

EU.2.1.1.

283

450

12.5%

271.68

16.5%

4.0%

Nanotechnologies, Advanced Materials and production

NMP

EU.2.1.2.

0.7%

9.41

0.6%

1.6%

Advanced Materials

ADVMAT

EU.2.1.3.

2.0%

39.67

2.4%

3.3%

Biotechnology

BIOTECH

EU.2.1.4.

1.0%

14.91

0.9%

3.5%

Advanced Manufacturing and processing

ADVMANU

EU.2.1.5.

2.0%

41.99

2.5%

2.4%

Space

SPACE

EU.2.1.6.

2.1%

29.33

1.8%

3.0%

Access to risk finance

RISKFINANCE

EU.2.2.

0.0%

0.00

0.0%

Innovation in SMEs

SME

EU.2.3.

1.4%

33.94

2.1%

546

785

21.7%

440.95

26.7%

3.3%

EU.3.0.

0.0%

0.80

0.0%

0.6%

Total

Societal Challenges - Cross-theme

SOCIETAL CHALLENGES

SOCCHALCROSST

Health, demographic change and wellbeing

HEALTH

EU.3.1.

232

322

8.9%

155.88

9.5%

2.9%

Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine and maritime and inland water research

FOOD

EU.3.2.

209

383

10.6%

114.63

6.9%

3.7%

Secure, clean and efficient energy

ENERGY

EU.3.3.

184

292

8.1%

132.42

8.0%

2.9%

Smart, green and integrated transport

TPT

EU.3.4.

224

311

8.6%

107.86

6.5%

2.0%

Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials

ENV

EU.3.5.

170

4.7%

64.23

3.9%

2.8%

Europe in a changing world inclusive, innovative and reflective Societies

SOCIETY

EU.3.6.

2.1%

24.24

1.5%

2.4%

Secure societies - Protecting freedom and security of Europe and its citizens

SECURITY

EU.3.7.

2.0%

20.10

1.2%

1.5%

1,061

1,627

45.0%

620.17

37.6%

2.7%

Total

133

134 STI IN FLANDERS

NUMBER NUMBER OF PRO- OF PARTIJECTS CIPATIONS

FUNDING % [MEUR]

RETURN

Spreading excellence and widening SEAWP-CROSST EU.4.0. participation - Cross-theme

0.0%

0.00

0.0%

Teaming of excellent research institutions and low performing R&D&I regions

WIDESPREAD

EU.4.a.

0.1%

0.29

0.0%

0.1%

Twinning of research institutions

TWINING

EU.4.b.

0.8%

5.61

0.3%

2.9%

ERA chairs

ERA

EU.4.c.

0.0%

0.00

0.0%

Policy Support Facility

PSF

EU.4.d.

0.0%

0.00

0.0%

Supporting access to international networks

INTNET

EU.4.e.

0.0%

0.00

0.0%

Transnational networks of National Contact Points

NCPNET

EU.4.f.

0.0%

0.00

0.0%

0.9%

5.90

0.4%

0.6%

PILLAR

SPREADING EXCELLENCE AND WIDENING PARTICIPATION

PROGRAMME

CODE

Total

SCIENCE WITH AND FOR SOCIETY

Science with and for Society Cross-theme

SWAFS

EU.5.0.

0.1%

1.42

0.1%

1.8%

Make scientific and technological careers attractive for young people

CAREER

EU.5.a.

0.1%

0.36

0.0%

0.8%

Promote gender equality in research and innovation

GENDEREQ

EU.5.b.

0.2%

2.16

0.1%

2.9%

Integrate society in science and innovation

INEGSOC

EU.5.c.

0.2%

1.66

0.1%

1.6%

Encourage citizens to engage in science

SCIENCE

EU.5.d.

0.1%

0.25

0.0%

1.1%

Develop the accessibility and the use of the results of publiclyfunded research

RESACCESS

EU.5.e.

0.0%

0.00

0.0%

Develop the governance for the advancement of responsible research and innovation

GOV

EU.5.f.

0.2%

2.28

0.1%

2.3%

Anticipating and assessing potential environmental, health and safety impacts

IMPACT

EU.5.g.

0.0%

0.00

0.0%

Improve knowledge on science communication

KNOWLEDGE

EU.5.h.

0.1%

0.60

0.0%

6.0%

1.0%

8.72

0.5%

2.0%

0.7%

5.71

0.3%

0.5%

100%

1,649.52

100%

2.68%

Total

EURATOM

Euratom

EURATOM

1,4% TOTAL

2,615

3,614

ANNEX III FUNDING OF R&D

7.3

BENCHMARK FOR FLANDERS is counted in Full Time Equivalent (FTE), and accounts for researchers in both public and private organisations. The indicator shows the amount of EU funding obtained between 2014 and 2020 per researcher in thousands of EUR. It ranks Belgium as the best performing country in the EU, and Flanders comes in a fifth position, between Switzerland and Norway.

The performance of Flanders in Horizon 2020 is compared to the European countries in two ways. First, the total obtained contribution is divided by the Gross Domestic Product. The result shows the H2020 funding between 2014 and 2019 as a ‰ of the GDP of 2019. This index makes the performance of larger and smaller countries more comparable. The result shows that Flanders ranks in the 4th position, after Estonia, Greece and Slovenia. Belgium as a whole is fifth.

Whereas the first indicator could by biased by low-GDPcountries, the second indicator shows the competitive position of the research community in the country directly.

The second comparison shows the obtained EC contribution per researcher active in the country. The number of researchers

BENCHMARK FOR THE FLEMISH PARTICIPATION IN HORIZON 2020: H2020 as ‰ of GDP 2019 FUNDING / GDP Figure 30

10 8.6

8.3

8 7.1

6.0

5.8

5.8 5.1

4.8

4.6

4.4

4.3

4.1

4 3.2

3.2

3.1

2.9

2.8

2.6

2.4

2.2

2.0

1.8 1.4

1.3

1.2

Estonia Slovenia Belgium Netherlands Portugal Austria Norway Latvia UK France Hungary Croatia Lithuania Poland Greece Flanders Finland Denmark Spain Sweden Switzerland Ireland Italy Germany Bulgaria Czechia Slovakia Romania

H2020 per researcher (in kEUR)

49.5 49.3 47.8

45.9 44.0 43.4 43.2

41.5

40.7

40 37.0 36.6 34.2 34.1 34.0 30

28.0 27.5 23.7

22.4 21.7 21.0

20 15.3 15.2 11.0 10

10.8

9.8

8.7

7.9 5.8

Estonia Flanders Ireland Spain Italy Slovenia Latvia UK Portugal Croatia Hungary Lithuania Slovakia Belgium NetherlandsSwitzerland Norway Greece Finland Denmark Austria Sweden France Germany Romania Czechia Bulgaria Poland

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136 STI IN FLANDERS

7.4

TOP PARTICIPATING ORGANISATIONS

The higher education sector (HES) is provisionally the main Flemish beneficiary of Horizon 2020, accounting for about 43.8% of the granted support or 1.17% of the return received by Flanders. The research centres receive almost 28.9% of the support. Other public entities obtain a further 5.6% of the funding. Flemish private companies account for the remaining 21.7%.

TOP-10 UNIVERSITIES (HES) IN AN INTERNATIONAL RANKING. SORTED BY NUMBER OF PARTICIPATIONS AND FUNDING (IN MILLIONS OF EUROS) Figure 31 800

500

700 600

400

500 400

300

300 200

100

The top-3 participating institutions in Flanders in Horizon 2020 are as of yet KULeuven, imec and UGent, which jointly represented 45.2% of the total EU FP contributions to Flemish grant holders. KU Leuven ranks in fifth place when sorted by number of participations and in sixth place when sorted by funding.

0 The University of Oxford

University College London

The University of Cambridge

Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne

NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS

0 Imperial College Danmarks The University of Science, Tekniske of Manchester Technology Universitet and Medicine The University Katholieke of Edinburgh Technische Universiteit Universiteit Leuven Delft

Kobenhavns Universiteit

TOTAL CONTRIBUTED AMOUNT FROM EC (MEUR)

ANNEX III FUNDING OF R&D

8 EU REGIONAL POLICY FUND (ESIF) AND R&D&I SUPPORT ERDF in Flanders is constructed around the following thematic objectives: • TO1 « Strengthening research, technological development and innovation» • TO3 « Enhancing the competitiveness of small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs)» • TO4 « Supporting the shift towards a low-carbon economy in all sectors» • TO5 « Promoting climate change adaptation, risk prevention and management» • TO6 « Preserving and protecting the environment and promoting resource efficiency»

8.1

OBJECTIVES

The operational program ‘EFRO Vlaanderen 2014-2020’ focuses on strengthening sustainable development, the competence of Flanders and providing an essential contribution to the realisation of the European Objectives in the context of Europe 2020 – Strategy for an innovative, sustainable and inclusive growth.

8.2

PRIORITY AXES

The Flemish Operational program is developed around 4 axes (except technical assistance): • Axe 1 : Strengthening research, technological development and innovation • Axe 2 : Enhancing the competitiveness of small and mediumsized enterprises • Axe 3 : Supporting the shift towards a low-carbon economy in all sectors • Axe 4 : Sustainable urban development

8.3

11.1

BUDGET

Table 10 PRIORITY AXE

SUPPORT OF THE EU

NATIONAL CONTRIBUTION

TOTAL FINANCING

AXE 1

69,546,999

104,320,499

173,867,498

AXE 2

34,875,995

52,313,993

87,189,988

AXE 3

45,267,185

67,900,778

113,167,963

AXE 4

16,932,469

25,398,703

42,331,172

More information on ERDF in Flanders : • https://www.vlaio.be/nl/andere-doelgroepen/europees-fondsvoor-regionale-ontwikkeling • https://www.vlaio.be/nl/media/446

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ANNEX IV

HUMAN RESOURCES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

ANNEX IV HUMAN RESOURCES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1 INTRODUCTION

2 S&T STUDENTS

Highly educated and skilled personnel are a key resource for science and technology. Consequently, indicators for Human Resources in Science and Technology (HRST) are very important. HRST statistics always focus on two main aspects. Firstly, the stock of HRST that focuses on the characteristics of the current labour force involved in science and technology. Secondly, the flows showing the job-to-job mobility and the inflow from education to the science and technology labour force. In this case, particular attention is paid to scientists and engineers, who are often the innovators at the centre of technology-led development.

More than six out of every ten students start in higher education after their secondary education. In the 2019-2020 academic year, 53.884 students enrolled for the first time at a Flemish university or a university college. Of this group, known as first entry students, more than half started a professional Bachelor training at a university college. About 6,910 first entry students (about 31% of the total) at the universities start in the S&T domains (grouping together the natural sciences, applied sciences, applied biological sciences, pharmaceutical sciences, biomedical sciences, biotechnology, engineering technology, product design). In the professional and academic Bachelor at the university colleges, more than 18% of first entry students opt for a study within the following science and technological domains: biotechnology, industrial sciences and technology, nautical sciences and product development.

THE NUMBER OF FIRST ENTRY STUDENTS AT FLEMISH UNIVERSITIES IN THE S&T DOMAIN FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2019-2020, IN ABSOLUTE TERMS Figure 32

1,487 > Natural sciences 1,139 > Applied sciences 735 > Applied biological sciences 631 > Pharmaceutical sciences 1,007 > Biomedical sciences 88 > Biotechnology 1,738 > Engineering technology 85 > Product design

Source : Education department – DHO database

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140 STI IN FLANDERS

3 S&T GRADUATES In 2018-2019, 16.4% in the 20-29- year old population of Flanders had a higher degree in mathematics, science and technology. In this respect, Flanders ranks below the EU-28 average (20.8%) and the gap with the leaders (2019) - Ireland (36.9%), France (27.5%) and United Kingdom (26.2%) - remains wide. On the other hand, Flanders scores better than the Netherlands, Sweden and Italy. THE PROPORTION OF GRADUATES IN MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (HIGHER EDUCATION) IN FLANDERS PER 1000 FOR THE AGE GROUP 20 TO 29 YEARS (2019) Table 11

ACADEMIC YEAR

2013-2014

2014-2015

2015-2016

2016-2017

2017-2018

2018-2019

FLANDERS

16.5

15.0

15.8

15.6

16.3

16.4

Flanders = figure for Flemish Community academic year 2018-2019

INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON OF THE PROPORTION OF GRADUATES IN MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (HIGHER EDUCATION) PER 1000 FOR THE AGE GROUP 20 TO 29 YEARS (2019) Figure 33 40 36.9 35

25 20.8

20.9

23.7

23.4

24.4

24.8

26.2

27.5

13.6

14.2

15.8

16.4

16.5

Netherlands Sweden Belgium

Flanders Italy

EU-27 Norway

Spain Portugal

Austria Switzerland

Germany Denmark

Source : Education department – DHO database, Ireland, United Kingdom: definition differs

UK Finland

Ireland France

ANNEX IV HUMAN RESOURCES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

The proportion of S&T graduates in the total number of graduates in Flanders decreased slightly between 2015 and 2019. Viewed from an international perspective, in 2019 Flanders was ranked rather low and well below the leaders (Germany, Finland, Sweden, United Kingdom and EU-27 average), where more than 26% of all degrees are awarded in science, mathematics and technology. Only the Netherlands score poorly with regard to their proportional number of ST&M graduates.

EVOLUTION OF THE PERCENTAGE OF DEGREES IN MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN HIGHER EDUCATION AS A PROPORTION OF ALL DEGREES IN HIGHER EDUCATION FOR FLANDERS (2015-2019) Table 12

YEAR

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

FLANDERS*

18.5%

18.8%

18.6%

19.2%

19.6%

Source : Education department – DHO database; * Flanders: figures for Flemish Community Graduates higher education: ISCED 5: Short-cycle tertiary education, ISCED 6: Bachelor’s or equivalent level, ISCED 7: Master’s or equivalent level, ISCED 8: Doctoral or equivalent level.. The ISCED fields of education classification was reviewed in 2013 and the first implementation started for the academic year 2014-2015. Due to this methodological change , figures before 2015 cannot be compared.

INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON OF THE PERCENTAGE OF DEGREES IN MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN HIGHER EDUCATION AS A PROPORTION OF ALL DEGREES IN HIGHER EDUCATION (2019) Figure 34 40 36.7 35

28.5

27.3

26.3

26.1

25.8

25.4

25.3

24.4 22.5

22.0

20.9 19.6

18.6

17.5

Germany

Finland

Sweden

EU-27

France

Ireland Switzerland

Italy

Denmark

Spain

Norway

Flanders Netherlands Belgium (Flemish Community)

Source : Education department – DHO database; *Flanders: figures for Flemish Community

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142 STI IN FLANDERS

4 R&D PERSONNEL In 2019, the total number of R&D personnel for Flanders reached 59,283 full-time equivalents (FTE), which is an increase of 32.3% since 2014. Over the past five years, the number of research staff has increased both in companies and in the public sector. The public sector groups together all research institutes from the higher education sector (HES), the government sector (GOV) and the private not-for-profit sector (PNP). The majority of the R&D personnel (64.8%) work in the private sector (BES). The overall share of the public component (PNP, HES and GOV) rather declines since 2014. The HES component is the most important element of the public component (with 15,223 FTE or 72.2%) in 2019, followed by the GOV component (5,372 FTE or 26.4%).

EVOLUTION OF THE R&D PERSONNEL FROM 2013 TO 2019 Figure 35 24,026

2013

2014

17,780

26,134

18,681

2015

27,599

2016

29,286

2017

18,917

18,673

31,694

2018

19,153

34,179

2019

20,139

38,386 0

10,000

20,000

20,896 30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

PUBLIC SECTOR

PRIVATE SECTOR

INTERNATIONAL POSITION OF FLANDERS FOR TOTAL R&D PERSONNEL (% OF THE LABOUR FORCE) IN 2019 Figure 36 Denmark

2.01

Flanders

1.91

Korea

1.88

Finland

1.86

Belgium

1.84

Austria

1.84

The Netherlands

1.72

Germany

1.68

Norway

1.66 1.66

Sweden

1.56

France 1.38

UK Italy

1.37

EU-27

1.37 1.32

Japan 1.01

Spain

1.00

Russia 0.59

China 0

0.5

1.5

2.5

Source: OECD database. Main Science and Technology Indicators Spain, Italy, Russia, EU27, UK, Japan, Austria, Belgium, The Netherlands, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark: estimation; Japan,Austria, Italy and Spain: definition differs; Denmark: provisional; UK and Norway: figure for 2018

ANNEX IV HUMAN RESOURCES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

The level of R&D personnel corresponds to 0.90% of the total population and 1.91% (2019) of the labour force. Flanders therefore belongs to the top with regard to R&D personnel numbers as a proportion of the labour force. The Flemish figure is much higher than the average but Denmark still has a significant lead.

The R&D personnel in the GOV and HES (2019) can be broken down by different fields of science. For the GOV sector, this indicates the dominant position of engineering and technology. For the HES sector, the most important fields of science are the medical sciences, the natural sciences, social sciences and engineering.

The R&D staff with the companies (private sector) counted more than 37,800 full-time equivalents in 2019 and this figure corresponds with about 57,600 headcount, of which more than 30,600 researchers and and approximately 27,000 technical and other personnel.

More than 81.4% of the R&D personnel working in the HES on R&D activities in Flanders are researchers (2019). This figure is high compared to the other European countries and much higher than the EU-27 average. Approximately 72% of the R&D personnel (2019) in the GOV in Flanders are also researchers. Once again, this figure is higher than for France, Germany and the EU-27 average, but this time lower than most of the Scandinavian countries.

The R&D staff within the non-profit organisations (public sector) counted more than 20,900 full-time equivalents in 2019. This figure corresponds with about 34,900 headcount, of which more than 25,300 researchers and approximately 9,600 technical and other personnel. The breakdown of R&D staff by gender shows that around 16,400 women and 18,500 men are employed in the public sector on R&D activities. One in three of the R&D personnel in the public sector has granted a PhD (11,700 headcount).

With a figure of 43.1% for female researchers working in the higher education (HES), Flanders again compares favourably with neighbouring countries (Germany and France), but the Scandinavian countries show higher rates here. For female staff working in public research centres (GOV), Flanders has a score almost similar to Germany and France, but once again cannot match the performance of the north European countries.

INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON - % SHARE OF WOMEN RESEARCHERS IN GOV AND HES (HEADCOUNT) IN 2019 Figure 37 Finland Norway The Netherlands Denmark Sweden Flanders Belgium Austria France Germany Japan 0%

10% HEs

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

GOV

Source: OECD database. Main Science and Technology Indicators The Netherlands (2018), Sweden and France (2017) Austria, Japan, Germany (GOV) and the Netherlands (GOV): definition differs; Belgium, Sweden: time series break; Denmark and France: provisional

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144 STI IN FLANDERS

5 MOBILITY OF RESEARCHERS Between 2004 and 2020, the existing pattern of nationality for all statutes and levels of academic careers in Belgium gradually changed. These changes were least pronounced for Assisting Academic Staff or AAP (in 2004. 95.6% were Belgians and 87.6% in 2020) and for Senior Academic Staff or ZAP (95.0% in 2004 and still 87.6% in 2020). However, the changes were particularly strong for Scientific Staff or WP, above all in the sub-category “post-doctorates”, where the number of Belgian researchers declined from 77.2% in 2004 to 52.3% in 2020. The same trend is also noticeable for doctoral researchers: from 88.3% in 2004 to 62.0% in 2020.

Dutch, Italian and German researchers are strongly represented among the group of foreign researchers in Belgium but also researchers from China, India and France are quite good represented. Foreign researchers are mainly found in the doctoral and postdoctoral sub-categories. The share of nonEU researchers for ZAP (Senior Academic Staff) or AAP (Assisting Academic Staff) personnel is rather limited from 2.1% to 4.3% of the total.

EVOLUTION OF THE NON-BELGIAN NATIONALITY OF RESEARCHERS FOR THE DIFFERENT STATUTES AND LEVELS OF THE ACADEMIC CAREER (2010-2020) Figure 38 50% 45% WPpostdoc

40% 35%

WP-doc

30% 25% 20% 15%

ZAP

10%

AAP

5% 0%

Source: VLIR

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

ANNEX IV HUMAN RESOURCES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

The Human Resources in Research Flanders (HRRF) database indicates that 80.4% of the researchers who obtained a PhD in the academic years 2011-2012 to 2013-2014 were no longer active in a post-doc or ZAP function at a Flemish university, three years after getting their PhD. The largest part of these will most likely be employed by the nonacademic labour market in Flanders. But a relevant part of these will be continuing an academic career outside Flanders. Unfortunately no reliable information is available on the size of each of these groups. A study some years ago showed the most popular destinations for Belgian PhD holders to continue their career. Most of them went to the United States due to the availability of positions at renowned research institutes. Belgian researchers also frequently choose neighbouring countries with strong research tradition, such as France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Germany. This mobility pattern was similar to other Western European countries. After a steady increase until 2017-2018, the total number of PhDs in Flanders had decreased, reaching a level of 1,975 new doctorate holders in 2019-2020. The number of female PhDs has also grown significantly more than the number of male PhDs. Even so, the proportion of women holders is increased to 45%. An analysis of the number of PhDs per field of science shows a substantial increase for engineering & technology and the social sciences. The medical sciences (21.5%), engineering & technology (20.5%) and the social sciences (19.8%) have the largest share in the total number of PhDs by field of science.

EVOLUTION OF THE NUMBER OF PHDS IN FLANDERS BY GENDER FROM 2010-2011 TO 2019-2020 Figure 39 2,500

1,986

2,000 1,670 1,500

1,678

1,956

2,155

2,043

2,099

1,975 Total

1,724

1,428

Man

1,000

Woman

500

0 2010-2011

2012-2013 2011-2012

2014-2015 2013-2014

2016-2017 2015-2016

2018-2019 2017-2018

2019-2020

EVOLUTION OF THE NUMBER OF PHDS IN FLANDERS BY FIELD OF SCIENCE FROM 2009-2010 TO 2019-2020 Figure 40 600

Medical sciences

500

Social sciences Engineering and technology Natural sciences

400

300 Agricultural sciences 200

Humanities

100

Combined fields of science 2009-2010

2010-2011

2011-2012

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

2015-2016

2016-2017

2017-2018

2018-2019

2019-2020

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146 STI IN FLANDERS

ANNEX V

INNOVATION EFFORTS BY ENTERPRISES IN FLANDERS (CIS RESULTS)

ANNEX V INNOVATION EFFORTS BY ENTERPRISES IN FLANDERS (CIS RESULTS)

1 CIS: GLOBAL RESULTS Based on the principles described in the Oslo Manual, the innovation efforts made by business enterprises in the European Union are systematically measured by the Community Innovation Survey (CIS). These harmonized surveys are carried out by the national statistical offices and are designed to give information about the degree of innovativeness in different sectors and regions. In 2018 the Oslo Manual was revised. A major consequence of this revision was that the three concepts of (technological) process innovation, organisational innovation and marketing innovation that before 2018 were considered separately, were now combined into one overall concept of business process innovation. This move was motivated by the fact that the three processes oftentimes overlap and cooccur. Hence, after the 2018 revision of the Oslo Manual, we are left with two broader types of innovation to consider: product innovation, and the more broadly defined business process innovation.

INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON OF THE PERCENTAGE OF COMPANIES WITH PRODUCT INNOVATIONS,BUSINESS PROCESS INNOVATIONS AND/OR ONGOING OR ABANDONED INNOVATION ACTIVITIES (2016-2018 (CIS 2019)) Figure 41

90 80 73% 70

70%

68%

68% 63%

63%

62% 57% 52%

50%

40 30 20 10 0

Estonia

Flanders

Cyprus

Germany

Belgium

Norway

Sweden

Austria

Finland

Denmark

France

Netherlands EU-27

The overall innovation rate (including product innovation, business process innovation as well as ongoing or abandoned innovation activities) of Flanders rose from 56% in 2010-2012 to 70% in 2016-2018. In 2018, Flanders scored well above the EU-28 average (50%) and is ranked among the top countries Estonia (73%), Cyprus, Germany and Norway (68%).

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148 STI IN FLANDERS

ANNEX V INNOVATION EFFORTS BY ENTERPRISES IN FLANDERS (CIS RESULTS)

2 TOTAL INNOVATION OVER TIME Following the revision of the Oslo Manual, we look at the overall innovation rate in Flanders over time. The total innovation rate now includes product innovation, the more broadly defined business process innovation (which also includes nontechnological aspects such as organisational and marketing innovation, besides purely technological process innovations) as well as ongoing and abandoned innovation activities. The results for CIS 2019 show that in the period 2016-2018 70% of

the business enterprises in Flanders were innovative and had either product innovations, business process innovations and/ or ongoing or abandoned innovation activities. These results are similar to those obtained with CIS 2015 and CIS 2017 (68%), for the periods 2012-2014 and 2014-2016, respectively.

EVOLUTION OF THE PERCENTAGE OF BUSINESS ENTERPRISES IN FLANDERS WITH PRODUCT INNOVATIONS, BUSINESS PROCESS INNOVATIONS AND/OR ONGOING OR ABANDONED INNOVATION ACTIVITIES Table 13

CIS2009 CIS2011 2006- 2008 2008-2010

CIS2013 CIS2015 (2010-2012) 2012-2014

CIS2017 2014-2016

CIS2019 2016-2018

TOTAL INNOVATION ACTIVITIES

61%

56%

68%

70%

SMES

61%

60%

56%

68%

69%

LARGE COMPANIES

85%

80%

87%

88%

90%

LOW TECHNOLOGY

58%

53%

66%

65%

67%

HIGH TECHNOLOGY

78%

79%

71%

78%

83%

INDUSTRY

64%

69%

62%

75%

76%

SERVICES

60%

55%

452%

63%

66%

Source: ECOOM

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150 STI IN FLANDERS

Large companies and medium-sized companies generally are more innovative than smaller firms. The most innovative firms are high tech firms and manufacturing firms. Firms report that regulations may have some negative impact on innovations, but for environmental, intellectual property and tax regulations medium and large size firms also report a positive impact of those regulations, as they facilitate or help initiate innovations.

Collaboration in innovation activities remains very important. Suppliers, consultants, commercial laboratories or research institutions and other companies within the group are the most important partners. For large firms, public research institutes or the government are also important partners for their innovation activities.

ANNEX V INNOVATION EFFORTS BY ENTERPRISES IN FLANDERS (CIS RESULTS)

3 PRODUCT INNOVATION AND BUSINESS PROCESS INNOVATION Business process innovation is a very important way of innovation in Flemish companies. Approximately 61% of all enterprises carried out business process innovation and this corresponds to 87 % of all Flemish innovative companies. Approximately 29% of all enterprises carried out product innovation in the period 2016-2018, corresponding to 42% of all Flemish innovative companies. Approximately 48% of all enterprises report ongoing innovation activities and 12% report abandoned innovation activities in the period 2016-2018 (corresponding to, respectively, 68% and 18% of all innovative enterprises in Flanders). With an innovation rate for business process innovation of 61% in 2016-2018, Flanders is one of the leading countries in comparison with the rest of Europe and the EU-27 figure.

INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON OF THE PERCENTAGE OF BUSINESS ENTERPRISES WITH BUSINESS PROCESS INNOVATION (2016-2018 (CIS 2019)) Figure 42

90 80 70

66% 61%

60 50

58%

55%

53%

52%

48%

47% 41%

41%

40%

39% 33%

30 20 10 0 Cyprus

Belgium Austria Norway Finland EU-27 Netherlands Portugal Flanders Estonia Sweden Denmark France Ireland Germany

With an innovation rate for product innovation of 29% in 2016-2018, Flanders scores equal to the figure for the EU27 but much lower than the leading countries for this indicator (Estonia, Norway, Sweden and Germany).

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ANNEX VI

STI PRODUCTIVITY OR STI OUTPUT?

ANNEX VI STI PRODUCTIVITY OR STI OUTPUT?

1 INTRODUCTION Patent statistics and publication statistics provide important indicators for measuring R&D output. Long time series are available and the data allow cross-country comparison. This section looks more closely at the role of publications and patents (applications and grants) as an output of R&D expenditure.

2 SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS Scientific publications are an important instrument for measuring the visibility of research output. This analysis is based on the major bibliographic information of ISI-Thomson Scientific; namely, the Science Citation Index (scientific journals) and the Proceeding Database (conference proceedings). The Flemish output of scientific publications has increased significantly in recent years. In 2019, there were 33.0 publications per 10,000 inhabitants, whereas there were only 24.9 publications per 10,000 inhabitants in 2012. Flanders now ranks in fourth position in Europe after Denmark, Sweden and Finland.

EVOLUTION OF THE PUBLICATION OUTPUT PER 10,000 INHABITANTS FOR FLANDERS (2012-2019) Table 14

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

ONLY SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS

22.0

22.7

24.5

25.5

25.7

27.7

29.4

30.5

SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND PROCEEDINGS

24.9

25.6

27.0

28.6

30.5

32.3

32.6

33.0

INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON OF THE PUBLICATION OUTPUT PER 10,000 INHABITANTS (2019) Figure 43 Denmark

46.0

Sweden

38.2

Finland

34.2

Flanders

33.0

The Netherlands

32.3

Belgium

27.1

Ireland

26.9

Great Britain

25.8

Germany

18.1 17.5

Spain

16.6

Italy

14.8

France 0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

35.0

40.0

45.0

50.0

0.98%

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154 STI IN FLANDERS

The share of Flemish publications in the total figure for Belgium showed since 2000 an upward trend and now fluctuates about 72.9% for the most recent years (2016-2019). The Flemish share (journal articles only, all S&T fields) of the world total of scientific publications had fluctuated around 1.0% with a highest share of 1.05% in 2015. In the past ten years, the share for France, Germany and the UK in the global amount of publications started to decline and the share for the UK and Italy rather remained stable. Ireland, Spain, the Nederlands, Denmark, Belgium and Sweden increased their share. However, the most important new player is China. In 2002, China’s share of world publication output was roughly equivalent to that of Italy (about 5%). China passed France in 2004, Germany in 2005 and Great Britain in 2006. By 2018, the Chinese share had already risen to 22.5%. All publication output for the period 2014 to 2019 can be broken down into publications by different types of organisations. The share of higher education (universities and university colleges) in the total number of Flemish scientific publications amounted to more than 87%. About 13% of all Flemish SCIE documents

were published by employees from public research institutes or civil servants. Private institutions and hospitals (apart from university hospitals) were responsible respectively for almost 5% and about 4% of the total. The share of the higher education has continued to increase slightly in recent years. The scientific specialisation profile for Flanders for the period 2007 to 2019 is a typical example of the classic “Western” pattern, with life sciences and medical sciences as the dominant publications areas. Nevertheless, some other evolutions within this overall pattern are worth noting. For example, there was a sharp growth in Flanders between 2014 and 2019 in the fields of neuroscience (NEUR) and the social sciences (SOC1 and SOC2). The Flemish publication profile also shows that Flemish output is significantly above the world standard in terms of biology (BIOL), biomedical research (BIOM), life sciences (BIOS), clinical and experimental medicine I (CLI1) and neuroscience (NEUR); and below the world standard in chemistry (CHEM), physics (PHYS), earth and spaces sciences (GEOS), and also for mathematics (MATH) and engineering (ENGN) for the second period (2014-2019).

THE SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATION PROFILE OF FLANDERS IN 2007-2012 AND 2014-2019 BASED ON THE ACTIVITY INDEX (AI) Figure 44

AGRI SOC2

1.60

AGRI = Agronomy and Environmental Sciences

BIOL

1.40 1.20

SOC1

BIOL = B iology (at the organism and the supra-organism level) BIOS = L ife Sciences (general, cellular and subcellular biology, genetics)

BIOS

1.00

BIOM = Biomedical Research

0.80 0.60

MATH

BIOM

0.40

CLI1 = C linical and Experimental Medicine (general and internal medicine)

0.20

CLI2 = Experimental Medicine II (non-internal)

0.00

NEUROS = Neurosciences

ENGN

CLI1

CHEM = Chemistry PHYS = Physics GEOS = Earth and Space Sciences

GEOS

CLI2 PHYS

NEUR

2014-2019

MATH = Mathematics SOC1 = S ocial sciences 1 (general, regional & community issues) SOC2 = S ocial sciences 2 (economic, political and legal sciences)

CHEM 2007-2012

ENGN = Engineering

World Standard

ANNEX VI STI PRODUCTIVITY OR STI OUTPUT?

3 CITATIONS Citations analysis reflects the impact made by the research output of the scientific community and can also be used for measuring the quality of that output. Compared to other European countries and based on the results for the different periods covered in the citation map (2007-2011 and 2014-2018), Flanders is part of the leading group with Sweden, Denmark, Ireland and the Netherlands. Flanders is closing the gap with the leading countries: Denmark and the Netherlands. The results of the two periods show that, in terms of relative citation frequency, Flanders is above or at least equal to the

world standard in all fields of science. In particular, a very high score can be noted for the life sciences. The indicator values for chemistry (CHEM) and mathematics (MATH) are the lowest, but still almost represents the neutral value of 1.0 in comparison with the world standard. The relative citation scores for clinical research (CLI1 and CLI2) are higher than for the natural sciences. Also noteworthy is the increased impact in clinical research (CLI1 and CLI2) and earth and space sciences (GEOS) and the decreased impact in agriculture (AGRI), engineering (ENGN) and mathematics (MATH).

THE SCIENTIFIC CITATION PROFILE OF FLANDERS FROM 2007-2011 AND 2014-2018 BASED ON THE ACTIVITY INDEX (AI) Figure 45

AGRI SOC2

1.75

BIOL

1.5 1.25

SOC1

BIOS

AGRI = Agronomy and Environmental Sciences

BIOL = B iology (at the organism and the supra-organism level)

0.75 0.5

MATH

BIOM

0.25

BIOS = L ife Sciences (general, cellular and subcellular biology, genetics) BIOM = Biomedical Research

CLI1 = C linical and Experimental Medicine (general and internal medicine)

ENGN

CLI1

CLI2 = Experimental Medicine II (non-internal) NEUROS = Neurosciences CHEM = Chemistry PHYS = Physics

GEOS

CLI2

GEOS = Earth and Space Sciences ENGN = Engineering

PHYS

NEUR CHEM

2007-20012

2014-2018

MATH = Mathematics SOC1 = S ocial sciences 1 (general, regional & community issues) SOC2 = S ocial sciences 2 (economic, political and legal sciences)

World Standard

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4 CO-PUBLICATIONS be explained on historical grounds, but also other important cooperation with Africa and Asia can be noticed.

Flemish scientific publications are increasingly the result of close international cooperation. In 2019, almost 71.6% of the publications were written with at least one foreign co-author. Flanders occupies a leading position with Sweden (70.3%), Finland and Denmark (both 66.7%) in the ranking of countries involved in co-authorship (2019). An analysis of the major copublication links for Flanders for the period 2014-2019 reveal strong cooperation links with the Netherlands, Germany, UK, France, Spain and Italy. Other (but weaker) co-publication links can be found for most of the other EU-27 countries (Portugal, Ireland, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Switzerland, Denmark, Hungary), the USA, Belarus, Georgia, Switzerland.

A comparison between the profile of the international copublications of Flanders with the profile of all publications shows a clear polarisation in favour of the biosciences (BIOL and BIOS), of biology (BIOL), the neurosciences (NEUR) and the the earth and space sciences (GEOS) and physics (PHYS) to the detriment of the social sciences (SOC1/2). In the second period (2014-2019), the profile for Flanders for co-publications moved significantly over the world standard in the neuro- and behavioural sciences (NEUR), the Clinical and Experimental Medicine (general and internal medicine) (CLI1), the social sciences 2 (economic, political en legal sciences) (SOC2). On the other hand, the co-publication activity in chemistry, physics, engineering and mathematics decreased and the co-publication activity in the social sciences increased.

The relatively important link with some African countries (for example, the Democratic Republic of Congo) can partly

THE SCIENTIFIC CO-PUBLICATION PROFILE OF FLANDERS FROM 2005-2010 AND 2014-2019 BASED ON THE ACTIVITY INDEX (AI) Figure 46

AGRI SOC2

1.6 1.4

AGRI = Agronomy and Environmental Sciences

1.2

SOC1

BIOL = B iology (at the organism and the supra-organism level)

BIOL

BIOS = L ife Sciences (general, cellular and subcellular biology, genetics)

BIOS

BIOM = Biomedical Research

0.8

CLI1 = C linical and Experimental Medicine (general and internal medicine)

0.6

MATH

BIOM

0.4

CLI2 = Experimental Medicine II (non-internal) NEUROS = Neurosciences

0.2

CHEM = Chemistry

PHYS = Physics

ENGN

CLI1

GEOS = Earth and Space Sciences ENGN = Engineering MATH = Mathematics

GEOS

CLI2 PHYS

NEUR CHEM

2007-2012

2014-2019

World Standard

SOC1 = S ocial sciences 1 (general, regional & community issues) SOC2 = S ocial sciences 2 (economic, political and legal sciences)

ANNEX VI STI PRODUCTIVITY OR STI OUTPUT?

5 SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES The growing importance of publications in the innovation chain and in the distribution of research funds to universities has become evident in recent years. Studies also show that the Web of Science (WoS) does not fully represent the research efforts being made in the social sciences and the humanities. The Flemish Government also wants to map the publications that are not included in the WoS. Consequently, a group of experts was charged to collect both groups in a database, called the “Vlaams Academisch Bibliografisch bestand” (VABB) for the socioeconomic sciences and humanities (SSH). At the present time, VABB-SSH lists 119,588 publications published between 2000 and 2019, of which just 54,004 were found in the WoS (under the categorisations SCIE, SSCI, AHCI and the proceedings for CPCI-S & CPCI-SSH). The other 65,584 contained 37,974 articles in journals, 1,935 books (author), 3,099 books (editor), 19,860 chapters in books and 2,716 proceedings. Analysed by discipline (period 2000-2019), social health sciences has the greatest share (15.3%), followed by economics (14.7%), law (14.6%) and psychology (11.0%).

6 PATENTS Patents are intended to grant innovators a temporary monopoly to exploit their innovative efforts. Patent information also helps to map technological progress and assess the degree of innovation within a particular organisation or region. The total number of patents for Flanders, as well as for the other reference countries, has increased in recent years. Between 1980 and 2019, 57,102 EPO patent applications with a Belgian inventor and/or applicant were made and, at the moment when the analysis was made, 30,921 or 54% had been effectively assigned. For Flanders, 37,969 patents applications were filed during the same period and 21,263 (55%) were assigned. These proportions are roughly equal to those for the following reference countries: Great Britain (52%), the Netherlands and Denmark (54%). Germany (62%), France (61%) and Austria (61%) have the highest assignment rates. An international comparison (2016) of the number of patents by origin (EPO applications) indicates that Flanders is located in the group of followers (ninth position), with 266.8 patents per million of population, (origin based on inventor and/or applicant address). This ranking is led by Luxembourg 23 , Switzerland, Sweden and Finland. Flanders is ranked after Denmark (eighth) and before Belgium (tenth). From an international perspective, this is quite a good result for Flanders and Belgium, bearing in mind that all the reference countries together represent about 95% of total patent activities.

It should be noted that Luxembourg is characterised by a population of less than 0.5 million inhabitants. The indicator patents / million inhabitants hence implies a multiplication of the absolute volumes with a factor approximating 2, which is not the case for any of the other reference countries. In absolute terms therefore, the numbers for Luxembourg are lower than what the figure suggests.

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EVOLUTION OF EPO PATENT APPLICATIONS FOR FLANDERS PER MILLION OF POPULATION BY ORIGIN, INVENTOR AND/OR APPLICANT (2009-2017) Table 15

FLANDERS

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

239.2

241.4

250.4

249.9

243.7

264.6

268.9

266.8

258.5

INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON OF EPO PATENT APPLICATIONS PER MILLION OF POPULATION BY ORIGIN, INVENTOR AND/OR APPLICANT (2016) Figure 47 900.0 800.0

916.3 802.1

700.0 600.0 500.0 431.4

400.0

329.5 323.3

300.0

316.9

313.5

299.8

266.8 214.9

200.0

172.0

171.6 131.8

100.0

114.2

84.7

0.0 Luxembourg

Sweden

Switzerland

The Netherlands Austria

Finland

Germany

Flanders

Denmark

Ireland Belgium

Based on patents granted under the USPTO system, Belgium and Flanders occupy respectively eleventh and fifteenth place. The leaders here are Luxembourg, Switzerland, the USA, and Korea.

USA France

Italy

Great Britain

ANNEX VI STI PRODUCTIVITY OR STI OUTPUT?

EVOLUTION OF USPTO PATENT GRANTS FOR FLANDERS PER MILLION OF POPULATION BY ORIGIN, INVENTOR AND/OR APPLICANT (2009-2017) Table 16

FLANDERS

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

156.7

160.3

166.1

176.3

188.5

204.1

185.0

152.6

96.2

INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON OF USPTO PATENT GRANTS PER MILLION OF POPULATION BY ORIGIN, INVENTOR AND/OR APPLICANT (2016) Figure 48

900.0 800.0 700.0 600.0 541.4 500.0 400.0

425.8

402.9 323.8

300.0

304.9

267 223.3

200.0

179.5

177.1

169.4

152.6

151.4

150.5

135.4

100.0

113.6

89.3

69.3

35.2

0.0 Luxembourg

USA

Switzerland

Japan Korea

Sweden Ireland

Finland

Canada

Flanders

Austria

The Netherlands Germany

Belgium

Demark

France

Great Britain

Italy

Flanders occupies the eleventh place in the ranking of PCT applications, with Belgium in tirthteenth position. This list is headed by Luxembourg, Switzerland, Sweden, Japan and the Netherlands. EVOLUTION OF PCT PATENT APPLICATIONS FOR FLANDERS PER MILLION OF POPULATION BY ORIGIN, INVENTOR AND/OR APPLICANT (2009-2017) Table 17

FLANDERS

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

190.1

194.3

199.7

209.4

186.8

207.6

205.2

201.5

207.2

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INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON OF PCT PATENT APPLICATIONS PER MILLION OF POPULATION BY ORIGIN, INVENTOR AND/OR APPLICANT (2016) Figure 49 900.0 800.0

812.1

700.0 648.9 600.0 500.0 451.7 400.0 363 300.0

340.8

322

296.1

270.7

200.0 100.0

261.3

230

201.5

193.8

169

154.7

153.2

126.4 66.9

0.0 Luxembourg

Belgium Sweden The Netherlands Korea Germany Flanders Ireland Italy Switzerland Japan Finland Denmark Austria USA France Great Britain

A breakdown in organisational types reveals that companies are particularly active in applying for patents (83% of patents are held by companies). The most important applicants (companies) for Flanders are Janssen Pharmaceutica, Agfa-Gevaert, CNH (Case New Holland) Belgium, Electrolux Home Products Corporation and Bekaert. In addition, public research centres (imec, VIB,…) and universities are increasingly active as patent applicants (owning almost 11% of patents). An international comparison shows that this 11% rate is very high. In 33% of all EPO-patent applications with a Flemish inventor, foreign applicants are involved (measured over the last ten years). It concerns mainly applicants from the United States (21%), France and Germany (with respectively 11% and 8%). International inventor collaboration can further be illustrated by considering patents with at least one Flemish inventor and one foreign inventor (international co-inventions). This is the case for 43% of Flemish patents. International co-applicants (at least one Flemish applicant and at least one foreign applicant) represent 47% of all Flemish patents.

A regional European patent map divided 279 European regions at the NUTS2 level. The European top-five (based on applicants addresses) are: Nordwestschweiz (CH), Oberbayern (DE), Inner London – West (UK), Noord-Brabant (NL) and Zentralschweiz (CH). For Flanders, Vlaams-Brabant occupies position 37 in this ranking, with West-Vlaanderen at 40, Antwerpen at 65, OostVlaanderen at 74 and Limburg at 82. When considering inventor addresses, the top-five are Voralberg (AT), Nordwestschweiz (CH), Mittelfranken (DE), Oberbayern (DE) and Karlsruhe (DE). The Flemish provinces are ranked at 21 (Vlaams-Brabant), at 54 (Antwerpen), at 63 (Oost-Vlaanderen), at 67 (West-Vlaanderen) and at 93 (Limburg). The regional patent map for Flanders allocates patents to the departmental level. Based on inventor addresses, the top-five are Leuven, Diksmuide, Gent, Halle-Vilvoorde and Kortrijk. For applicant addresses, the top-five is composed of Brugge, Leuven, Kortrijk, Gent and Tielt.

ANNEX VI STI PRODUCTIVITY OR STI OUTPUT?

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162 STI IN FLANDERS

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS AAL

Active and Assisted Living

AAP

Assisting Academic Staff

AAVREU

General Representation of the Government of Flanders to the EU

ADMA-Energy

Advanced Manufacturing for Energy-Related Applications

AHA

Active and Healthy Aging

AMCER

Advanced Monitoring and Coordination of R&D policies at European level

AMR

Antimicrobial Resistance

ANAEE

Analysis and Experimentation on Ecosystems

ARWU

Academic Ranking of World Universities

Enterprise Flanders

BAN Vlaanderen

Business Angels Network in Flanders

BBEU

Bio-Base Europe

BBI

BioBased Industries

BBRI

Belgian Building Research Institute

BCRC

Belgian Ceramic Research Centre

BELSPO

Programmatory Public Service for Science Policy

BERD

Business Expenditure on Research and Development

BES

Business Enterprise Sector

BIRA

Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy

BOF

Special Research Fund

BRRC

Belgian Road Research Centre

BWI

Belgian Welding Institute

CECAM

European Centre for Atomistic and Molecular Computations

Centexbel

Scientific and Technical Service Centre for the Belgian Textile Industry

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

CEO

Chief Executive Officer

CERN

European Organisation for Nuclear Research

CERN-CMS

European Organisation for Nuclear Research - Compact Muon Solenoid

CIS

Community Innovation Survey

COOCK

Collective Research and Development and Collective Knowledge Dissemination

CORI

Coatings Research Institute

COST

(European) Cooperation in Science and Technology

CRC

Centre for Research and Conservation

CRIC

Centre for the Cement Industry

CRM

Centre de Recherches Métallurgiques

CSTP

Committee on Science and Technological Innovation Policy (from OECD)

DARIAH

Digital Research Infrastructures for the Arts and Humanities

DISSCO

Distributed System of Scientific Collections

European Commission

ECT

European Centre for Theoretical Studies in nuclear Physics and Related Areas

ELAt

Eindhoven-Leuven-Aachen triangle

EEN

Enterprise Europe Network

ECOOM

Expertise Centre for Research & Development Monitoring

ECSEL

Electronic Components and Systems

EIS

European Innovation Scoreboard

EIT

European Institute for Technology

ELIXIR

Distributed Infrastructure for Life-science Information

EMB

European Marine Board

EMBRC

European Marine Biology Resource Centre

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EMBO/L

European Molecular Biotechnology Organisation/Laboratory

EMODnet

European Marine Observation and Data Network

ESM

Efficient and Sustainable Manufacturing

EOS

Excellence of Science (co-operation between FWO and FNRS)

EPO

European Patent Office

ERA

European Research Area

ERAC

European Research Area and Innovation Committee (towards EC)

ERC

European Research Council

ERDF

European Regional Development Fund

ERRIN

European Regions Research and Innovation Network

ESA

European Space Agency

ESA BIC

European Space Agency Business and Innovation Centre

ESA 2010

European System of Accounts

ESF

European Science Foundation or European Social Fund

ESFRI

European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures

ESIF

European Structural and Investment Funds

ESO

European Southern Observatory

ESRF

European Synchrotron Radiation Facility

ESS

European Social Survey

European Union

EUA

European University Association

EUKA

Flemish Drone Federation

EWI

Economy, Science and Innovation

FACCE

Joint Programming Initiative on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change

FCH

Fuel Cells and Hydrogen

FFTF

Flanders Future Tech Fund

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

FIIVP

Flanders Inspires International Visitors Programme

FIT

Flanders Investment and Trade

FLAG

Flemish Aerospace Groep

Framework Programme

FRIS

Flanders Research Information Space

FTE

Full-time equivalent

FOSB

Flemish Open Science Board

FUST

Flanders UNESCO Science Trust

FUSTIB

Flanders UNIDO Science Trust Fund for Industrial Biotechnology

FWO

Research Foundation Flanders

GBARD

Government Budget Appropriations for R&D

GBEV

Ghent Bio-Energy Valley

GDP

Gross Domestic Product

GDP(R)

Gross Domestic Product per Region

GERD

Gross Expenditure on Research and Development

GII

Global Innovation Index

GIMV

Flanders Investment Company

GOV

Government sector

GOVERD

Government Expenditure on R&D

HDHL

A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life

HERD

Higher Education Research and Development Survey

HES

Higher education sector

HRRF

Human Resources in Research Flanders

HRST

Human Resources in Science and Technology

IBN

Innovative Business Networks

ICOS

Integrated Carbon Observation System

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ICT

Information and Communication Technology

ILVO

Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research

imec

Interuniversity Micro-Electronic Centre

IMI

Innovative Medicines Initiative

iMinds

Interdisciplinary Institute for Broadband Technology (as of end 2016. iMinds became a business unit of Imec)

INBO

Research Institute for Nature and Forest

INSTRUCT

Integrated Structural Biology Infrastructure

IOC

Inter-governmental Oceanographic Commission

IODE

International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange

IOF

Industrial Research Fund

IoT

Internet of Things

IPR

Intellectual property rights

IRE

Institute for Radioelements

IRI

Programme for International Research Infrastructure

IRMM

Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements

ISI

Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research

ITM

Institute for Tropical Medicine

IUS

Innovation Union Scoreboard

International Flanders (policy area)

IWT

Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology

JPI

Joint Programming Initiative

JPND

Joint Programming on Neurodegenerative Diseases

JRC

Joint Research Centre

JTI

Joint Technology Initiative

KAGB

Royal Academy for Medicine of Belgium

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

KANTL

Royal Academy for Dutch Language and Literature

KBIN

Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences

KBR

National Library of Belgium

KET

Key Enabling Technologies

KIC

Knowledge and Innovation Community

KIK

Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage

KMI

Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium

KMKG

Royal Museums of Art and History

KMSK

Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium

KMSKA

Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp

KSB

Royal Observatory of Belgium

KU Leuven

Catholic University of Leuven

KVAB

Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Sciences and Arts

LERU

League of European Research Universities

LRM

Limburg Reconversion Company

METIS

Mid-Infrared ELT Imager and Spectrograph

MoU

Memorandum of Understanding

MYBL

More Years Better Lives

NACE

European Classification of Economic Activities

NCP

National Contact Point

NERF

Neuro-electronics Research Flanders

NESTI

National Experts on Science and Technology Indicators

NHP

National Reform Programme

NUTS

Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics

OECD

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development

OJO

Support of Young Researchers

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168 STI IN FLANDERS

OMC

Open Method of Coordination

Quacquarelli Symonds (ranking)

PhD

Doctor of Philosophy

PCT

Patent Cooperation Treaty

PMV

Flanders Holding Company

PNP

Private non- Profit Sector

PPS

Purchasing Power Standard

PRACE

Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe

PRO

Public Research Organisation

PWO

Practice-oriented scientific research (for university colleges)

Quacquarelli Symonds

R&D

Research and Development

R&I

Research and Innovation

R&D&I

Research, Development and Innovation

RIM

Regional Innovation Monitor

RIS

Regional Innovation Scoreboard

RTD

Research and Technological Development

RVO Society

Roger Van Overstraeten Society

RZSA

Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp

S&T

Science & Technology

Smart Specialisation Strategy

SCC

Smart Cities and Communities

SCINNOPOLI

Scanning Innovation Policy Impact

SCK CEN

Belgian Nuclear Research Centre

SESAR

Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research

SERV

Flanders Social and Economic Council

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

SFIC

Strategic Forum for International S&T Cooperation

Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe

SIM

Strategic Initiative on Materials

SIRRIS

Collective Centre of the Belgian Technology Industry

SME

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

SPIDER

Supporting Public Service Innovation using Design in European Regions

SPIRAL2

Système de Production d’Ion Radioactifs en Ligne de 2e génération

SRC

Strategic Research Centres

SSH

Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities

ST&M

Science, Technology and Mathematics

STEM

Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics

STI

Science, Technology and Innovation

STV

Foundation for Technology Assessment Flanders

SWOT

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (analysis)

TAFTIE

Association for Technology Implementation in Europe

TEKES

Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation

TETRA

TEchnology TRAnsfer by university colleges and universities

THE

Times Higher Education

TIP

Technology and Innovation Policy

TTO

Technology Transfer Office

University of Antwerp

Urban Europe

UGent

Ghent University

UHasselt

Hasselt University

United Nations

UNESCO

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation

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UNIDO

United Nations Industrial Development Organization

UNU-CRIS

United Nations University – Centre for Regional Integration Studies

USPTO

United States Patent and Trademark Office

VABB

Flemish Academic Bibliografic Database

VARIO

Flemish Advisory Council for Innovation and Enterprise

VHP

Flemish Reform Programme

VIB

Flanders Institute for Biotechnology

VIL

Flanders Institute for Logistics

VITO

Flemish Institute for Technological Research

VKI

Von Karman Institute

VLAIO

Flanders Innovation and Entrepreneurship Agency

VLAST

Flemish Academic Centre for Science and the Arts

VLEVA

Liaison Agency Flanders-Europe

VLHORA

Flemish Council of University Colleges

VLIR

Flemish Inter-Univerisity Council

VLIZ

Flanders Marine Institute

VRT

Flemish Radio and Television Broadcasting

VRWB

Flemish Science Policy Council

VRWI

Flemish Council for Science and Innovation

VUB

Vrije Universiteit Brussel

WIPO

World Intellectual Property Organisation

Scientific Staff

WTOCD

Scientific and Technological Research Centre for Diamond

ZAP

Senior Academic Staff

LIST OF FIGURES

LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Flanders’ STI in a quadruple helix model____________20

Figure 18: Regions in Belgium_________________________________104

Figure 2: Main research and economic actors in the Flemish STI-Landscape_____________________________________23

Figure 19: The Flemish federated entity______________________104 Figure 20: Budget of the Flemish Government in euros_____105

Figure 3: Europe in the world__________________________________26 Figure 4: The Blue Banana_____________________________________26 Figure 5: Flanders as a Central Region in Europe �� 26 Figure 6: Flemish Region RIS 2019 profile compared to EU average__________________________________________________33 Figure 7: Technological specialisation (RTAN) of Flanders based on the EPO patents, 2009-2012, 2013-2016 and 2009-2016, index between -1 and +1.___________________________35 Figure 8: Economic specialisation (RCA) pattern of Flanders based on the relative export shares, 2009-2012, 2013-2016 and 2009-2016, index between -1 and +1.______________________36 Figure 9: Combination of the relative technological specialisation patterns (RTA) with those for economic specialisation (RCA) (2009-2016)_______________________________ 37 Figure 10: The 10 policy areas of the Flemish administration_40 Figure 11: Economy, Science and Innovation (EWI) policy area from the Flemish Government, anno 2019________ 41

Figure 21: Main research and economic actors in the Flemish STI-Landscape__________________________________117 Figure 22: Evolution of total R&D spending (GERD) and the R&D intensity of the GERD in Flanders from 2011 to 2018, in million euros (current prices)_________________ 119 Figure 23: International comparison of the R&D intensity of GERD for 2018______________________________________________120 Figure 24: R&D intensity broken down by sector of performance or source of funds for Flanders, 2011-2018_____ 120 Figure 25: Evolution of the R&D spending by companies (BERD) and R&D intensity for the BERD, from 2011 to 2018, in million euros (current prices)_______________________________ 123 Figure 26: International comparison of the R&D intensity of BERD for 2018______________________________________________ 123 Figure 27: Evolution of the R&D spending by GOV, HES and PNP (non-BERD=GOVERD+HERD+PNP), from 2011 to 2018, in million euros (current prices)___________ 124

Figure 12: Grand new policy initiatives________________________50

Figure 28: Evolution of the R&D intensity for the non-BERD (GOVERD, HERD and PNP) from 2011 to 2017______ 124

Figure 13: How Flanders' 4 strategic tesearch centers kick-start your R&D success �� 92

Figure 29: International comparison of the funding of the HERD by companies for 2017, in %.____________________ 125

Figure 14: Rankingposition of the Belgian Universities 2020 ��74

Figure 30: International comparison of the R&D intensity of HERD and GOVERD for 2017_______________________________ 125

Figure 15: Evolving EU partnership landscape �� 92 Figure 16: Flanders Investment & Trade Agency: presence in the world__________________________________________ 97 Figure 17: Communities in Belgium___________________________103

Figure 31: International comparison of Government Budget Appropriations or Outlays for R&D (GBARD) 2018. expressed as a percentage of GDP(R)________________________ 126 Figure 32: Benchmark for the Flemish participation in Horizon 2020: funding / GDP______________________________ 135

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Figure 33: Top-10 universities (HES) in an international ranking. sorted by number of participations and funding �� 136 Figure 34: European top ten of participations and total EC contribution from the H2020 program to research institutions (REC).__________________________________________________________ 136 Figure 35: The number of first entry students at Flemish universities in the S&T domain for the academic year 20172018, in absolute terms________________________________________ 139 Figure 36: International comparison of the proportion of graduates in mathematics, science and technology (higher education) for the age group 20 to 29 years (2017)__________140 Figure 37: International comparison of the percentage of degrees in mathematics, science and technology in higher education as a proportion of all degrees in higher education (2017) �� 141

Figure 45: International comparison of the percentage of companies with ongoing or discontinued product and/or process innovation activities (2014-2016 (CIS 2017)) �� 151 Figure 46: International comparison of the publication output per 10,000 inhabitants (2017)_________________________ 153 Figure 47: The scientific publication profile of Flanders in 2005-2010 and 2012-2017 based on the Activity Index (AI)____ 154 Figure 48: The scientific citation profile of Flanders from 2005-2009 and 2012-2016 based on the Activity Index (AI)___ 155 Figure 49: The scientific co-publication profile of Flanders from 2005-2010 and 2012-2017 based on the Activity Index (AI)______________________________________________ 156 Figure 50: International comparison of EPO patent applications per million of population by origin, inventor and/or applicant (2014)_______________________________________ 158

Figure 38: Evolution of the R&D personnel from 2011 to 2017_142 Figure 39: International position of Flanders for total R&D personnel (% of the labour force)_______________________ 142 Figure 40: International comparison - % share of women researchers in GOV and HES (headcount)____________________ 143 Figure 41: Evolution of the non-Belgian nationality of researchers for the different statutes and levels of the academic career (2010-2018)__________________________________ 144 Figure 42: Evolution of the number of PhDs in Flanders by gender from 2008-2009 to 2017-2018_________________________ 145 Figure 43: Evolution of the number of PhDs in Flanders by field of science from 2007-2008 to 2017-2018_________________ 145 Figure 44: International comparison of the percentage of companies with product innovations,business process innovations and/or ongoing or abandoned innovation activities (2016-2018 (CIS 2019)) ��147

Figure 51: International comparison of USPTO patent grants per million of population by origin, inventor and/or applicant (2014)________________________________________________ 159 Figure 52: International comparison of PCT patent applications per million of population by origin, inventor and/or applicant (2014)______________________________160

LIST OF TABLES

LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Key figures on Flanders (Flemish Region), Belgium and EU-28 �� 30 Table 2: Share of the main branches (and certain subbranches) in gross value added and in employment in the EU-27 and Flanders, 2017, % ��31 Table 3: Technological attachés at the Flanders Investment and Trade agency �� 97 Table 4: Compentencies of the Flemish Government �� 106

Table 15: Evolution of EPO patent applications for Flanders per million of population by origin, inventor and/or applicant (2007-2015) �� 158 Table 16: Evolution of USPTO patent grants for Flanders per million of population by origin, inventor and/or applicant (2007-2014) �� 159 Table 17: Evolution of PCT patent applications for Flanders per million of population by origin, inventor and/or applicant (2007-2014) �� 159

Table 5: Government �� 109 Table 6: International comparison of Government Budget Appropriations or Outlays for R&D (GBARD), expressed as a percentage of GDP(R) ��127 Table 7: Evolution of the R&D budget and R&D intensity �� 129 Table 8: Horizon 2020 Programme Structure �� 131 Table 9: Flemish participation in Horizon 2020 by priority � 133 Table 10: Budget ��137 Table 11: The proportion of graduates in mathematics, science and technology (higher education) in Flanders for the age group 20 to 29 years (2017) �� 140 Table 12: Evolution of the percentage of degrees in mathematics, science and technology in higher education as a proportion of all degrees in higher education for Flanders (2015-2017) �� 141 Table 13: Evolution of the percentage of business enterprises in Flanders with product innovations, business process innovations and/or ongoing or abandoned innovation activities �� 149 Table 14: Evolution of the publication output per 10,000 inhabitants for Flanders (2010-2017) �� 153

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