Vanguard Initiative
Acronym: VI
General Information
Identification Code: 683831940758-35
Website: [object Object]
Entity Form: asbl
Registration Category: Associations and networks of public authorities
Registration Date: 12/22/2020
Last Update: 6/24/2024
EP Accredited Number: 0
Mission & Interests
Goals: The Vanguard Initiative, founded in 2013, is driven by a political commitment by regions to use their smart specialisation strategies to boost new growth through bottom-up entrepreneurial innovation and industrial renewal in European priority areas. Thirty nine regions are now part of this initiative.
The Vanguard Initiative seeks to lead by example in developing interregional cooperation and multi-level governance to help regional clusters and eco-systems to focus on priority areas for transforming and emerging industries.
Vanguard regions seek to exploit complementarities identified in smart specialisation strategies in order to develop worldclass clusters and cluster networks, in particular through pilots and large-scale demonstrators. These investments will bolster the competitive capacity of Europe to lead in new industries for the future and develop leading markets that offer solutions for common challenges.
Interests Represented: Promotes their own interests or the collective interests of their members
Interests:
- Business and industry
- Digital economy and society
- Energy
- Regional policy
- Research and innovation
- Single market
Levels of Interest:
- sub-national
- european
Activities
Main EU Legislative Proposals: - The Common Provisions Regulation on the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF)
- The European Territorial Cooperation programmes (Interreg)
- The EU programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (COSME) and the Single Market Programme
- The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) and InvestEU
- The Digital Europe Programme
- The Interregional Innovation Investment (I3) Instrument
- The General Block Exemption Regulation and Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI)
Communication Activities: The Vanguard Initiative has been pioneering a new approach to support EU industry internationalisation and competitiveness by bringing regions (and clusters) together to:
- discuss common objectives and find complementarities,
- map and better understand regions’ industrial competencies and capabilities,
- develop joint strategic action plans (building critical mass and complementary specialisations)
- align strategic investments arising from these roadmaps.
The goal of this approach has been to create “inter-regional smart specialisation platforms”. The “Vanguard Initiative methodology” consists of four subsequent phases: learn, connect, demonstrate and commercialise.
The Vanguard Initiative methodology has been used by the EC as as a good inspiration for the Thematic Smart Specialisation Platforms launched in 2016 (Industrial Modernisation, Energy, Agri-food). These Thematic Smart Specialisation Platforms are instruments to support bottom-up collaboration between businesses and researchers along value chains across the EU. They promote complementarity of regional funding for innovation in specific smart specialisation areas. They target key political priorities in order to facilitate the emergence of transnational projects to modernise EU industry
The European Commission has been closely following the exciting progress made to date by the Vanguard Initiative regions in order to better understand what steps would need to be taken and what possible bottlenecks would need to be overcome by collaborating regions.
In its 2017 Communication "Strengthening Innovation in Europe's Region", the European Commission highlighted the Vanguard Initiative as an example of how more strategic inter-regional cooperation and sustainable linkages between regional ecosystems along smart specialisation priority areas such as industrial modernisation can increase competitiveness and resilience.
All the Vanguard Initiative position papers, activities and events can be found here:
https://www.s3vanguardinitiative.eu/news
EU Supported Forums and Platforms: Commission Expert Group on Interregional Innovation Investments#E03767#https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/expert-groups-register/screen/expert-groups/consult?lang=en&groupID=3767 #MEMBER #C#Academia/Research#Industry#SMEsCommission expert group "Industrial Forum"#E03743#https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/expert-groups-register/screen/expert-groups/consult?lang=en&groupID=3743 #MEMBER #C#Academia/Research#Industry#Other#SMEs
Inter-institutional or Unofficial Groupings: N/A
Head Office
Address: square de meeus 1
Post Code: 1000
City: Brussels
Country: BELGIUM
Phone: [object Object]
EU Office
Address: square de meeus 1
Post Code: 1000
City: Brussels
Country: BELGIUM
Phone: [object Object]
Financial Data
New Organisation: false
Closed Year: [object Object]
Current Year: [object Object]
Membership Information
Members10 Percent: 0
Members25 Percent: 0
Members50 Percent: 0
Members75 Percent: 1
Members: 2
Members F T E: 1.75
Structure
Structure Type: Structure
Is Member Of: All the member regions of the Vanguard Initiative can be found here:
https://www.s3vanguardinitiative.eu/partners
Organisation Members: N/A