31/01/12 Single Market Entrepreneurs Centre Launch

The Lisbon Council officially launched a new innovative Centre of Excellence, entitled the Single Market Entrepreneurs Centre, or the SME Centre for short. Founded in collaboration with Google, the SME Centre will enhance the visibility, recognise the importance and underline the transformational nature of entrepreneurs and small- and medium-sized companies. It will also celebrate this year’s 20th anniversary of the single market.

Malcolm Harbour, member of the European Parliament, chair of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, and a member of the MEPs for SMEs advisory body, which will lend advice to the SME Centre, keynoted the kick-off meeting of the SME Centre Advisory Council. An eclectic and dedicated group of small-business association representatives, who will serve on the SME Centre Advisory Council, gathered for the interactive and solution-oriented debate on how to the single market benefits entrepreneurs and empowers SMEs across Europe. For more information, check the soon-to-be launched website at www.singlemarketentrepreneus.eu.

Visit singlemarketentrepreneurs.eu
View a Prezi Introducing the Single Market Entrepreneurs Centre

27/01/12 Newsletter: Euro Crisis, The Rise of the Micro-Multinational and more

Read the latest Lisbon Council Newsletter, full of information about recent and upcoming activities, including The 2011 Euro Summit, The Rise of the Micro-Multinational policy paper, the first Innovation Convention, a new centre of excellence: the Single Market Entrepreneurs Centre, and much more.

07/12/11 Lisbon Council at the First Innovation Convention

The Lisbon Council took a leading role in the first Innovation Convention, the European Union’s flagship innovation event, led by José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, and Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, European research, innovation and science commissioner. Ann Mettler, executive director, opened the conference on Monday, introducing President Barroso’s keynote and assisting in the presentation of the awards for Women Innovators Prize. Later, she chaired the plenary session with Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google, who delivered a powerful and electrifying keynote on In Search of a Better Problem.

The Lisbon Council also convened an oversubscribed fringe session in the margins of the Innovation Convention, where leading thinkers discussed and debated The Rise of the Micro-Multinational: How Freelancers and Technology Savvy Start-Ups Are Driving Innovation, a flagship Lisbon Council publication. Don Tapscott, award-winning co-author of Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything and chair of the Tapscott Group, who was recently chosen by Thinkers 50 as one of the top 10 business thinkers in the world, keynoted the session. Fabien Curto Millet, senior economist at Google, also joined the debate, giving new insight into evolving trends in collaboration and 21st century business models.

Download The Rise of the Micro-Multinational
Watch Ann Mettler’s prezi on the Rise of the Micro-Multinational

15/11/11 The 2011 Euro Summit: President Herman Van Rompuy Keynotes

As the eurozone crisis intensifies and the European Council prepares to take up the Euro Plus Pact at its all-important December summit, The 2011 Euro Summit convened under the theme of Towards Fiscal Sustainability and Increased Competitiveness. Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, delivered a fascinating and powerful keynote, highlighting the need for restoring European competitiveness to overcome the crisis. Dr. Holger Schmieding, chief economist of Berenberg Bank, presented The 2011 Euro Plus Monitor, an innovative indicator and ranking launched by the Lisbon Council and Berenberg Bank at the summit. In addition, Martin Larch, head of unit for co-ordination of country-specific policy surveillance at DG economic and financial affairs of the European Commission; Alessandro Leipold, chief economist of the Lisbon Council and former acting director of the European Department at the IMF; and Peter Spiegel, Brussels bureau chief of Financial Times, joined a high-level panel discussion on Europe Beyond the Crisis.

Watch President Van Rompuy's Address to The 2011 Euro Summit
Watch Highlights of President Van Rompuy's Speech on YouTube
Watch Herman Van Rompuy's Address (Broadcast Quality)
Watch Highlights of President Van Rompuy's Speech on the European Council Video Channel
Download President Van Rompuy’s Speech
Download Holger Schmieding’s Presentation
Download Martin Larch’s Presentation
Download The Euro Plus Monitor
View Photos from The 2011 Euro Summit on the Lisbon Council flickr Photostream

15/09/11 The 2011 Skills and Human Capital Summit: Getting Europe Back to Work

The 2011 Skills and Human Capital Summit convened under the timely theme of Getting Europe Back to Work: How Skills and Human Capital Can Accelerate Growth and Innovation. Andreas Schleicher, special adviser on education policy to the secretary-general of the OECD and head of the indicators and analysis division at the directorate for education, delivered a fascinating and thought-provoking keynote address on the development of PIAAC, the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies. Nina Arnhold, senior education specialist at World Bank, Krzysztof Gulda, director of the strategy department at the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education, and Adam Tyson, head of unit for higher education and Erasmus programme at the European Commission’s directorate-general for education and culture, joined an interactive high-level policy roundtable on how skills and human capital can kick-start much-needed growth, create jobs, spur innovation and provide better life chances for Europeans.

Download Presentation of Andreas Schleicher
Download Presentation of Nina Arnhold
Download Presentation of Krzysztof Gulda
Download Presentation of Adam Tyson
View Photos of The 2011 Skills and Human Capital on the Lisbon Council flickr Photostream

02/12/11 Alessandro Leipold: Saving the Euro

In his latest column for Il Sole 24 Ore, Alessandro Leipold, chief economist of the Lisbon Council and former acting director of the European department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), argues that Europe must make the largest possible financial efforts if it is to convince its international counterparts to help.

Read Alessandro Leipold's Column in Il Sole 24 Ore 250112

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09/11/11 Eco-Innovation Summit: Christiana Figueres Keynotes

The Eco-Innovation Summit convened under the timely theme The Road to Durban: Towards an Ambitious UN Deal and Low-Carbon Economy. Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), delivered The 2011 Robert Schuman Lecture and made a passionate call for Europe and the world to re-double its effort to mitigate climate change and lay the foundation for a low-carbon economy. Her speech was complimented by interventions from Harry van Dorenmalen, chairman of IBM Europe, and Harry Verhaar, senior director for energy and climate change at Philips, who both serve as co-chairs of the Lisbon Council’s Eco-Innovators Network.

Watch Christiana Figueres' Message to Eco-Innovators
Watch The 2011 Robert Schuman Lecture by Christiana Figueres in full
Watch Harry van Dorenmalen's Speech at The Eco-Innovation Summit
Watch Harry Verhaar's Speech at The Eco-Innovation Summit
View Photos from The Eco-Innovation Summit on the Lisbon Council flickr Photostream

04/10/11 The 2011 Digital Agenda Summit: New Sources of Growth and Innovation

The 2011 Digital Agenda Summit convened under the timely theme of New Sources of Growth and Innovation. Delivering The 2011 Guglielmo Marconi Lecture, the Lisbon Council’s annual flagship lecture on innovation, Neelie Kroes, vice-president of the European Commission and commissioner for the Digital Agenda, vowed to encourage the development and deepening of Europe’s digital economy in the coming decade. Prof. Nigel Shadbolt, chair of midata, described this new UK policy initiative which allows consumers to access, control and use data currently held about them; Alexander Alvaro, vice-chair of the committee on budgets and member of the committee on civil liberties, justice and home affairs at the European Parliament, and Peter Hustinx, European data protection supervisor, discussed the dilemma regulators face as they grapple with the challenges of an entirely new industry; Matthew Key, chairman and CEO of Telefónica Digital, and Hervé le Jouan, founder and CEO of Privowny, France, explored the potential of the Digital Agenda from a company perspective. And Taylor Reynolds, senior economist for information economy at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), discussed the economics of personal data.

Watch What the World Will Look Like in 2020 Video on the Lisbon Council's YouTube Channel
View Photos of The 2011 Digital Agenda Summit on the Lisbon Council's flickr Photostream
Watch Vice-President Kroes' Lecture
Download Vice-President Kroes’ Speech
Download Taylor Reynolds’ Presentation
Download Nigel Shadbolt's Presentation

18/05/11 Jean-Claude Juncker Keynotes Government of the Future Summit

Convening under the timely theme Modernising the State for the Post-Crisis World, The 2011 Government of the Future Summit gathered European decision makers and senior government officials and explored key topics, such as the role of innovation in public services and the importance of state institutions in driving forward growth in the economy at large. Among the highlights were The 2011 Jean Monnet Lecture delivered by Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the Eurogroup and prime minister of Luxembourg; the launch of a new publication Driving Public Entrepreneurship: Government as a Catalyst for Innovation and Growth in Europe, produced jointly by the Government of the Future Centre and Oxford Economics; the presentation of an animated video clip about the Government of the Future Centre; interventions from Meglena Kuneva, chair, Government Executive Innovation Circle and former European Commissioner; Pierre Nanterme, CEO, Accenture; Paul Demaret, rector, College of Europe; Rolf Alter, director, directorate for public governance and territorial development, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); John Walker, chairman, Oxford Economics and co-author of Driving Public Entrepreneurship: Government as a Catalyst for Innovation and Growth in Europe; Thomas Børner, chairman, programme for welfare technology foundation, Ministry of Finance, Denmark; Tom Auwers, director-general, Federal Public Service Social Security, Belgium; Ruggero Golino, head of division, temporary welfare benefits, National Institute for Social Security, Italy; Roser Artal, director, organisation and information technology, Catalan Health Department, Spain; Timo Laitinen, director-general, State Treasury, Finland and François-Daniel Migeon, director-general, state modernisation, Ministry of the Budget, Public Accounts, Civil Service and State Reform, France.

Watch video on modernising government
Download Driving Public Entrepreneurship: Government as a Catalyst for Innovation and Growth in Europe
Download Where Innovation Meets Transformation: Embracing the New Reality in the Public-Service Sector
View Photos of The 2011 Government of the Future Summit on the Lisbon Council flickr Photostream
Read Wall Street Journal Europe coverage
Read EurActiv coverage
View Photos of The 2011 Government of the Future Summit on the Lisbon Council flickr Photostream

21/09/11 Paul Hofheinz on Leadership

At the IBM Think Forum in New York, Paul Hofheinz, president of the Lisbon Council, talked with Errol Morris, Emmy-award winning producer, about leadership and the way that technology will change the way we live and work.

Watch Paul Hofheinz' interview