Between 10 and 13 October 2016, European cities and regions come together in Brussels to showcase their capacity to create growth and jobs, implement EU cohesion policy, and prove the importance of the local and regional level for good European governance.
This year, under the headline ‘Regions and cities for sustainable and inclusive growth’, the event will be aligned with the political priorities of the European Commission and with the interests of the participating regions and cities. More than 100 sessions, seminars and meetings will be organised alongside thematic strands. Digital issues will be in the spotlight, with 8 workshops to discuss smart solutions for industries, the role of open data or new technologies for cities.
Workshops on digital topics
Tuesday 11 October
-
09:00 - 10:45: Cities and regions as launch-pads for digital transformation. The aim of the workshop is to illustrate the main attributes which characterize the digital transformation of cities and regions and the concrete steps needed to facilitate it.
- 11:15 - 13:00: Silver economy and regional development: Examples of social and economic gains. Based on the example of the Reference Sites of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing, participants will learn how to exploit the potential of the European Silver Economy and leverage new productive investment.
- 14:30 - 17:00: Smart Regions in Smart Europe: Digital Innovation Hubs shaping the Digitisation of European Industry. This workshop will present a study identifying EU regions’ strengths and gaps in providing access to digital technologies and finance. It will also address the role of Digital Innovation Hubs to increase
Europe’s competitiveness and bring solutions to Europe’s societal challenges.
Wednesday 12 October
- 09:00 - 10:45: Accelerating the digital transformation of government. The workshop will present the new eGovernment Action Plan 2016 -2020, which aims to accelerate the digital transformation of government in the EU. It will also inform regional and local authorities about how they can contribute to achieving the overall vision of the plan by suggesting additional actions.
- 09:00 - 10:45: Boosting the development of information products and services based on the re-use and combination of open public data across the EU. The aim of this session will be presenting best practices of re-use of local and regional public sector data made available through the European Data Portal, as well as how regional and local public administrations can facilitate the discovery and re-use of their own data.
- 09:00 - 10:45: Smart Homes for Independent Living – Opportunities for the growing Silver Economy: Connected homes can support older people to stay independent at home, improving quality of life, inclusion, and sustainable care. The workshop will offer an overview of the latest developments for smart and age-friendly homes, including interoperability and standards and IoT-services supporting independent living in European regions.
Thursday 13 October
- 09:00 - 10:45: Is EU manufacturing ready for Industry 4.0? Speakers will discuss what it means and what it will take to align EU regions and EU manufacturing sectors to Industry 4.0.
- 11:15 - 13:00: Sustainable Innovation within the European Digital Agenda: Exploiting regional smart specialisations through an inter-regional Joint Action Plan. The workshop presents how four diverse regions collaborated within the European Digital Agenda domain, to co-design an inter-regional Smart Specialisation strategy leading to growth, education, job creation and investment.
All the sessions will be webstreamed though the European Week of Regions and Cities website.