1. What has been done since December 2008? WBC-INCO.NET Carmen Siller, Centre for Social Innovation Karin Wedde-Mühlhausen, International Bureau of the BMBF Steering Platform May 28, 2009 – Liblice, Czech Republic

2. European Dialogue Steering Platform Meeting Paris: „Progress reports“ gathered on the website (BMWF) Preparation of minutes of the Meeting (ZSI) Steering Platform Meeting Liblice: Contribution to the logistical / organisational efforts of the Czech organisers; discussions with Co-Chairs; Inputs to the agenda Steering Platform Meeting Zagreb: Contribution to the logistical / organisational efforts of the Croatian organisers; discussions with Co-Chairs Contact with Swedish presidency

3. European Dialogue Regional Cooperation Council Initiative on a Regional Strategy for Research and Development: Ministerial Conference in Sarajevo, April 24, 2009 Coordinated input from the Steering Platform to the Regional Strategy (especially SEE-ERA.NET White Paper) Task Force Building and Fostering Human Capital (of the RCC): Conference in Bukarest, March 6, 2009 Presentation of activities of the Steering Platform and WBC-INCO.NET

4. Regional Dialogue Preparation of the next regional dialogue meeting in Zagreb back to back with the Steering Platform (MPIN) –Topic to be set by WBC partners –Support to regional initiatives such as regional research strategy development Regional Dialogue Forum on ICT research launched (with support of the FP7 project WINS-ICT) – met in Belgrade on May 21, 2009 –will meet twice a year until end of 2010

5. Priority setting - Tasks Aim: define S&T priority areas of mutual interest of WBC, EU & its MS Task 2.1: development of a sound methodology and guidelines for S&T priority setting (completed) Task 2.2: dialogue with EC Cooperation Directorates responsible for drafting the future Work Programmes of FP 7 (completed) Task 2.3 examine other S&T priority identification projects which are relevant for the Western Balkan region in order to make best use of their results and also national priority setting exercises in the WBC (completed) Task 2.4 organise stakeholder seminars involving experts from all WBC to define common research topics of mutual interest (4 completed, 1 in preparation) Task 2.5 include opinion from civil society, industry, etc. in the priority setting process (started)

6. Identification of S&T priority areas within five FP7 Themes: ICT, AgroFood, Health, Transport, Environment National background reports for each of the WBC on their –S&T systems, –strengths and weaknesses –research priorities provide a sound basis for discussion in the seminars and valuable information for the design of future activities Priority setting – Preparation of consultation sessions

7. Priority setting – Consultation Sessions Themes –ICT, December 2008 in Belgrade –AgroFood, January 2009 in Podgorica –Health, May 2009 in Tirana –Transport, May 2009 in Sarajevo –Environment, June 2009 in Skopje Participants –stakeholders from each WBC (national experts/scientists, policy makers, representatives from the industry and NCPs) –experts from EC, EU Member States, Era-Nets, Technology Platforms

8. Priority setting – Use of results Selection of 4 topics by „SEE-ERA.NET PLUS“ project for their Single Joint Call (September 2009), based on the priorities of the consultation sessions in ICT and AgroFood Creation of recommendations for regional cooperation to feed into political dialogue (Ministerial Conference „Developing Regional Research Strategy for the WBC“, Sarajevo, April 2009) Priorities will be communicated as input for FP7 Work Programmes to –European Commission –Programme Committee Members  Endorsement by the Steering Platform would increase the impact

9. Priority Setting Results ICT Regional ICT Research Priorities: ICTs for Enterprises & eBusiness ICTs for Government & eGovernment Network technologies (Internet & Broadband Technologies, Mobile Technologies, Network technologies) ICTs for Learning & eLearning ICTs for Health & eHealth ICT for Environmental sustainability, energy efficiency Software Engineering

10. Priority Setting Results ICT Regional prioritySubtopic ICTs for Enterprises & eBusiness  Tools and solutions for the support of business processes management and integration  ICTs for the networked business  ICTs for Government & eGovernment  Development of electronic document and databases infrastructure for Government  Fast and secure access to information and services for citizens and the business sector  Network technologies (Internet & Broadband Technologies, Mobile Technologies, Network technologies)  Providing broadband for all  Development and design of multimedia network and service infrastructure  Development and implementation of secure solutions for broadband transfer through existing infrastructures  ICTs for Learning & eLearning  Personalized education process over the Internet  Software systems for learning process management and support  ICTs for Health & eHealth  Personal Health Systems  ICT for Patient Safety  ICT for Environmental sustainability, energy efficiency  ICT for environmental services and climate change adaptation  ICT for energy efficiency  Software Engineering  Software tools and service oriented architectures for distributed information systems  Methods and tools for software development improvement 

11. Priority Setting Results AgroFood Regional AgroFood research Priorities: Food / feed safety and quality, food biotechnology - Preservation of indigenous species and traditional food products (in SEE/WBC) - Combined exposure of food and feed to environmental pollutants Biodiversity - Investigation of regional genetic resources in the WBC (plants, animals and microorganisms) - Interdisciplinary field: Land use impact in agriculture on biodiversity (Topic: Renewable energy production in the agricultural sector and biodiversity conservation)

12. Priority Setting Results Health Regional Health Research Priorities: Oncology: Cancer registries; Translational medicine (training of professionals) Cardiovascular diseases: Stroke research (early detection guidelines) Public Health: Prevention of disease and risk factors, specific epidemiological cases; Emerging food and water borne zoonoses (zoonotic infections), pollution of water (tourists) Mental Health: Long term influence of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on mental health – parallel to terrorist attack cases Infectious diseases: Epidemiological research on viral Hepatitis A, B, C, E (emerging)

13. Priority Setting Results Transport Regional Transport Research Priorities: Impact of surface transport on environment and safety (Coastal seas, Inland waterways, Railways, roads) Advanced materials and structures engineering for safer and greener means of transport Passenger and freight intermodal transport and optimal use of various transport modes Application of advanced simulations in transport systems Application of ICT in intelligent transport systems

14. Surveys WBC-INCO.NET survey on barriers to cooperation –IvoPilar WBC-INCO.NET survey on the possibilities to access large scale infrastructures –APRE WBC-INCO.NET survey on the evaluation of the work of National Contact Points in the region –GSRT WBC-INCO.NET survey on cooperation patterns started in May 2009 –ZSI

15. Training, Capacity Building, Networking Training workshops on FP7 for research managers (SBRA), in February 2009 in Turkey (field of energy) Training workshops on financial issues in all WBC countries (MES-CRA) Peer visits on ERA indicators (MPI) at statistical offices with support of EUROSTAT being organised Brokerage and Information event (MSTD) held in Belgrade, May 20-21, 2009 (field of ICT) Awareness Raising at the Research Connection 2009 event in Prague, May 7-8, 2009 (ZSI, MSTD) Dissemination Activities – ongoing on our website, journal, etc.

16. Thank you for your attention! Carmen Siller (& Elke Dall) Karin Wedde-Mühlhausen Centre for Social InnovationInternational Bureau of the BMBF Linke Wienzeile 246Heinrich-Konen-Straße 1 A-1150 WienD-53227 Bonn siller@zsi.atsiller@zsi.at, dall@zsi.at karin.wedde-muehlhausen@dlr.de +43-1-4950442 (-38/-62)+49-228-3821 480