EUREKA, under the leadership of the Israeli EUREKA Chairmanship, has launched an innovation campaign for green and clean technologies called the EUREKA Clean-Tech Action. Eurescom mess@ge editor-in-chief Milon Gupta interviewed Israel Shamay on the intentions, instruments and expected outcomes of the initiative. Shamay is EUREKA National Project Coordinator in Israel and Head of the Israeli Chairmanship Organisation.

Why did you launch the Clean-Tech Action?

We think that EUREKA as a major industrial innovation platform must contribute to addressing the grand societal and economic challenges Europe and the world are facing today. EUREKA’s activities in these domains provide a dynamic market for solution providers and inevitably open new opportunities to EUREKA companies in emerging markets, and a rationale for the private sector – and our governments – to further invest in Eureka projects and companies.

The Israeli Chairmanship has considered how to solve some of these challenges by utilizing and synchronizing existing EUREKA instruments. We decided to focus in 2011 on Clean-Tech, being a fast-growing field that opens up new R&D opportunities for EUREKA industrial customers. The Clean-Tech Action directly relates to the grand challenges of climate change and energy security. At the same time, it takes advantage of the existing strengths and fields that are already covered by EUREKA instruments.

I also regard it as a pilot initiative and hope that the experience EUREKA gains from the Clean-Tech Action will serve us in addressing other strategic objectives in the future.

What are clean technologies?

For the purpose of this Action, and in line with the bottom-up principle of EUREKA and its inter-governmental character, the scope of the definition for clean-tech is ultimately being left up to the judgment of the involved industries and national funding schemes.

However, as a general guideline, Clean-Tech can be understood, according to the European Commission’s definition in the LIFE Directive, as new industrial processes or modifications of existing ones intended to reduce the impact of production activities on the environment, including reducing the use of energy and raw materials. In particular, this embraces aspects like conserving and rationally using raw materials and water, effective use of energy, optimising production processes, effectively disposing or recycling waste, environmental risk management, and restoring mining areas or industrial sites after cessation of activities.

How will information and communication technologies advance clean technologies?

Information and communication technologies are critical to the mission of the Clean-Tech Action since they allow for the development of smart, upgraded, and fully interconnected solutions and infrastructures. ICT can help ensure the sustainable development of a number of different business sectors, from ICT for green cities to smart water supply and sanitation systems. Innovative clean-tech solutions make full use of ICT and leave a light environmental footprint. By promoting a more resource-efficient economy through new processes and technologies like smart grids and other energy saving instruments, ICT helps create sustainable growth and contributes to addressing global challenges like climate change and environmental deterioration.

Which instruments do you use to stimulate industrial R&D in the clean-tech area?

Overall, we plan to leverage EUREKA’s main assets, including its industrial orientation and innovation, by mobilizing all of EUREKA’s instruments -- Clusters, the Eurostars programme, Umbrellas and Individual Projects. These instruments can be used in support of the industrial development of Clean-Tech R&D innovation activities that lead to sustainable products and solutions.

The EUREKA Clusters have a major role to play, given on one hand the multidisciplinary nature of the solutions we need, and on the other hand the EUREKA Clusters’ flexible structure and representation of all the main stakeholders in the fields of ICT, energy, water and manufacturing. Clusters are a major instrument for creating immediate operational cooperation among a large number of participants that share similar industrial ambitions.

By when do you expect that the objectives of the Clean-Tech Action will be achieved?

The Action was approved in October 2010 and launched in February 2011 in Eilat in a series of dedicated events including the Inter-Cluster Info Day that for the first time brought together senior representatives of all EUREKA Clusters. It is an on-going effort of the whole network that will show results in the upcoming months. We see already that in those countries that promote the Action effectively, a higher number of clean-tech project ideas are being generated.

I am certain that the Action will continue to produce concrete results also during the next chairmanships, as well as offer a fresh outlook and contribute to designing the future support instruments of the Common Strategic Framework.