New Delhi (NVI): India and European Union (EU) has agreed to develop and adopt a long-term strategic perspective for their collaboration in research and innovation.
The decision was taken recently at the 13th Joint Steering Committee on Science and Technology Cooperation meeting hosted by the European Commission, the Ministry of Science & Technology said in a statement.
During the virtual meeting, the two sides appreciated the achievements under India–EU science, technology innovation cooperation and also decided to create an action-oriented agenda which can be implemented within the agreed timeline.
The meeting was co-chaired by Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, Professor Ashutosh Sharma and Director-General for Research and Innovation of the European Commission (EC), Jean-Eric Paquet on the EU side.
Taking into account the Joint Statement and the ‘EU-India Strategic Partnership: A Roadmap to 2025’, adopted at the EU-India July summit, both sides have shown keen interest for possible cooperation on ICT, in particular, cyber-physical-systems (ICPS), including artificial intelligence and robotics, circular economy and resource efficiency, electric mobility and sustainable agri-food processing and so on, the statement said.
It added that the important role of Mission Innovation to concentrate efforts on research and innovation to accelerate the clean energy transition, necessary for a carbon-neutral planet was underlined and cooperation on health beyond COVID-19 pandemic areas through global fora was also reinforced.
Both sides also underlined the cooperation on polar sciences and discussed future cooperation under Horizon Europe.
Further, the two sides reiterated their commitment to human capital development, including researchers’ training and mobility, based on mutual interests and reciprocal promotion of each other’s equivalent programmes, aiming at a more balanced flow of researchers between Europe and India, the ministry noted.
At the meeting, Indian side presented the key elements of new Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP), which aim to create a fit for purpose, accountable research ecosystem promoting translational as well as foundational research, indigenous development of technology, technology indigenization, facilitating open Science, equity and inclusion.
It also proposed Implementation Arrangement (IA) for co-funding future joint projects under India-EU cooperation to streamline the process of collaboration and to address certain issues on project evaluation, selection, funding, monitoring, and also IPR sharing, data sharing, material equipment transfer mechanism and so on.
During 2014-2020, 42 collaborative projects amounting to a total of EUR 157 million funding (EUR 113 from H2020 & EUR 44) from government of India have been funded, the statement said.
The majority of these collaborations took place in the form of flagship calls on water, a new generation influenza vaccine, and smart grids cooperation. The mobility of researchers from both sides was significantly increased over the years, and cooperation among scientists and research organisations from India and Europe strengthened, it added.
-RJV
