This summer, a small team of students will work on the realisation of a pioneering information project for the department, under the supervision of IBM. The challenge? Building the information structure for a knowledge-based society in Flanders. The results of research and development still do not find their way or do not find their way fast enough to the industrial sector. “If Flanders wants to become a leading knowledge-based economy, we must also be able to make this knowledge available in a more efficient manner”, says Geert van Grootel, senior researcher knowledge management with EWI.

In order to make the cross-fertilisation between research and development and the industrial sector even more efficient, the Extreme Blue team presented the Flanders Interconnecting Research Enterprises – or F.I.R.E. – this month. This concept builds on the foundation of the existing FRIS Research Portal, but adds a number of smart functionalities. In this way, the existing information is enriched with underlying connections, relations and concepts that were already present, but were not used. This allows the end user to obtain the most relevant and high-quality search results. EWI does not consider F.I.R.E. to be an isolated ‘project’. It is strongly embedded in the vision and evolution of the FRIS programme. In this way and in the long term, EWI wants to make an essential contribution to the realisation of the Flemish knowledge-based society of the future.

The 11th edition of the EWI Review magazine was published on Monday 6 September. The central theme in this issue is the Flemish contribution to the Belgian EU Presidency, more specifically from the point of view of the EWI policy area. The most important EWI conferences are elucidated, and we will enter at length into a number of Flemish priorities. In addition, the established values will be included, such as the presentation of a Support Centre and the column, and special attention will go to the UNIDO Trust Fund and the Institute for Agriculture and Fisheries Research, among other things. Read more about this on www.ewi-vlaanderen.be/review.

During the next EWI focus on 12 October, we will try to find out how we can make Flanders more attractive to foreign researchers. Different approaches will be discussed during the workshop: the image of Flanders abroad, the bottlenecks for attracting foreign researchers, open recruitment, European policy initiatives, … A closing debate will offer speakers and other participants the opportunity to compare the different points of view and to elaborate on them. The Department of Economy, Science and Innovation organises open workshops several times a year, called EWI focus, during which current policy themes, challenges or results regarding economy, science and innovation are examined. Would you like to receive an invitation for this and other EWI focus workshops? Please send an e-mail to info@ewi.vlaanderen.be.

Together with a number of other colleagues within the Flemish administration, the EWI Department will twitter on and during the Belgian EU Presidency. Eva Van Buggenhout, Willem De Moor, Steven Schelfhout and Karolien Waegeman will frequently post new tweets from the EWI point of view. In their capacity as policy or communications assistants, they have been actively involved in preparing the conferences organised by EWI. Through these events, EWI wants to break a lance for a sustainable society, the role of SMEs, innovation, the European Research Area and the EU 2020 Strategy – which are all high on the Flemish list of priorities. In that way, the Flemish authorities hope to leave an important mark on the EU Presidency. Follow us at http://twitter.com/EWI_Presidency.