Minister Damjanović at the “Smart Specialisation and Technology Transfer as Innovation Drivers for Regional Growth” Conference in Sofia

Minister of Science Dr. Sanja Damjanović will participate in the high-level conference entitled “Smart Specialization and Technology Transfer as Innovation Drivers for Regional Growth”, to be organized by the Directorate-General Joint Research Centre of the European Commission on 3-4 May in Sofia, under the auspices of Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The Minister will take part in the panel entitled “Statements on Opportunities and Challenges in the Region: The Innovation Roadmap”, which is also attended by the Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Mr. Johannes Hahn. The session will be chaired by Christian Danielsson, Director-General in the Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR) of the European Commission.

Ekaterina Zaharieva, Bulgaria’s Deputy Prime Minister for Judicial Reform and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, Lilyana Pavlova, Minister for the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Nicholas Burnet, Minister for Research and Innovation of Romania, Mladen Šarčević, Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development of Serbia, Lindita Nikolla, Minister of Education, Sports and Youth of Albania, Elvira Dilberović, Minister of Education and Science of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kreshnik Bekteshi, Minister of Economy of Macedonia and Shyqiri Bytyqi, Minister of Education, Science and Technology of Kosovo will also take part in the same panel.
The conference will bring together policy-makers, scientists and government officials to discuss opportunities and challenges for Europe, especially South-East Europe, including the Western Balkans, in research and its connection with enterprises, development, education, employment and innovation.

After presenting the innovative environment in Europe, participants will discuss good practices and key success factors with a view to inspire countries, regions and stakeholders willing to capitalize on the potential of smart specialization, technology transfer and digital transformation.