Commensurate with the activities of the Limassol Chamber Research, Innovation and European Programs Committee, Chamber Senior Officer Nicolas Iordanou attended the 3-day “Industrial Technologies 2016 – Creating a Smart Europe” Conference, which was held in Amsterdam, in the context of the Dutch presidency of the European Union. The LCCI presence at the conference was in line with the policy of international networking in pursuit of possible new opportunities for cooperation, including in the framework of European Programs and making optimum use of European Union funding tools with a view to offering new services to members, in addition to obtaining accurate information on the EU’s present and future policies in the fields of Research and Development, Innovation and  Start-ups.

A basic item on the Amsterdam conference agenda was to highlight the need of adopting modern and flexible practices, backed up by EU incentives towards the introduction and implementation of smart technologies in industry and in entrepreneurship in general. Certain proposals were also put forward on subjects such streamlining synergies between private and public sector, increasing EU competitiveness in relation to other markets and the projection for the production of innovative products aiming to meet societal needs. Special emphasis was placed on nanotechnology, biotechnology and digitisation.

A total of 1135 individuals from 42 countries attended the Amsterdam Conference, which featured a broad spectrum of interesting lectures and presentations and exhibitions with the participation of corporations, universities and research institutes. There were also displays of new technologies, as well as B2B meetings and organized visits to research centres in the city of Amsterdam. 

On behalf of the Limassol Chamber, Mr. Iordanou held a series of meetings with representatives of companies, organizations and universities including the Delft University of Technology, the Twente and Amsterdam Universities, Sweden’s Linnaeus University, Italy’s Politecnico Di Milano, Britain’s Brunel University, Greece’s University of Patra, Spain’s Burgos University, in addition to Aimen and Leitat Technological Centres, the Slovak Scientific Centre, etc. He also paid a visit to the Amsterdam Science Park, with a view to obtaining information regarding the establishment and operation of the Park and the consideration of possible synergies in view of the upcoming launch of Cyprus’ Pentakomo Scientific and Technological Park.