New INESC article published on Science Business: “The AI Act: getting the first step right”

A new article by has been published this morning on Science|Business. Titled “The AI Act: getting the first step right”, the article reflects on the AI Act and on the possible improvements that the EU could make on its regulation on artificial intelligence. It is the fifth in the series of six articles that INESC Brussels HUB has agreed with the European news platform Science|Business. The series aims at positioning INESC at the core of the discussion on the most crucial R&I topics right now at a European level. The article published today includes a recognition of the gaps in the European AI regulation, and the challenges of creating a AI ecosystem of excellence.

A great thank you goes to the main writer, Arlindo Oliveira (INESC holding), and the specialists from other INESCs who collaborated in the writing, Alípio Jorge (INESC TEC) and Carlos Henggeler Antunes (INESC Coimbra) for their excellent work!

The article can also be accessed on the HUB website here. Please do not hesitate to circulate it in your professional and social networks. If you do use Twitter or Linkedin, remember to tag the HUB (Twitter: @HUBINESC).

Exclusive Horizon Europe guide now available in the Private Area

The HUB got hold of “Horizon Europe: an essential guide”, a comprehensive and expert guide to Horizon Europe applicants elaborated by Science|Business. The guide is the most easy-to-read, yet authoritative, guide to the programme available anywhere, and it includes new analysis and data on the programme, as well as quick summaries of key news milestones along the way towards the programme’s start.

The guide, which is normally accessible only to paying members of Science|Business, is now exclusively available to all members of the HUB website for free in the Private Area (folder EU Funding > Horizon Europe).

Please do not share the document beyond INESC.

Commission webinar on Horizon Europe “Dissemination and Exploitation”

Yesterday took place the third Commission webinar on Horizon Europe. The event focused on dissemination and communication of research results within the new framework programme, and delved on important topics such as IP management and the exploitation of research results. The recording and the supporting presentations of the webinar are available here and will also be uploaded on the relative folder in the Private Area of this website.

Commission’s annual state of play on sustainable fishing

The EU is now in the eighth year of the implementation of the reformed Common Fisheries Policy. To satisfy the legal reporting obligations set out in Regulation 1380/2013, and to assess the progress made towards the achievement of its main objective, notably sustainability, the Commission adopts this Communication every year. This year’s communication “Towards more sustainable fishing in the EU: state of play and orientations for 2022” shows that overall, the EU fleet remained profitable in 202, and that in particular, the economic performance and salaries of EU fishers tend to improve where fleets depend on stocks that are caught sustainably and tend to stagnate where stocks are overfished or overexploited. Go here for more information on the communication.

MEPs call for binding measures to protect Europe’s forests

EU lawmakers approved a report on the EU’s 2030 Biodiversity Strategy on Tuesday, calling for legally binding measures to protect nature and biodiversity. A heated debate was sparked by amendments calling for forest protection to be weakened, which were eventually rejected. The MEPs, who voted 515 in favour and 90 against the report, repeated their call to ensure that at least 30% of the EU’s land and sea be protected by 2030, of which at least one-third – including all remaining primary and old-growth forests in the EU – should be given even stricter protection. MEPs also said the bloc needs legally binding measures to protect nature and biodiversity, pointing to previous initiatives that had failed to deliver. Read more on Euractiv.

The future of CBDC: new EUBOF report on the possible structures of the digital euro

The European Blockchain Observatory and Forum (EUBOF) has just published a report identifying and evaluating eight alternative design architectures for the digital euro.

The EUBOF report, coordinated by the Institute for the Future (IFF) at the University of Nicosia, goes a step further from previous efforts, by considering specific design options for the digital euro and evaluating them against the core principles and requirements set by the ECB. This large-scale research aims at contributing to the ongoing debate to develop the digital euro. The full report can be read and downloaded here.