Supporting health research and strategic transformation for companies Interview with Mrs Hilde CREVITS, Deputy Prime Minister of the Flemish Government and Flemish Minister for Economy, Innovation, Work, Social Economy and Agriculture on the greening of ICT. Within the Flemish Research Plan AI, for example, we are taking a leading role in the development of Edge AI (or edge computing) in which algorithmic calculations are done directly in the device and do not first have to be collected centrally. This evolution opens up a whole range of possibilities for AI use in low-power applications, which therefore consume less energy.
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hat are the strengths of the Flemish economy? When I think of Flanders, I think primarily of our knowhow and of our innovative capabilities. Our workforce is highly educated, and our employees are among the most productive in Europe. Only Ireland and Luxembourg are more productive than we are. We also must mention our research institutions, such as our universities and our strategic research centres Imec, VIB, Flanders Make and VITO. Their strength acts as a catalyst for innovation among our companies. Our innovative expertise, our geographic centrality and our ports make Flanders an important logistics hub in Europe. It is imperative that we play on our strengths to emerge stronger and more resilient from the current crisis.
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The recent COVID-19 pandemic turned the world upside down. What has the Flemish Government done? This crisis is unprecedented. The Flemish Government initially focused on meeting the acute financial needs of our companies. With the corona ‘hinderpremie’ (a compensation given to all firms that were obliged to close down completely) and the corona ‘compensatiepremie’ (a compensation given to all firms experiencing a serious drop in revenue due to the measures), we helped companies that had to close down and/or saw a sharp drop in their income. The speed by which the Flemish Agency for Innovation and Enterprise (VLAIO) implemented these measures is unprecedented. More than 200,000 self-employed people were helped with more than 1 billion euros.
What role does innovation play in the dynamics of Flemish companies? Peter Drucker, the godfather of modern management once said: “Innovate or die”. All companies must dare to innovate, as innovation determines whether companies flourish and grow, or languish and stagnate. Innovation allows companies to stay ahead of their competitors, respond more quickly to customer needs and produce products and services more efficiently. This in turn creates more added value and increases our labour productivity even more. Innovation is winning, in all areas. That is why I think it is important that our companies, especially our smaller ones, embrace and use new technologies such as artificial intelligence and cyber security sooner rather than later. It is for this reason that I will make available in subsidies EUR 32 million a year for artificial intelligence, and EUR 20 million a year for cyber security. That will also help us to respond to the European digital agenda.
In addition, we also offered additional support through PMV by, for example, expanding possibilities in the area of guarantees and subordinated loans. We are currently working on a Welfare Fund to activate the savings of the Flemish people to strengthen our businesses. We have also made additional investments in research and innovation. Both have been crucial during the crisis and will continue to do so during our economic relaunch. The importance of research and innovation in the healthcare sector could not be made any
How do you envisage Flanders contributing to the digital and green transition that the European Commission is prioritising? The importance of the green and digital transition should not be underestimated. It motivates me to ensure that my policies are extremely responsive to the lightning speed of digitisation, and through close cooperation with industry, support the transition to a low-carbon economy and society.
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We are transforming how we procure our energy as an answer to the climate challenge. This is also strongly linked to the digital transition.Our dynamic spearhead clusters and innovative business networks will play an important guiding role in the Flemish green and digital transition. We want to build up future-proof green and digital value chains in Flanders, which will enable us to position ourselves strongly in the European value chains. With the Moonshot programme (consisting of 20 million euros per year), we will finance research projects that support our industrial transition to a CO2-neutral industry by 2050. We will also make every effort to participate in the new European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation “Horizon Europe” and look for other European co-financing opportunities to realize our ambitions. In addition to this, we are also working
Minister Crevits visiting Sioen Coating in Ardooie
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