Flemish Advisory Council for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

On April 22, 2024, VARIO received a request for advice from former Flemish Minister of Innovation Jo Brouns regarding the opportunities and needs for a broad Flemish defence industry and innovation. In the meantime, the new legislature has commenced. For the first time, the Flemish Coalition Agreement 2024-2029 includes defence as a strategic sector.

In its recent advisory report, VARIO believes that the commitment in the Flemish Coalition Agreement must now quickly lead to a clear, consistent, and stimulating policy framework for the defence industry and innovation. Several barriers need to be removed and certain elements facilitated.

In its Advisory Report 37, VARIO first focuses on Flanders' productivity. This is followed by an international overview of policy advice on productivity. VARIO wants to help shape Flanders‘ productivity agenda and therefore calls for a better study of Flanders’ productivity performance, for a sharpening of R&D&I policy and for other policy domains to be involved in transverse innovation policy.

On 27 March 2024, VARIO received a request for advice from minister Brouns on the green paper ‘The future of Flemish cluster policy’. VARIO states that spearhead clusters are a driver for economic valorization and for addressing societal challenges through R&D&I, and calls for them to be used more explicitly within transformative innovation policy. VARIO also asks to provide the necessary financial support for the renewed assignment of the spearhead clusters and to focus on a partnership role between the spearhead clusters and VLAIO. Finally, VARIO believes the time is right for an open call on new strategic themes and is in favor of a bottom-up approach.

The world is facing urgent societal challenges that require fundamental change, such as the climate crisis or the nitrogen crisis. In its Advisory Report 35, VARIO focuses on Transformative Innovation Policy which plays a crucial role in system change or system transitions. Consider, for instance, the transition to a digital and circular agri-food system or to a circular economy. Based on the AWTI-VARIO country review (December 2023) and a background report, VARIO developed a participatory governance framework for Transformative Innovation Policy, with 8 recommendations, that creates proximity with local innovation dynamics. Here, continuous exchange of information between the policy cycle and an external experimental space is essential, e.g. to be able to make targeted adjustments to regulations or other policy levers, in order to create system-level impact and to accelerate (radical) innovations.