VARIO colloquium 2025
Under the theme “Flanders Accelerates – How to Switch Strategically?”, the VARIO Colloquium 2025 built on the ‘Flemish Acceleration’, the government-wide initiative aimed at sustainably boosting the productivity and competitiveness of the Flemish economy—and, by extension, the prosperity and well-being of Flanders. Strategic sectors play an essential role in this effort and form a common thread throughout the Flemish Government’s policy agenda.
Both researchers and entrepreneurs are shaping the innovations that will define the future. These innovations build on scientific breakthroughs. The commercialization of these innovations, in turn, creates added value, laying the foundation for long-term productivity growth.
The colloquium was well attended, we welcomed around 130 participants. Through a well-balanced program featuring keynote speakers from various fields and several business testimonials, all above mentioned topics were addressed. A panel of VARIO members provided even deeper insights, followed by closing remarks from Simon Gheysen, Chief of Staff to the Minister-President. The event was moderated by Olivier Schalbroeck.
Opening Speech by VARIO Chair Lieven Danneels
In his opening speech, Lieven Danneels elaborated on recent VARIO advisory reports that are strongly linked to the theme of the colloquium. To strengthen Flanders’ productivity and international competitiveness, we need to focus more on dynamic renewal, breakthrough research and innovations, and better facilitate creative destruction, entrepreneurial experimentation, and a faster translation of knowledge into innovative companies.
From a policy perspective, the Flemish Coalition Agreement also included the choice for ‘strategic sectors’. In this context, VARIO was asked to provide advice on the ‘defining strategic sectors’. But making choices is complex. How should these choices be made? Should we base them on Flanders’ past strengths? Or should we follow international trends? That is why VARIO is working on a decision-making framework that provides guidance: transparent, well-founded, and future-oriented. The question of how to switch strategically was therefore the common thread throughout this colloquium.
Keynote Luc Van den hove, ceo imec,
The transformative impact of AI on industry and our society is accelerating at an unprecedented pace. At the heart of this revolution lies the continuous advancement of microchip technology, which provides the computing power and efficiency required for next-generation AI applications.
In his presentation, Luc Van den hove, CEO of Imec, explained how the future of AI-driven innovation is fundamentally linked to breakthroughs in microchip design and manufacturing. Using inspiring examples from sectors such as the automotive industry and healthcare, he presented practical strategies that drive transformative innovations. He also emphasized the importance of collaboration between research institutions, industrial partners, and government stakeholders.
Testimonial Openchip
Openchip is a brand-new full-stack semiconductor company specializing in energy-efficient system-on-chip (SoC) solutions based on the RISC-V architecture. The company focuses on high-performance computing and AI, aiming to challenge NVIDIA.
Openchip was founded in Spain but now has branches in several European countries, including a very recent location in Ghent. In his testimonial, Steven Latré, Chief AI Officer at Openchip, explains a.o. the company’s ambitions and why Ghent was chosen. He concludes his testimonial with a message to the Flemish Government.
Keynote Sabine Süsstrunck
Sabine Süsstrunck, professor and dean of the School of Computer and Communication Sciences at EPFL and chair of VARIO’s Swiss sister council, the SSC, took participants through Switzerland’s success story—the country that has led international innovation rankings for years.
Switzerland’s strength lies in a robust private sector, a bottom-up approach, international openness, and a smart interplay between federal and regional policy levels. At the same time, she pointed out some new challenges: geopolitical uncertainties, the need for strategic choices, and the importance of continued investment in talent and infrastructure.
Flanders can learn from this keynote that excellence and collaboration go hand in hand, but that agility and strategic switching are essential to maintain a competitive edge.
Testimonial Biovia
The second company testimonial comes from Ann Van Gysel, CEO of Biovia. Biovia is one of the Flemish spearhead clusters and represents nearly all players involved in health innovation. Biovia is the result of a recent merger: the health innovation cluster MEDVIA joined forces with flanders.bio, the representative of biotech and biopharma companies.Ann elaborates on Flanders’ strength in these domains—partly the result of a strategic choice made in the past—and illustrates this with a few examples that have recently received extensive media coverage. Finally, she also makes several recommendations to the Flemish Government.
Keynote Sam Arts
Sam Arts, professor professor of strategy at KU Leuven, presented the results of the study ’Scientific and Technological Breakthrough Research in Flanders, which was carried out on behalf of VARIO. The aim of the research project was to provide an in-depth understanding of the development and impact of scientific breakthrough research and breakthrough technology in the region. This evolution was tracked over time, comparing Flanders’ performance with that of the EU-27, other leading regions and countries, and with the world as a whole.
Testimonial ArgenX
ArgenX was founded in 2008 within the biotech ecosystem, under the impetus of VIB and - 17 years later - has grown into one of the most valuable companies in Flanders. From the very beginning, Argenx had the ambition to build a company that would bring internationally unique medicines to the market.
Panel
Next, four VARIO council members engaged in a debate on the theme of the colloquium. Among other things, they discussed what they consider to be strong ecosystems in Flanders and whether these are the result of a ‘strategic policy choice from the past’ and/or bottom-up strengths. How do they view breakthrough research? And how, in their opinion, can the government stimulate the ‘creation/strengthening’ of strategic strengths? Does this always require financial resources from the government?
The council members also shared their views on international trends that we should not miss. What do we need to seize these opportunities? How should we deal with international competition and the growing importance of strategic autonomy? Can we be confident that we will maintain our current strong positions in the future?
Lieven Danneels
Besides imec and VIB – the highly successful examples resulting from previous policy choices – there are also strong ecosystems that have grown in different ways, such as the largest European cluster of frozen vegetable companies in West Flanders and the software cluster in Ghent’s Wintercircus. imec and VIB build on world-class excellence, international collaboration, international top talent, all supported by sustained government investments. In the other examples, strong and ambitious entrepreneurship is the main driver. Let’s not forget the ‘O’ in VARIO, the ‘O’ for ‘ondernemen’ (entrepreneurship).
Therefore the government must also create space for bottom-up innovation. It is important to help and stimulate entrepreneurship in other ways, such as adapting regulations, attracting investments, providing strong education, and bringing in top international talent. We should also ask ourselves whether choosing strategic sectors is the right approach – shouldn’t we rather look at which challenges within those sectors need to be addressed?
Ann Caluwaerts
The overarching trend is AI. It is shifting from automation to true transformation. The greatest productivity gains will come from entirely new tasks that only AI makes possible. At the same time, a new generation of AI is emerging: AI agents and multi-agent systems that come much closer to autonomy. This requires a huge leap in computing power, data infrastructure, and energy efficiency.
Our weakness lies in valorization: we are world-class in science but less so in technological breakthroughs and patenting. The fact that Flanders is small and fragmented is also a bottleneck.Resources, expertise, and programs are too scattered. In a small country, fragmentation acts as a brake on impact. We also have a structural shortage of STEM profiles, while AI, chips, and biotech are precisely the domains where demand for STEM talent is rising exponentially.
Dieter Deforce
Flanders is very strong in biotech and pharma. What makes Flanders unique is its well-developed and integrated ecosystem that covers the entire life sciences value chain. From fundamental research to clinical trials, production, and commercialization, all the links are present and interconnected. This makes Flanders particularly attractive for investors and international collaboration. The Flemish Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) plays a central role in this.
The success stories of Argenx and Biothalys could have been even greater if GMO and NGT regulations in Europe were not so strict, and if there were a more unified market for new medicines. Encouraging structural collaboration between actors to create critical mass is also important. Flanders is at a unique crossroads of technological innovation. Our region combines a strong tradition in biotechnology, a rapidly growing ecosystem around digital technology, and world-renowned expertise in semiconductors. These domains reinforce each other in a way that makes Flanders exceptionally well-positioned to pioneer the healthcare of the future, smart manufacturing, and sustainable technology development.
Stijn Kelchtermans
It is important to look beyond the issues of the day and keep an eye on structural trends. Three macro trends are particularly important:
- Value chains are currently being reshaped based on available raw materials, cheap energy… questions we should ask ourselves are “Which niche in the value chain can we fill based on our technological strengths?” “Where can we make ourselves indispensable?” That is creative destruction: letting go of areas where other regions are better positioned and focusing and investing in new strengths.
- The merging of physical and digital innovation.
- Globalization of talent.
Let us choose excellence, while at the same time leaving room for the unexpected. Continued strong investment in fundamental research remains essential.
Reaction Simon Gheysen
On behalf of the Minister-President, Simon Gheysen expressed his appreciation for the work carried out by VARIO.
He also elaborated on the theme of the colloquium. Flanders not only succeeds in producing more scientific knowledge, but also in generating more output that is innovative and resonates internationally. We are delivering important breakthroughs on the global stage as well!
Continuous and focused attention on innovation will be crucial for the future prosperity of Flanders and, by extension, the EU. The broader international context is one of a revival of economic protectionism and political populism, but also of an increased focus on strategic autonomy and strategic independence.
- For a knowledge economy like Flanders, brainpower is the ultimate asset. We must therefore do everything possible to inspire people to engage with science, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
- We need a greater appetite for risk and entrepreneurship, as well as more public and private venture capital to facilitate this.
- If we want to better valorize our Flemish knowledge, we must do so based on a model that builds on our strengths and therefore start from a collaborative model.
Wrap-up Danielle Raspoet
In her wrap-up, VARIO Director Danielle Raspoet summarized the key messages. She opened her closing remarks with an encouraging statement from the chemical sector—a sector currently under heavy pressure: “Europe must focus on what it truly excels at. The real competition is not about who has the cheapest gas, but about who has the best chemists and the strongest innovative power.”
This perfectly reflects the essence of the colloquium: value chains are being reshaped in terms of competitiveness and strategic autonomy, and we must make ourselves indispensable within those value chains by leveraging our strengths.
More impressions from the colloquium?
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