Final Report Summary - B.BICE+ (Brazilian Bureau to Enhance the Bilateral Cooperation between Brazil and Europe) Executive Summary:The WP1 was aimed at promoting sustainable partnerships between EU and Brazilian actors of the whole research-to-innovation chain by: raising awareness on EU, MS&AC and Brazilian programmes and calls among both Brazilian and EU ST&I communities and informing about the opportunities and modalities of participation; collecting and analysing information on the EU-Brazil ST&I cooperation initiatives; facilitating the preparation of EU-Brazil collaborative projects and promoting the dissemination of scientific results to a broader scientific community. To this end, the following activities were implemented: the Observatory of the EU-BR ST&I Cooperation ; the database of Brazilian calls and information on Brazilian calls opened to EU researches has been updated and disseminated through the www.bilat.eu ; 22 Information days organized during the second period in 11 Brazilian cities and a Joint Information Day in Brussels on Latin American ST&I programmes had been organized by B.BICE+ in partnership with the BILAT projects ABEST III, CEST+I and EU-MEX INNOVA; a call targeting European and Brazilian research actors; four issues of the B.BICE+ Newsletter were released by B.BICE+ and, finally, the information of Calls open for EU-BR cooperation were included as news at the project`s website.To promote coordination of MS&AC initiatives targeting Brazil by contributing the B.BICE+ consortium implemented a feasibility study for a joint liaison office of European research organizations and the constitution of a Joint Action Taskforce which led to the organisation of two pilot joint actions: specific EU-BR sessions during the Bio Latin America Conference and the organisation by MCTI of the South-South Workshop on Tropical and South Atlantic Research Collaboration organized with the support of B.BICE+ in collaboration with ESASTAP+WP3 promoted activities in order to enhance the EU-brazil cooperation among innovation actors. Two EU-Brazil Technology and Innovation Forums were organized in Brazil and in Europe with specific sessions to share best practices in Technology Transfer and in IP management. Moreover, the Online Guide to innovation was implemented in order to facilitate networking as well as a call for innovation actors for twining activities.Finally, in the framework of WP4 aimed at supporting the EU-Brazil S&T policy dialogue and contribute to the implementation of the roadmap, defined by the Joint S&T Cooperation Committee, two activities with real added value with regards to previous INCO projects targeting Brazil: the EU-Brazil ST&I Cooperation Scoreboard and the Analysis and promotion of the State level institutions in the EU-Brazil ST&I partnership. Project Context and Objectives:The B.BICE+ project objectives and activities were drawn considering the agreement that governs Brazil and EU cooperation in all areas is the EU-Brazil framework cooperation signed in 1992. In order to stablish a specific framework for Science, Technology and Innovation, the EU-Brazil S,T&I cooperation agreement was signed in January, 2004, ratified in 2007 and renewed in 2012 for more 5 years. The agreement aims to strengthen research activities and encourage the application of their results at economic and social context. It aim to achieve the advancement of science and strengthen the industrial competitiveness, ensuring sustainable development and the socio-economic welfare. The main principles in the agreement are mutual benefit, reciprocal opportunities for access to S,T&I programs, effective intellectual property protection and individual rights equal division. The Joint Science and Technology Steering Committee (JSTSC) monitors the implementation of the agreement meeting regularly in order to discuss priority areas and modalities for EU-Brazil cooperation on S,T&I. The JSTSC is the most important meeting for the S,T&I policy dialogue between Brazil and the Commission. The sixth Joint Steering Committee Meeting hosted by the European Commission in Brussels on June 2013 agreed to step up cooperation in the following key areas:→ Marine research;→ Food security, sustainable agriculture and bio-economy;→ Energy;→ Nanotechnologies.In addition, “Innovation” was reaffirmed as key aspect for cooperation between EU and Brazil.Specific Working Groups have been set up with the mandate to engage in a stock taking exercise so as to capitalize on what exists, identify joint actions and timelines for implementation, as well as to monitor and report on implementation.The JSCM Working Group on Marine Science was the one with more results achieved so far. Following the first meeting, the representatives from MCTI have interacted with the personnel in charge for cooperation with Brazil and Latin America at European Commission level. Brazilian stakeholders were invited to participate to different Workshops and meetings aiming to develop the policy dialogue strengthening relations between both regions and involving Brazil in the European activities proposed under the Atlantic Strategy and its results. Counting with support of the B.BICE+ project, representatives from Brazil at political and research level received funded to participate to technical meetings in Rome 2014 and in Brussels 2015. As a result of this intense exchange between Brazil and European Commission representatives, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation from Brazil and the European Commissioner signed, in November 2015, a Joint Declaration of Intent for Marine Research Cooperation. Another key aspect for the project’s context was the launch of the new framework programme and the fact that Brazilians researchers were no longer automatically eligible. The B.BICE+ project had to concentrate many activities for dissemination/information of the new programme, especially in the organization of events. Considering the above-mentioned context, the B.BICE+ project was built on the results of two previous projects also funded under the European Commission framework programme, the BB.Bice and APORTA project. Financed under FP7 framework programme, the project began in October 2012 and ended in December 2015. The B.BICE+ Project seek to strengthen the EU-Brazil bilateral partnership on Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I) by also considering the results of past and ongoing initiatives supporting EU-Brazil ST&I cooperation, as well as the need for: a) enhanced reciprocity, b) reinforced bilateral cooperation on innovation, and c) enhanced coordination between the EU and the Members States. In this context, the specific objectives of B.BICE+ were as follows:• Support the EU-Brazil ST&I policy dialogue, including the policy dialogue on innovation, and contribute to the implementation of the EU-Brazil ST&I Roadmap by promoting the principle of mutual benefit and reciprocity as well as the objectives of the Innovation Union Initiative.• Promote durable partnerships between EU-Brazil actors of the whole research-to innovation chain and the sharing of scientific results to enhance the impact of the EU-Brazil ST&I cooperation.• Encourage coordination between the EU and Member States’ ST&I programmes and policies targeting Brazil by promoting the implementation of joint actions.• Raise awareness among both EU and Brazilian ST&I communities on mutual programmes promoting cooperation on research and innovation.In order to reach the above-mentioned objectives, the project implanted key activities towards:• Raising awareness on EU, MS&AC and Brazilian programmes and calls among both Brazilian and EU ST&I communities and informing about opportunities and modalities of participation. Specific tasks were to facilitate and promote interaction between Brazilian and European researchers and stakeholders. • Collecting and analysing information on the EU-Brazil ST&I cooperation initiatives. The analytical reports aimed at making more clear and understandable the features of cooperation opportunities and existing collaborations, while giving insights for best practices and possible matching instruments. • Facilitating the preparation of EU-Brazil collaborative projects and promoting the dissemination of scientific results to a broader scientific community by putting into place mobility tools (travel grants) and networking events; • Promoting the coordination of MS&AC research policies and programmes vis-à-vis Brazil;• Elaborating a roadmap with suggestions for future joint activities and the identification and implementation of Joint Actions involving Brazilian as well as MS&AC stakeholders in the bilateral cooperation; • Launching a Joint Action Task Force (JAT) to contribute in the definition of priority fields to be targeted by project and on the elaboration of a roadmap for potential Joint Actions;• Making clear the innovation framework in BR and EU for ST&I performers and build on best practices for IPR cooperation and technology/knowledge transfer;• Promoting durable partnerships and a better understanding of the Brazilian and EU innovation framework conditions in specific fields through twinning and visit exchanges involving EU and Brazilian actors of the research-to-innovation chain;• Promote an approach to innovation as an overarching policy objective for EU-BR cooperation;• Collecting information on the reciprocity under the EU-Brazil ST&I bilateral agreement;• Providing quality feedback to policy-level bodies such as the JSTCC and SFIC;• Fostering the support of Brazilian State level institutions for the EU-Brazil ST&I partnership.The B.BICE+ consortium was coordinated by the Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD) and was constituted of the following partners: • Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientίfico e Tecnόlogico (CNPq). • Associação Nacional de Entidades Promotoras de Empreendimentos Inovadores (ANPROTEC)• International Bureau at the Project Management Agency, part of the German Aerospace Center (PT-DLR)• Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH) • University of Brasilia (UnB) was a partner in the project from the beginning. However, due to difficulties in implementing the tasks the consortium decided for their withdraw from the project. To achieve the expected results it was important to:- Establish and maintain Communication channels with stakeholders from the ST&I EU-Brazil bilateral dialogue;- Have Flexibility to respond to specific needs of the policy dialogue, providing the necessary support and feedback;- Collaborate with European funded initiatives, MS&AC and Brazilian institutions; - Share of experiences and contacts with stakeholders and partners having the opportunity to build on new interactions within the EU-BR ST&I network; - Create a Joint Action Taskforce with members from different countries and areas that could interact and give support to the project’s activities. The main challenge on the implementation of the project’s activities was related to problem with a key partner from the consortium, Universidade de Brasília (UnB). After the withdraw of the person responsible for the project at UnB, the Brazilian University did not appointed staff responsible for B.BICE+ and the activities stopped being implemented. Considering the key whole played by UnB in the project, various activities were delayed. The consortium decided for two amendments requests on the original contract and in accordance with UnB responsible actors, the second amendment requested for the UnB withdraw from B.BICE+. It was necessary to execute a redistribution of tasks and budget between the consortiums members. Due to this sensible situation with UnB, the coordinator (IRD) had to implement a very close communication with the EC’s project officer. Feedback and greenlight on activities were constantly needed/requested. Unfortunately, this communication channel was not fluid enough, resulting in some delay of activities. In addition, the project suffered a great influence from the European Commission on its activities. Project Results:The work that was planned for the duration of the project was focused on achieving the project objectives. Many activities have been carried out and different positive outputs have been produced during the project’s period.• Support the EU-Brazil ST&I policy dialogue, including the policy dialogue on innovation, and contribute to the implementation of the EU-Brazil ST&I Roadmap by promoting the principle of mutual benefit and reciprocity as well as the objectives of the Innovation Union Initiative.→ Two complete Databases were delivered with information on all the Calls launched by Brazilian agencies during 2013 and 2014. This Brazilian call database was developed as a document for the process of elaborating the scoreboard, but it was deemed a most relevant source of information, due to the variety of analyses that may be drawn from it. The two call databases that were produced by CNPq’s team are available only in Portuguese. → Two Policy support notes from 2013 and 2914 were included in the Observatory (D1.1) with analysis of results from the Call Database created by CNPq. → A set of indicators and a methodology to analyse the EU-BR collaboration was built in the Cooperation Scoreboard. With information on 2013 and 2014, the specific data collected and analysed had never been gathered in a single document before and the information discriminated will be of great value for the European Commission and Brazilian ST&I institutions.→ B.BICE+ submitted background documents for the preparation of the SFIC meetings and JSCM as well. Three reports to the JSCM, based on a compilation of the main results of the project.→ A study on the State Foundations for Research Development was delivered. It contains key information on Brazilian FAPs that deal with competencies and relative development stage from the FAPs, innovation and international cooperation resources, thematic priorities for the FAPs; public and Private Partnerships and Traditional S&T fostering programs and calls.→ Elaboration of analysis of the Brazilian innovation framework and the benchmarking of the ongoing MS&AC and EC programmes.→ A survey on Marine Research presenting an overview of the Brazilian cooperation in this specific field with Atlantic Coastal countries. → Funding of travel grants for Brazilian researchers from the Marine Science field to enhance the political dialogue between MCTI and the EC. This exchanges and the strong engagement of political actors from the EC and MCTI resulted in the signature of a Joint Declaration of Intent for Marine Research Cooperation.→ Travel grants for VII EU-Brazil Information Society Dialogue ICT 2015 in Lisboa. The workshop aimed to bring together the main stakeholders in BR-EU cooperation on FIWARE, to take stock of ongoing developments, and to determine an action plan for the continued cooperation in 2015-16 and beyond. Stakeholders were from Brazilian ministries, Brazilian organisations, EU organisations, the European Commission, and possibly the World Bank. B.BICE+ project funded the travel of 11 Brazilian participants to Lisboa.• Promote durable partnerships between EU-Brazil actors of the whole research-to innovation chain and the sharing of scientific results to enhance the impact of the EU-Brazil ST&I cooperation.→ A Joint Action Taskforce was successfully constituted, having its members contributing towards the identification of priority fields for the B.BICE+ project, the identification and implementation of Pilot Joint Actions→ A compilation of the priority sector analyses selected by the JAT was delivered as a roadmap for EU-BR cooperation in those areas. → Online Guide and collaboration mapping tool was put into place in order to facilitate networking between the European and Brazilian research and innovation actors while identifying current instances of EU-BR cooperation. This tool counts also with an analytical dimension, through the analysis of the Brazilian innovation framework and the benchmarking of the ongoing MS&AC and EC programmes.→ Calls launched: o Innovation actors - travel grants in collaboration with the ENTENTE Project. o Innovation actors - raised an important interest among European and Brazilian innovation actors, as a total of 66 eligible applications were received (33 candidates from Brazil and 33 applicants from the European Union, representing 15 European countries), having the B.BICE+ project financed 12 grants (19% of the total of applications received).o Research actors - raised an unexpected interest among European and Brazilian research actors with 110 eligible applications having 12 funded researchers (2 Brazilians and 10 Europeans).o All actor form the research-to-innovation chain – participation to the 1st Technology and Innovation Forum and B2B encounters. o All actor form the research-to-innovation chain – participation to the 2nd Technology and Innovation Forum and B2B encounters. → The 1st Forum was organized back to back with the XXIV ANPROTEC Seminar on Science Parks and Business Incubation, held in Belém (Brazil) from the 22nd to the 26th of September 2014 with participation of actors of the whole research-to-innovation chain took part in the debate. The Forum activities combined other meetings and events to support EU-BR innovation collaborations, such as a workshop on Technology Transfer, a high-level roundtable and B2B encounters to foster networking and collaboration between researchers and stakeholders; → The 2nd Forum was expected to take place in Brussels From November, 23rd to 24th, 2015. However, considering the security alert in Brussels, the B.BICE+ consortium decided to cancel the event. The activities to be held were a Policy Panel and a 2nd roundtable on IPR. • Encourage coordination between the EU and Member States’ ST&I programmes and policies targeting Brazil by promoting the implementation of joint actions.→ A Guide “Towards a better coordination of EU and MS&AC bilateral initiatives with Brazil” was submitted in August 2013 (D2.1). → A Feasibility study for a joint liaison office of European research organizations showing the detailed results for Brazil was joint elaborated with other BILAT projects and delivered in a report entitled as “Roadmap – Recommendations for Pilot Joint Activities & Feasibility Study for a Liaison Office” (D2.4). → A Stakeholder Workshop was successfully held at CNPq’s headquarters in Brasilia on the 8th-9th of October 2013. 74 institutional representatives took part in this event. The minutes were submitted in November 2013 as a first draft of the “Roadmap for a coordinated action on ST&I of MS/AC and EU with Brazil” (Drafted by DLR and CNPq with IRD contributions).• Raise awareness among both EU and Brazilian ST&I communities on mutual programmes promoting cooperation on research and innovation.→ Information on Brazilian calls opened to EU researches updated and disseminated through the www.bilat.eu common call database of the Bilat projects and through the B.BICE+ website, towards improving the European participation in Brazilian Calls.→ The Observatory of the EU-BR ST&I Cooperation was delivered with analysis on the Brazilian participation in the European Framework programmes (FP7 and H2020) and European participation in the Brazilian calls and main programmes (Science without Borders and Start-up Brazil).→ 22 Information days, including Tour of Brazil events, were organized during the second period in 11 different Brazilian cities. A Flash report on this events with bullet points on the discussions held during this events and the lessons learned was delivered. → A Joint Information Day in Brussels on Latin American ST&I programmes had been organized by B.BICE+ in partnership with the BILAT projects ABEST III, CEST+I and EU-MEX INNOVA. → The project website was created to share information on EU-Brazil cooperation, activities of the project and its partners, being updated every week.→ Four issues of the B.BICE+ Newsletter were released by B.BICE+.Potential Impact:B.BICE+ implemented a wide range of activities that focused on appealing to different stakeholders including actors of the whole research and innovation value chain and policy makers. Its travel and networking funds have has an important role in strengthening and creating collaborations between research and innovation actors for important multipliers in the Brazilian and European research community in the EU-BR priority fields. The two EU-Brazil Technology and Innovation Forums, the InfoDays organized in Brazil in partnership with Brazilian key ST&I institution, in close coordination with the EU Delegation to Brazil, allowed rich B2B encounters during these events and the number of candidates to the two calls for twining activities illustrates these successful synergies encouraged during the project.B.BICE+ supported the policy dialogue and contributes to the definition and implementation of joint strategic agendas for science, technology and innovation. B.BICE+ ensured a continuous follow-up on the evolutions of the EU-Brazil ST&I policy dialogue and initiatives to give quality and relevant feedback to the policy level and the project activities have been implemented by taking into consideration these evolutions. Among the actions aimed at providing this support it is worth pointing out the survey on the EU-BR cooperation on Marine research that was conducted after discussions between the EC and MCTI. The project addressed the marine issue in the whole WPs by supporting the Brazilian participation in key workshops and meetings: “Atlantic Ocean research – Detecting new ways of information exchange for enhanced collaboration” (Rome, October 6th 2014, under the initiative of the FP7 project BILAT USA 2.0.) “Southern Atlantic Marine Science Cooperation Workshop” (Brussels, 15th April 2015, hosted by the German Marine Research Consortium and the French Research Institute for the Exploitation of the Sea in cooperation with the EC) and in conjunction with the EC’s workshop “The Atlantic - Our Shared resource. Making the Vision Reality”. This last event was the launch pad for all the Galway Statement follow-up projects funded with the first Horizon 2020 Blue Growth calls. In October 2015, the pilot joint action supported by B.BICE+ gathered together representatives from Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Angola, Namibia, Germany, France, Italy, Norway and Portugal in order to discuss main aspects of the current ocean research in the Tropical and South Atlantic Ocean with the objective of establishing a South to South agenda as base for political and scientific collaboration. As a result of this workshop, South Africa and Brazil presented a Statement of Outcome signed by the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI) and the South African Department for Science and Technology (DST), proposing a future scientific agenda for the Tropical and South Atlantic. B.BICE+ also implemented activities in order to provide relevant feedback to the JSCM&SFIC with evidence-based information, ie. The Observatory of the EU-BR ST&I Cooperation was delivered with analysis on the Brazilian participation in the European Framework programmes (FP7 and H2020) and European participation in the Brazilian calls and main programmes (Science without Borders and Start-up Brazil) ; A study on the State Foundations for Research Development was delivered. It contains key information on Brazilian FAPs that deal with competencies and relative development stage from the FAPs, innovation and international cooperation resources, thematic priorities for the FAPs; public and Private Partnerships and Traditional S&T fostering programs and calls.List of Websites:http://www.b-bice-plus.eu/email: europe@ird.fr
