Policy

The transport sector accounts for 14% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Image credit -Flickr/opengridscheduler, licensed under CC0 1.0

27 February 2018

EU puts its 'foot on the accelerator' of battery research

The European Union is scaling up its investment in battery technology with the announcement of a €10 million open competition to design a better battery for electric vehicles and a €50 million cash injection to develop Europe's largest green battery factory.

A successful project to improve childbirth safety in Mali and Senegal will now be rolled out to Chad, Niger and Burkina Faso. Image credit: Russell Watkins/DFID is licensed under CC BY 2.0 https://flic.kr/p/TJn81M

health | policy | open innovation

14 February 2018

Maternal death audits in Africa win €1 mn innovation prize

An audit committee that reviews deaths during childbirth and works out how to avoid them has won its founders the €1 million EU Horizon Birth Day prize for a solution that saves the lives of mothers and their babies.

Depending on the country, between 12% and 20% of workers have some experience of working via gig economy platforms, according to Prof. Ursula Huws. Image credit – Pexels, CC0

policy | open innovation

06 February 2018

Gig economy necessitates a new charter of labour rights – expert

We need a new bill of rights to absorb the changes brought about by the gig economy, or using apps and websites to arrange casual jobs, which are now spreading to other areas of work, according to an international labour expert speaking at a conference on the future of work.

Research excellence relies not only on funding but also on the right governance and culture, according to experts. Credit — Pixabay/ jarmoluk

policy | health

01 February 2018

Life scientists unite to close EU's innovation gap

Nepotism, a lack of transparency and poor governance are among some of the challenging conditions faced by researchers in Central and Eastern Europe, according to a consortium of life scientists who have set up a project to raise the level of research excellence in those countries.

Energy poverty is caused by income limitations and energy inefficiency, according to experts. Credit – Max Pixel/ image is in public domain

energy | policy

31 January 2018

Online observatory aims to combat energy poverty

If you have ever run up arrears on your bills or shivered without turning on the heat at home during winter because you are concerned about the cost, then you may be experiencing energy poverty.

Sea-based agriculture that cultivates large quantities of algae could help triple or quadruple the amount of food we get from our oceans. Credit - pxhere/ picture is in public domain

agriculture | environment | policy

08 December 2017

Algae and krill may be a tough sell for European consumers

People will need to be persuaded to eat new types of seafood if we are to extract more food from the oceans and feed growing human populations, according to fishing industry experts.

The European open science cloud will tie researchers together in a collaboration space. Credit — pxhere/ picture is in public domain

open science | policy | ict

30 November 2017

Nine things we now know about the European open science cloud

The idea of creating a shared online repository that would make all data from publicly funded research available for anyone to investigate and use, sounds like a laudable and ambitious plan. But how exactly would a European open science cloud (EOSC) work in practice? On 28 and 29 November, data experts, policymakers and scientists gathered in Brussels, Belgium, to discuss the way forward. Horizon went along and here are nine things we learned.

We need to make sure everyone benefits from new technologies so as not to widen inequality, a social innovation conference has heard. Credit — by École polytechnique - J.Barande, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

open innovation | policy

29 November 2017

Could the fourth industrial revolution combat inequality?

New technologies like artificial intelligence, self-driving vehicles and the internet of things could be used to reduce the widening economic gulf that is emerging in modern societies.

Europe's top innovation problem is how to scale up companies, according to Dr Hermann Hauser. Credit – Flickr/ Franz Johann Morgenbesser

interview | open innovation | policy

21 November 2017

You are never going to have breakthrough ideas without risk – Dr Hermann Hauser

High-risk, high-reward ideas in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain and synthetic biology are typical contenders for support from the EU’s new European Innovation Council (EIC), which aims to help European innovators and entrepreneurs scale up their ideas internationally, according to Dr Hermann Hauser, serial entrepreneur, who is a founding partner of Amadeus Capital and founder of ARM in the UK.He heads up the EIC advisory board, which on 20 November published their first set of recommendations for the future direction of the EIC.

A 10-year research partnership between Mediterranean countries will tackle water scarcity and food insecurity in the region. Image credit – CC0

policy | open to the world

13 November 2017

Jordan joins Mediterranean research effort to tackle water, food insecurity

Jordan has become the latest country to sign up to an international research effort to tackle water scarcity and food insecurity in the Mediterranean region.