Global Perspectives on Informed Policy and Living Lab Impact: Insights from Science Advisors and Innovators
TIME
15:45 – 17:00
TRACKS
TRACK 2: Living Labs for Policies, Governance, collaboration and innovation ecosystems
ORGANISER
Alexandra Petcu (West University of Timișoara)
Target Audience
Policymakers, innovators
Type of Session
Roundtable
DESCRIPTION
This roundtable explores how Living Labs drive innovation and inform policy decisions to enhance citizen engagement and wellbeing. Experts from North America, the European Science Advisors Forum (ESAF), the European Universities Initiative (EUI), national and regional agencies, and local academia will discuss the collaborative value within experimentation spaces, particularly focusing on regulatory sandboxes. The session will highlight best practices for measuring Living Lab impacts and provide recommendations for evidence-based innovation policy. Participants will learn how these initiatives support regulatory decision-making and foster responsible experimentation, ultimately contributing to improved citizen wellbeing.
The EUI will be discussed as a regulatory sandbox for higher education, allowing institutions to experiment with new legislative frameworks, enhance digital interoperability, and facilitate seamless researcher mobility. By integrating digital infrastructures and promoting cross-border academic programmes, the EUI helps shape a dynamic and globally competitive higher education landscape. This discussion aims to leverage these insights for broader policy applications.
Agenda
- 15:45 – 15:50 Opening remarks
- 15:50 – 16:05 Global Perspectives on Living Labs and Innovation
- 16:05 – 16:20 European Dimension: Science Advisory and EUI Insights
- 16:20 – 16:35 National and Regional Perspectives
- 16:35 – 16:50 Local Impact Assessment and Best Practices
- 16:50 – 17:00 Q&A and Interactive Discussion
SPEAKERS BIOS
Adrian Mariciuc
Adrian Mariciuc
Adrian Mariciuc is a regional development expert on competitiveness, entrepreneurship, and innovation at the West RDA. He has over 20 year’s expertise in regional and urban development, planning, and programming. He is acting currently as Deputy General Director of West RDA, but also President of Tehimpuls Association – Regional Center for Innovation and Technological Transfer. In 2020, he was State Secretary in Ministry for Investment and European Projects.
Sven Schade
Scientific project leader, European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC)
Sven Schade
Scientific project leader, European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC)Sven Schade is working for the European Commission since September 2013. He currently leads the scientific work on digital governance and public service innovation - in accordance with the priorities and the strategy of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) and its Directorate for Digital Transformation and Data. His responsibilities include coordination of the JRC’s research on innovations in public governance; providing scientific support to EU policies on digital transformation, public sector modernisation, and recovery and resilience; and team management.
Andrei Alexandru
Secretary of state in the Romanian Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization
Andrei Alexandru
Secretary of state in the Romanian Ministry of Research, Innovation and DigitalizationAndrei Alexandru is a mathematician, senior scientific researcher at the Romanian Academy, Institute of Computer Science, having a PhD in information sciences obtained at the Romanian Academy. He published more than 50 research papers, most of them being indexed by Web of Science, and two monographs at Springer-Nature regarding finitely supported structures - a new set theory that allows a discrete characterization of infinite structures containing enough symmetries to be concisely handled. His research area is related to logic, set theory and fundamentals of mathematics. Currently, he is secretary of state in the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization, coordinating the public policies, strategies, investments and reforms in the research process.
Ana Iolanda Vodă
Lecturer, Department of Management, Marketing and Business Administration - Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Iași, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration
Ana Iolanda Vodă
Lecturer, Department of Management, Marketing and Business Administration - Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Iași, Faculty of Economics and Business AdministrationAna Iolanda VODA is a Lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, Romania. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics and has been Habilitated in the field of Business Administration. With nearly 12 years of research experience, she has directed or served as a management committee representative for numerous national and international projects, supported by the Romanian Ministry of Education, Erasmus+, H2020, and COST. Currently, she is co-leading the EC2U Living Labs activities within Work Package 6 (WP6) on Citizen Science and Knowledge Ecosystems, as part of the SwafS project, RI4C2 (H2020).
Fernando Vilariño
Associate Director at Computer Vision Centre and Associate Professor at UAB. Co-Funder of the Library Living Lab.
Fernando Vilariño
Associate Director at Computer Vision Centre and Associate Professor at UAB. Co-Funder of the Library Living Lab.Fernando Vilariño is Associate Director at the Computer Vision Center and Associate Professor at the Department of Computer Science UAB in Barcelona, Spain, where he gives lectures about Robotics, Artificial Intelligence and Multimedia Systems. His research has been linked to different areas of Computer Vision, and Artificial Intelligence with especial attention to Medical Imaging, fieldwork in which he has developed different projects together with paramount hospitals and companies. His work is published in the main Journals and Conferences of the area and he has also contributed to a number of patents in the field. In addition, during the last years, he has participated in the design of different initiatives, both at local and international level, with the aim of developing novel paradigms of digital social innovation. He has also led the implementation of a model of Living Lab that transforms Libraries into actual innovation arenas, exploring how technology transforms the cultural experience of people. He has participated in different events and invited talks in the area of ICT in the context of Culture.
Mădălin Bunoiu
Vice Rector responsible for Research, Development, Innovation, Sustainability, Technological Transfer, and Diaspora Relations, West University of Timișoara
Mădălin Bunoiu
Vice Rector responsible for Research, Development, Innovation, Sustainability, Technological Transfer, and Diaspora Relations, West University of TimișoaraMadalin Bunoiu is the Vice-Rector for Research, Development, Innovation, Sustainability, Technological Transfer, and Diaspora Relations at the West University of Timișoara in Romania. He is also an Associate Professor specializing in materials science, crystal growth, and educational physics. Mădălin Bunoiu has served as a member and president of the Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ARACIS) and has been involved with the Romanian Consultative College for Research, Development, and Innovation, where he currently serves as the president. Additionally, he represents Romania at the European Science Advisors Forum. His significant academic management experience includes roles as vice-dean and vice-rector at his university. He is affiliated with various professional associations and has received awards for his research and overall contributions, including the "Constantin Miculescu" prize in 2012 and the "Les Palmes Académiques" order in 2019.