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Z FRONTEX EI

Conclusions of the Technology Foresight Dialogue - 16 May 2019

Background and participation
The dialogue was opened by the EEE He

emphasized the need for a closer cooperation between Frontex, industry and academia. He mentioned
that the European Community is engaging more and more resources into future technologies and
Frontex aims not only at reacting to technological needs of now, but looking further ahead to be
prepared for future challenges in terms of capacity building. The goal is to be much more proactive
in identifying the needs of the EBCG community and the research areas of the industry. The dialogue
is the first step in becoming more proactive in managing different futures. The new Regulation is also
a major challenge as the Agency will be restructured and the operation needs will also change.

was intentional to set up a meeting in a form of a dialogue, as Frontex wanted to create a space for
exchange of ideas and open debate. The focus of the dialogue is on technology foresight, on its
methodology, definition and processes. Following this introduction, the participants introduced each
other around the table. All the presentations as well as the minutes recorded during the meeting will
be distributed to all participants of the dialogue.

 

Main discussion points and takeaways:

«e Technology foresight is an integrated part of strategic management, need- and value-driven, and
network-dominated process;

«e _Inthe last decade we witnessed acceleration of the technical changes (shortening the interval from
knowledge production to commercialization);

«e There is a wider understanding that not only technologies themselves, but also their cultural and
social environment are important to get the required impact of policy measures. This fact draws
attention to learning, knowledge creation and dissemination;

e Social framework for permanent communication among the interested communities is
underdeveloped. Information gathered from the market and the network of research facilities,
scientists, engineers and partnerships should be at the forefront of research and technology;

e Companies described their experience in using European funding for research. It was pointed out
that sometimes it takes long time to build consortiums and the timeline is not always aligned with
the business needs;

«e _Frontex informed the participants that in line with the new Frontex mandate, the Agency will

support the EC in choosing topics dedicated to the border security domain under the Horizon Europe

 

 

research and innovation framework;

 

Frontex - European Border and Coast Guard Agency
www.frontex.europa.eu | Pl. Europejski 6, 00-844 Warsaw, Poland | Tel. +48 22 205 95 00 | Fax +48 22 205 95 01

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Industry expressed their interest to be involved especially in those projects or programmes where
the continuity can be ensured;

Security market is very complex and fragmented. In order to manage complexity the ultimate
objective of forward-looking research in operational environment is not to predict the future but
rather to appraise present courses of action and their consequences, and potentially alter them;
Technological environment includes physical, informational, cognitive and social domains;

It is important to have a deep understanding of the supply and demand side: a science/technology
push should be balanced with a market pull. Whilst this is a rather crude way to think about the
innovation process, the point is that technology foresight should not be dominated by technology
alone. Attention also needs to be paid to socio-economic factors that are known to shape innovations;
There is no research library with good practises, but also failures to avoid repetition - which research
failed and is not worth relaunching;

There should be a balance between two approaches to technology foresight. First one is looking at
possible future needs, opportunities and threats and deciding what should be done now to make sure
that we are ready for these challenges. The second one is identification of new pieces of science and
looking how their development will impact the future;

The output of technology foresight should be a clear mid-term and long terms vision, its directions
and priorities, and in this context making current decisions and encouraging joint actions with
industry;

In the security domain there is a need of harmonization in the area of innovation and there should
be a constant search for new models of governance that facilitate innovation, encourage a greater
role for industry, and give coherence, synchronization and continuity to existing financial resources;
Technology categorization into a number of streams and sub-streams is important, but should be
general enough to allow some degree of flexibility;

The basis of cooperation is mutual trust. The exchange of information, data, and experience should
be done in a safe and secure environment and on a regular basis;

Frontex will analyse the possibility to continue this dialogue via a framework/internal project with

a clear objective and involve industry in the next endeavours related to technology foresight.

Partners in technology foresight:

European Defence Agency CapTech, Security mission information and innovation group (SMI2G), NATO’s

Research and Innovation Organization, National Armaments Directorates, European Space Industry

Association, DRIVER+ community, H2020, PADR communities, EOS

 

 

 

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