Francesca Bria

I look forward to contributing to OECD - OCDE ‘s Global Forum on Democracy. Today’s news from Moldova show the importance of building democracies that deliver, including for their friends. Moldova is on the frontline, clealry a next target for Putin’s Kremlin, and yet not the US and the EU have been woefully slow and ineffective in delivering resilience. The US has not appointed its nominated ambassador for half an year now. And the EU could be much more assertive in delivering its development assistance and capacity building for Moldova’s EU accession. I look forward to building on Bulgaria and Moldova’s work in addressing strategic corruption under the Summit for Democracy, in cooperation with the civil society (represented in this case by the Center for the Study of Democracy and the Basel Institute on Governance). 👇

36

CBAM will have an impact on developing countries. National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) and FEPS Europe policy study explores the issue in detail. https://lnkd.in/gVeuaGEq

18

I hope that those of you interested in innovation, regional development, smart specialisation and the performance of different public administrations will find this article, authored with Fabrizio Guzzo and Carlo Gianelle, of interest! It has just been published in "Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research". We examine how governments from different administrative traditions reformed their innovation policy governance following the adoption of the Smart Specialisation approach of EU cohesion policy for the 2014–2020 funding period. Based on four case studies from Germany, Italy, Poland and Slovenia, we find that different administrative settings played a role in the uptake of intended governance reforms and that the S3 conditionality was not sufficient to guarantee substantial change in the absence of continuing political and bureaucratic support. Our analysis supports the idea that governments and administrations which were already better aligned with the Smart Specialisation logic may have had limited incentive to update their governance structures, while those less aligned with it appeared sincerely motivated to overhaul existing arrangements, yet without proving capable of sustaining the desired changes. Our conclusions lead us to formulate both policy and theoretical recommendations about the use of ex ante conditionalities. The article has been published OPEN ACCESS, so feel free to dive in! https://lnkd.in/eRfrgnRZ

42

4 commenti

Learning more about successful #GovTech solutions at the GovTech Connect Assembly, where the European Commission and the GovTech community explore the potential of the latest technology innovations in the public sector. In the panel "From Vision to Action: Overcoming Implementation Challenges of GenAI in Public Services", Marco Montorio, head of unit in the EU AI office, announces that the European Commission will be launching a call 'GenAI for the public administrations' as part of the Digital Europe Programme, in which pilot projects will be financed that comprise one or more use cases where European GenAI solutions are developed and applied in the public administrations of member states. https://lnkd.in/e3c5ZnNq

10

1 commento

Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) are facing growing pressures from stakeholders to address global challenges and to alleviate inequalities faced by disadvantaged communities in the regions where they operate. This thematic literature review chapter in the AIB UKI 2024 Book by Renan Oliveira, Ph.D, Jayne Cathcart, Prof Axele Giroud, Prof Jorge Carneiro and Prof Pervez N. Ghauri seeks to uncover existing knowledge in the IB, wider management literature and closely related fields—economics and development studies—to understand how MNEs interact with disadvantaged communities in emerging markets. Since several of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are concerned with addressing the needs of disadvantaged communities, this study explores the potential for MNEs to contribute to the achievement of the #SDGs, and in particular #SDG8 (Decent work and economic development). For further details, please visit: https://lnkd.in/eZ5-AmeX

66

1 commento

Thrilled to be a #speaker again in the 2024 RSA (Regional Studies Association) Annual #Conference, June 11–14, 2024 Università degli Studi di Firenze, #Italy, with a #paper on 'Alternative Futures for #EU #CohesionPolicy' (Special Session SS43. What Future for Cohesion Policy? II - Theoretical Underpinnings) #RSA24 Euro. Reg. Sci. Ass. (ERSA)EURADA - European Association of Development Agencies #EU #regions #innovation

31

1 commento

📣 Today, the expert group led by Manuel Heitor Manuel Heitor presented its report on the interim evaluation of #HorizonEurope. During the presentation, Manuel Heitor conveyed three key messages: 🔷 Strong Framework Programme: the future programme is viewed as a collective portfolio of incentives that encompasses four interconnected spheres of action (instead of separate pillars to foster better synergies): (i) competitive excellence in #science and #innovation; (ii) #industrial #competitiveness; (iii) addressing societal challenges; (iv) strengthening the European RDI ecosystem. 🔷 Adequate Budget: the need for an adequate budget of around 220 billion EUR for the next period. 🔷 Radical simplifications and radical innovation in the programme, particularly concerning #international collaboration and #dualuse applications. In addition, the report presented 12 recommendations: 1. Create momentum through a whole-of government approach 2. Make Europe globally competitive, secure, sustainable and resilient through a stronger framework programme 3. Deliver European added value 4. Establish an experimental unit to test new programmes in instruments with fast time to funding 5. Strengthen competitive excellence 6. Stimulate industrial #RDI investment in Europe by creating an Industrial Competitiveness and Technology Council 7. Address societal challenges by creating a Societal Challenges Council 8. Foster an attractive and inclusive RDI ecosystem in the EU 9. Drive radical simplification, user orientation and efficiency 10. Unleash the power of demand by developing an #innovationprocurement programme 11. Adopt a nuanced, granular and purpose-driven approach to international cooperation. 12. Embrace dual-use as inevitable by exploiting dual use both ways 👉 Full report could be found here: https://lnkd.in/ekDVhKFe

31

1 commento

Out now: The T7 Italy Communiqué outlining research-based policy recommendations to support discussions at the Group of Seven (#G7) Apulia Summit on June 13-15, 2024. The Communiqué distills key reccommendations from 23 policy briefs published under T7 Italy's 4 Task Forces comprising over 100 multisectoral contributors. Privileged have been a part of the process - which I hope does not conclude with the publication. Here's hoping for intensified dialogue and advocacy to operatisonalise proposed solutions. T7 Policy Brief: Towards Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy AI: Implementing the G7 AI Hiroshima Policy Framework: https://lnkd.in/dbatJgig T7 Communique 👇 https://lnkd.in/dag4n_sr Global Solutions Initiative IAI - Istituto Affari Internazionali ISPI - Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale

20

I am very happy to publish a new paper in 'Economic Change and Restructuring' (Springer Nature Group), entitled 'Public debt and inequality in Sub‑Saharan Africa: the case of EMCCA and WAEMU countries’, coauthored with my friends and colleagues Albert LESSOUA (ESCE International Business School) and Nicolae Bogdan Ianc (West University of Timisoara and Université d'Orléans). The paper investigates whether public debt explains income inequality in several Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. The core method employed is the Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) estimator, which uses a dataset covering the period 1997–2019. The key findings reveal that public debt tends to reduce inequality among the poor but may harm the rich in the WAEMU region. Public debt generally has a neutral impact on inequality in EMCCA but can improve income distribution among the rich under stringent corruption control. In terms of contributions, the paper is one of the first works that examine how public debt impacts inequality in the Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries across different levels of income. Moreover, it explores the intricate relationship among public debt, socio-economic characteristics, corruption, and inequality within the region. Thanks Albert and Bogdan! The paper can be accessed at: https://lnkd.in/dXwPPvQS

43

5 commenti

I am really pleased to see the Handbook on Lobbying and Public Policy co-edited with Alexander Katsaitis published with Edward Elgar! https://lnkd.in/eiEksxu3 This uniquely comprehensive Handbook examines the complex relationship between lobbyists and public policy through innovative multi-analytic lens. Emphasising the profound impact of the topic on modern government and contemporary societal issues, Alexander Katsaitis and I bring together a wide range of experts to illuminate the contexts and processes involved in public policy, and how this interacts with the practice of lobbying. The volume seeks to explore theories of lobbying, lobbying across the policy cycle, business and societal actors’ political strategies, varieties of lobbying activity across countries and international organisations, and compiles wide range of highly relevant case studies that deploy a diverse research methods and theoretical models. In so doing we bring together 37 chapters written by 50 world class scholars from across the globe.   We believe that this volume will appeal to academics and practitioners who are interested understand lobbying activity and strategy, and a great addition to those who teach public policy and corporate political activity. Many thanks to the contributors for making this impressive collection possible.  Adrià Albareda, Elin Haugsgjerd Allern, Laura Chaqués Bonafont, Griffin Bradley, Caelesta Braun, Eleanor Brooks, Joost Berkhout, Pauline Büsken, Nauro F. Campos, Pablo Silva Cesário, Raj Chari, Alison Harcourt, Adam Chalmers, Peter Munk Christiansen, Francesca Colli, curran louise, Claire A. Dunlop, Jappe Eckhardt, Rainer Eising, Alexander Fitzpatrick, Fukumoto Makoto, Francesco Giovannoni, Wyn Grant, Scott L. Greer, Marcel Hanegraaff, Vibeke Wøien Hansen, Oliver Huwyler, Hiroaki Inatsugu, Wiebke Marie Junk, Timothy M. LaPira, Kathrin Lauber, Iain McMenamin, Ebba Minas, PerOla Öberg, Jack O'Neill, Arlo Poletti, Colin Provost, Claudio Radaelli, Ciro Antônio da Silva Resende, Manoel Leonardo Santos, Helena Seibicke, Andy Tarrant, Herschel F. Thomas, Jacob Torfing, Matia Vannoni, Graham Wilson, Constance Woollen, Kevin L. Young #lobbying #governmentaffairs #publicaffairs #publicpolicy #publicadministration

176

13 commenti

The 12th Social Situation Monitor research seminar organized by ICF and HIVA-KU Leuven on September 26, 2024, was opened by Barbara Kauffman from DG EMPL, European Commission and Dr. Simona Milio, aiming to explore economic and social dissatisfaction's impact on trust in governments and the EU, especially in light of the cost of living crisis. The kynote by Dr. Silke Goubin discussed economic inequality and political disengagement, followed by presentations from five speakers on topics such as the impact of the cost-of-living crisis, economic distress, Euroscepticism, public spending reforms, and financial insecurity. Key messages highlighted low trust in institutions due to income inequality and dissatisfaction with public services, especially housing. Discussions included the nature of distrust, social attitudes towards wealth, and political relevance to different demographics. By relying on analysis of data from various surveys, as well as microsimulation models and political indicators, the seminar highlighted that there are many potential contributing factors to social dissatisfaction and trust in institutions, such as income inequality and perceived financial institutions. Analysing various dimensions of regional disparities and drawing attention to the role of the COVID-19 pandemic were identified as key perspectives for understanding the link between economic conditions and institutional trust. The seminar also highlighted that the complexity of isolating these effects, along with confounding factors like public perceptions, underscores the need for long-term and multi-dimensional approaches. Massive thanks to all speakers Boris Chafwehé, Erica Poma , Henri Haapanala, Sofia Vasilopoulou, Juan Fernandez for making this seminar so interesting, to the ICF team Valeria Ansaloni , Koen van Lieshout , Tamar Biedron , Corinne Mele and the HIVA-KU Leuven team Mikkel Barslund and Ides Nicaise for all your amazing support. #thisisicf #livingcrisis #politicaldisingagement #institutionaltrust

51

A critical document to read and discuss...

2

🏖 📖 Summer readings: second report on the State of the #Digital Decade 🔎 It's comprehensive overview of the progress made in the quest to achieve the digital objectives and targets set for 2030 by the Digital Decade Policy Programme (#DDPP). This year's report is accompanied by an analysis of the national Digital Decade strategic roadmaps presented by Member States. ❗Analysis shows that, in the current scenario, the collective efforts of Member States will fall short of the #EU's level of ambition. The identified gaps include the need for additional investments, both at EU and national levels, in particular in the areas of #digitalskills, high-quality #connectivity, uptake of #AI and #data analytics by enterprises, #semiconductor production and #startup ecosystems: 🔸 EU is far from achieving the connectivity targets set by the DDPP: high-quality #5G networks today only reach 50% of the EU's territory 🔸Uptake of AI, #cloud and/or #bigdata by European companies was also well below the Digital Decade target of 75%. Under current trends, only 64% of businesses will use cloud, 50% big data and only 17% AI by 2030 🔸Digital skills targets set by the Digital Decade are still far from being achieved, with only 55.6% of the EU population having at least basic digital skills ❔And how about e-Lithuania? We can see some positive trends and areas of improvement: 🔹 Notable progress in increasing the level of digital skills of its population (improved by 4.1% in the last year; but still slightly below the EU average 55.6%) and the number of ICT specialists in employment (up from 4.4% to 4.9%, just above an EU average of 4.8%) 🔹Areas of improvement: although Lithuania counts on 98.9% of the populated areas covered with basic 5G, in 2023 there was a limited dynamic in the deployment of gigabit connectivity, with very high-capacity networks (VHCN) and Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) remaining at 78.1%, compared to an EU average of 78.8% and 64% respectively. Lithuania shows a mixed performance on the share of enterprises making use of AI, cloud or data analytics (53.5% vs 54.6% in the EU) and overall there is room to improve. Gaps remain in particular with regards to the uptake of cloud (33.6% vs. 38.9% in the EU) and AI (4.9% vs 8% in the EU). ℹ Full report 👉 https://lnkd.in/dm2atymb

6

Curious to learn how b-solutions is making a difference? b-solutions (https://lnkd.in/e3rZ-Gkj) is an EU initiative that helps local administrations and stakeholders in #euborderregions solve legal and administrative obstacles by providing tailor-made solutions from a bottom-up perspective. Managed by the Association of European Border Regions Association of European Border Regions (AEBR) and funded by the European Commission, it provides concrete solutions to make cross-border cooperation #Interreg easier and more effective. A new compendium of cases talking border obstacles was just published. Have a look here 👇 https://lnkd.in/exjDb8kG

44

Linked to Cohesion Policy reform debates there is a lot of discussion about performance budgeting and finance. What would the implications be for #Interreg programmes in the future? My European Policies Research Centre blog sets out a few thoughts and raises some questions about the applicability of this approach for European territorial cooperation programmes.

26

2 commenti

NEW ISSUE OF THE JOURNAL OF GOVERNANCE AND REGULATION The editorial team of Virtus Interpress is happy to release a new issue of the Journal of Governance and Regulation (volume 13, issue 3), which presents a diverse collection of 20 papers that contribute to the expanding discourse in #corporategovernance and #regulation. Among others, the articles in the present issue investigate such important issues as corporate governance, #boardcharacteristics, data governance, #exchangerate, #stockexchange, #stockmarket, #banking, #interestrate, #inflation, #deposit, #lending, #capitalratio, #liquidity, #financialinstitutions, economic factors, women entrepreneurs, #sustainability reporting, Sustainable Development Goals (#SDG), #publicpolicy, #monetarypolicy, trade deficits, #budget, #investors, foreign direct investment (#FDI), gross domestic product (#GDP), #financialperformance, financial management, #accounting, industrial management, accounting information systems (#AIS), accounting errors, #digitaltechnology, e-government, e-tax, value added tax (#VAT), #taxreporting, environmental disclosure, #ESG score, #economicgrowth, economic reform, economic liberalization, economic integration, market microstructure, #informationasymmetry, employee performance, social capital, etc. The detailed information about the issue may be found here: https://lnkd.in/em5vSAsV The full issue of the journal is available at the following link: https://lnkd.in/e_4vNfNG Below you may read the Editorial to this issue authored by Mohamad Hassan Shahrour. We are grateful to all the scholars who have contributed to this issue, among others, to Vjosa Hajdari, Nikhil Chandra Shil, Dr.Rasha Istaiteyeh, Raphael Tabani Mpofu, Faozi A. Almaqtari, Tamer Elsheikh, PhD, CMA Nandita Mishra, Ph.D, Mustafa Al Najjar, PhD C., LCPA, DipIFR, Kenneth Armas, Adam Czelleng, Phd, and others. These diverse contributions reflect the broad spectrum of governance and regulation topics currently shaping the field, providing valuable insights for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers alike. We are grateful to all the scholars who have contributed to this issue, and we hope that you find this issue of the journal useful, informative and interesting!

15

#BookPreview pt 3 Continuing the series of chapter previews of "Digitalization in Practice: intersection, implications and interventions" (out June 17), we turn to the data infrastructures of digital states. Our third chapter "Digital state APIs: sociotechnical approaches to a small yet important piece of digital infrastructure" looks at the potential for public sector APIs to be used in digital methods-based research. Author Michael Hockenhull draws on his research of the Danish Business Authority (Erhvervsstyrelsen)’s company register to demonstrate how APIs may help us map the changing form or shape of the digital state as it emerges from successive waves of modernization via digitalization. The chapter demonstrates the many ways a state API can be used as an object of analysis while suggesting future research pathways for others. Finally, the chapter discusses the potential for mapping the digital state using an inventive assemblage of these theories and methods to helps us better understand and research the digital state in practice. Myself and other digital methods researchers have found Michael's chapter helpful in thinking about pivoting away from social media controversy mapping style research towards digital transformation based research questions to look at participation in or with the state through the data structures they provide. We're looking forward to drawing further inspiration from the chapter and citing it often! #digitalmethods #APIs #digitalstate #publicsector https://lnkd.in/gcXiG9Qt

11

A proposal to double #funding for the European Research Council (#ERC) and the European Innovation Council (#EIC) in #FP10 has drawn criticism from members of the European Parliament's #ITRE Committee. Opponents argue that such changes could undermine collaborative and pre-competitive research under Pillar 2, a cornerstone of the current #HorizonEurope programme. With concerns over reduced funding for industrial regions, bureaucratic complexity and the future of key initiatives, the debate over the direction of FP10 is set to intensify as negotiations continue into 2025. 📌 Read more: https://lnkd.in/eEPg_F2n

54

3 commenti