European Elections – Innovations for improving the lives of European Citizens

Objective of the initiative

The objective of the event is to launch an initiative providing support to Members of the European Parliament during their election campaign.

Why Innovation?

Innovation is at the heart of social and economic progress, and citizens must be aware of the benefits it can bring for the quality of their life and the future of our planet.

To stay globally competitive, Europe must be a leader in innovation and emerging technologies. To foster this process, it is essential for Europe to review and adapt its innovation policies and equally important that policies for innovation are aligned across member states. Successful innovation policy must address the concerns of people. Another important element is to create favourable conditions to support young founders and keep them in Europe.

European Elections offer a great opportunity to better connect governments and politicians with citizens around topics impacting the future quality of life.

Reaching out to citizens and communicating clear and understandable messages has become a big challenge, particularly in times of widespread social media use. The EU institutions not only need to better connect with its people but at the same time address issues such as fake news and populistic arguments.

Innovative approaches and new technologies directly influence every aspect of human and planetary life. Communicating their value and positive impact is key, if citizens are to understand the vital role innovative solutions have to play in overcoming societal problems.

Implementation

Whereas the initiative has a thematic focus on innovation and emerging technologies, the participating startups, that are specialising in ‘government technologies’, will explain how they can support MEPs to successfully manage and lead their campaign from the ‘use of online platforms’ to ‘knock at the door’ strategies.

1. Liegey, Muller, Pons: Campaign Technology for Politics
2. Citizenlab: Online Citizen Participation made easy
3. Apolitical: Helping to find government innovations that provide real solutions

Knowledge4Innovation and its partners will provide an overview of ‘Future/Past – Quo vadis innovation policy?’ information, as well as examples of impactful innovations improving lives of European citizens.