BEDA invited as Guest to Industrial Forum meetings
The New Industrial Strategy for Europe was launched in March 2020 just one day before the Covid-19 pandemic was announced. The updates made to the strategy in May this year discuss among other topics the impact of the pandemic on the 14 European industry ecosystems.
The Industrial Forum which started its work in February this year will provide the Commission with expert advice on the implementation of the Industrial Strategy and will support the Commission in its systematic analysis of the fourteen industrial ecosystems identified for the strategy.
The Forum’s members include representatives of Member States and stakeholders from industry, academia, civil society, trade unions and other organisations. BEDA was invited as a Guest to take part in the Industrial Forum’s Sherpa Meeting on the 7th of May and again in the second Industrial Forum’s meeting on the 29th of June. As a Guest BEDA has an opportunity to react and to bring issues related to the design industry to the attention of Industrial Forum members.
A relevant question related to design and the ecosystems model in the Industrial Strategy is as follows: is the position of design as one of the industries within the Cultural and Creative Industries ecosystem an optimal position for design? Design adds value to other industries — and I would argue its primary objective is to add value to any other industry. The question therefore is should the ecosystems model be developed further to recognise design cutting horizontally through all ecosystems.
An important tool to systematically analyse the ecosystems is the EU Single Market Report. In the latest report from last May, a weakness related to analysing the Cultural and Creative Industries is evident. Too often the Report has to repeat that the data on the CCIs is incomplete. It is clear that the knowledge base of CCIs should be strengthened. In the design sector we need to pay attention to gathering data which is comparable across Europe and covers well, not only the traditional product design, but also the newer forms of design from service design to strategic design. In practice this would mean having a close look at NACE codes and IPR, measuring intangible value among other things.
The representation of BEDA as a Guest in the Industrial Forum will from now on be part of Isabelle’s position as President of BEDA. I am sure she will take part in the future meetings with great energy and skill. I very much hope you will all help her in the work by sharing your valuable insight with her.
Päivi Tahkokallio
President of BEDA 2019—2021
All documents and reports related to the New Industrial Strategy for Europe can be found here: https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age/european-industrial-strategy_en