AKIS III: how will / should AKIS develop? 
Presentation at EURAGRI, Montpellier, September 2014 
Krijn J. Poppe (SCAR AKIS), 
with special thanks to Inge Van Oost (EC DG Agri)
The EIP-AGRI in short 
• Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability (COM (2012)79) 
• Overarching concept – funding in CAP-RD and H2020 Research 
funds, et al 
• Based on interactive innovation model: 
A group combines different competencies (practical and 
scientific: farmers, advisors, researchers etc) and tackles a 
concrete problem or opportunity that may lead to innovation 
that is widely implemented 
• Key entities: Operational Groups 
• EU wide EIP network: communication, partnering, 
dissemination, knowledge flows and collecting practice needs 
http://ec.europa.eu/eip/agriculture/en/content/EIPAGRIabout
European Innovation Partnership 
Rural Development Horizon 2020 
• Funding for setting up 
of an “Operational 
Group“: farmers, 
advisors, agribusiness, 
researchers, NGOs, etc) 
planning an innovation 
project (Art 35) 
• Project funding for the 
Operational Group’s 
project (Art 35). This co-operation 
could be 
combined with other 
measures (investment, 
knowledge transfer, 
advice) 
• Supporting innovation 
support services 
• Research projects, 
including on-farm 
experiments to 
provide the 
knowledge base for 
innovative actions 
• Interactive 
innovation formats 
such as multi-actor 
projects and 
thematic networks 
genuinely involving 
farmers, advisors, 
entreprises,…."all 
along the project" 
eip-agri
Rural Development Programmes: 
• In negotiation phase 
• Nearly all MS will be implementing the EIP 
• Update of the EIP guidelines in July 
• Common format for "Practice abstracts": dissemination 
according to SWG AKIS suggestion is planned and should make 
visible and reward researchers involved in interactive 
Operational groups (career, evaluations) 
• Practice abstracts flow automatically from RDP management 
into EIP-AGRI website (no extra administrative burden) 
• Same format to be used also for Leader transnational projects? 
(in discussion) 
EIP ongoing…
State of play 
• 28 Partnership Agreements 
• 118 RD and NRN programmes and National 
5 
Frameworks 
5 
Approval process (CPR Art 16) 
Formal submission All 28 PA submitted by 22 April 
COM Observations All 28 PA (by 31 July) 
Adopted 16 PA 
Approval process (CPR Art 29) 
In preparation in SFC2014 7 RDP 
Formal submission 
110 (104 RDP + 3 NF + 3 
NRN) 
COM Observations 43 RDP
The EIP website is live! 
Still work in progress…
Innovation is a broad concept 
 The implementation of a new or significantly 
improved product (good or service), or process, a 
new marketing method, or a new organisational 
method in business practices, workplace organisation 
or external relations. [source: OECD] 
 Also the public sector can innovate ! 
(and public aspects of agriculture)
Social Innovation 
●The concept of social innovation originates in critiques of 
traditional innovation theory. By calling for social 
innovation, new theories point at the need to take the 
social mechanisms of innovation into account (social 
mechanisms of innovation) 
●In the context of rural development, social innovation 
refers to the (social) objectives of innovation – that is 
those changes in the social fabric of rural societies, that 
are perceived as necessary and desirable in order to 
strengthening rural societies and addressing the 
sustainability challenge (social inclusion / equity: the 
innovation of society as well as the social responsibility of 
innovations)
The agro-innovation system and theory 
 Innovation happens in a social system: “an institutional 
clustering of practices among the participants (not 
necessarily implying consensus)” (Anthony Giddens) 
 Long-term infrastructural investment in ‘mental capital’ 
and its improvement is crucial for successful economic 
development and for competitive trade performance (Chris 
9 
Freeman for OECD, quoting List, Keynes, and investigating historical cases in Europe and Asia) 
 ‘Coupling mechanisms’ between the education system, 
scientific institutions, R&D facilities, production and 
markets have been an important aspect of the 
institutional changes introduced in successful ‘overtaking’ 
countries. (Freeman)
Knowledge & Innovation System: 
7 functions 
1.Knowledge development and diffusion 
2.Influence on direction of search and identification 
of opportunities 
3.Entrepreneurial experimentation and management 
of risk and uncertainty 
4.Market formation 
5.Resource mobilisation 
6.Legitimation 
7.Development of positive externalities 
(c) M. Hekkert et al.
Different objectives, 
methods, and public 
roles
Science versus Innovation driven research 
Aspect Science driven research Innovation driven research 
Incentive to 
program a topic 
Emerging science that can 
contribute to solving a 
societal issue (or a scientific 
question) 
An issue / problem in society 
that can be solved by new 
research, or a new idea to 
solve an existing issue 
Participation of 
users 
In demonstration phase / via 
research dissemination 
In agenda setting, defining the 
problem and during the 
research process 
Quality criteria Scientific quality 
Relevance (for the sector or a 
region) 
Focus Research organisations 
Networks of producers and 
users of knowledge 
Diffusion model Linear model System (network) approach 
Type of 
government 
Science / Research Policy Innovation Policy 
policy 
Economic line of 
thinking 
Macro-economics Systems of innovation 
Type of research 
Interdisciplinary with 
absorption capacity in AKIS 
(to work with material 
science, ICT, chemistry etc.). 
Transdisciplinary and 
translational with close 
interactions.
Research 
ERANETs 
JPIs 
Education 
Consumers 
Retailer 
s 
Food 
processo 
rs 
Extensi 
on 
Input 
suppliers 
Farmers 
Member states
Education 
Research 
Consumers 
Retailer 
s 
Food 
processo 
rs 
Extensi 
on 
Input 
suppliers 
Farmers 
Member states 
ERANETs JPIs 
EIP-Agri’s 
Operational 
Groups
Interactive innovation and transdisciplinary research 
Large pool of OGs 
Many Networks 
Focus 
groups 
Operational 
Group 
Several 
Projects 
Thematic Network Multi-actor 
Research Project 
Farmers For replication and up-scaling: 
• End user material 
• Identify blockades 
• Research agenda 
Transdisciplinary research: 
Operational Groups as 
Researcher 
NGO cases and co-innovators 
Food company
What to expect from AKIS III 
 Broad mandate, central issue: 
How will / should the AKIS develop over time 
 Uptake in regional rural development plans (and national 
systems) of the interactive innovation model 
 Future developments, e.g. 
● Role of ICT 
● Issues of international cooperation 
● Changes in structure of the food chain 
● Changes in topics 
● Political changes (budgets, decentralisation...) 
 “Foresight of the AKIS” // “how to innovate AKIS”
Role of ICT: a source of innovation 
 Input suppliers (tractors, pesticides) are moving from 
products to services with the Internet of Things. Towards 
Big Data. 
 Changes / replaces some of the activities of farmers: 
remote control / advise 
 Advisors (and researchers?) want access to farmers’ 
data 
 Some of the advise will be delivered in the form of apps. 
 Research could create open systems for data exchange 
 ICT helps to create access to advise and research from 
other regions, could foster collaboration 
 E-science, open access
International cooperation: interactive model ? 
Policy Brief of swg ARCH and swg AKIS 
Best strategies for intercontinental research and 
innovation partnerships - towards greater impact on 
global challenges 
 Opportunities to align research themes in AR and ARD 
 Multistakeholder collaboration for complex issues 
 Cooperation on cross border issues (like pests) 
 Research methods 
 Research Infrastructures 
 Institutional and governance aspects of research (e.g. 
PPS) 
 Align research and innovation, bottom-up
International cooperation: interactive model ? 
Suggestions to SCAR; EIARD; the Expert Group supporting 
the High Level Africa Initiative, the European Commission 
(DG DEVCO, DG AGRI and DG RTD) and the Member 
States’ governments: 
 Europe from the outside is complex: coordinate! 
 Bottom-up innovation and private sector involvement 
 Make added value of European practices explicit 
 Flexibility to experiment with new funding mechanisms 
(prizes etc) 
 Excellence, Relevance, Impact should be balanced in 
research evaluation 
 New intercontinental innovation partnerships could 
become part of the global policy framework
Changes in the structure of the industry 
Farmers are getting bigger, develop into sme’s 
More private advisory services? On-farm trials? 
Food businesses are more and more international 
Do we get PPP schemes like in ICT (Future Internet, 
Big Data) and Biobased (BIC)? 
New issues like rural poverty, food & health, ict, biobased 
economy, urban farming.... 
New players in business (Amazon.com in addition 
to retail?) and in research ? 
Are we actively creating cross-sector innovation ? 
Political changes: declining national budgets, merger of 
ministries / institutes, shift to regional authorities
Thank you for 
your attention 
krijn.poppe@wur.nl 
www.lei.wur.nl 
More information: 
www.eip-agri.eu 
References 
• Reflection paper AKIS 1 
• Orientation paper AKIS 2 
• Summarizing powerpoint presentation available on SlideShare

KJ Poppe AKIS 3 at Euragri 2014 Montpellier

  • 1.
    AKIS III: howwill / should AKIS develop? Presentation at EURAGRI, Montpellier, September 2014 Krijn J. Poppe (SCAR AKIS), with special thanks to Inge Van Oost (EC DG Agri)
  • 2.
    The EIP-AGRI inshort • Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability (COM (2012)79) • Overarching concept – funding in CAP-RD and H2020 Research funds, et al • Based on interactive innovation model: A group combines different competencies (practical and scientific: farmers, advisors, researchers etc) and tackles a concrete problem or opportunity that may lead to innovation that is widely implemented • Key entities: Operational Groups • EU wide EIP network: communication, partnering, dissemination, knowledge flows and collecting practice needs http://ec.europa.eu/eip/agriculture/en/content/EIPAGRIabout
  • 3.
    European Innovation Partnership Rural Development Horizon 2020 • Funding for setting up of an “Operational Group“: farmers, advisors, agribusiness, researchers, NGOs, etc) planning an innovation project (Art 35) • Project funding for the Operational Group’s project (Art 35). This co-operation could be combined with other measures (investment, knowledge transfer, advice) • Supporting innovation support services • Research projects, including on-farm experiments to provide the knowledge base for innovative actions • Interactive innovation formats such as multi-actor projects and thematic networks genuinely involving farmers, advisors, entreprises,…."all along the project" eip-agri
  • 4.
    Rural Development Programmes: • In negotiation phase • Nearly all MS will be implementing the EIP • Update of the EIP guidelines in July • Common format for "Practice abstracts": dissemination according to SWG AKIS suggestion is planned and should make visible and reward researchers involved in interactive Operational groups (career, evaluations) • Practice abstracts flow automatically from RDP management into EIP-AGRI website (no extra administrative burden) • Same format to be used also for Leader transnational projects? (in discussion) EIP ongoing…
  • 5.
    State of play • 28 Partnership Agreements • 118 RD and NRN programmes and National 5 Frameworks 5 Approval process (CPR Art 16) Formal submission All 28 PA submitted by 22 April COM Observations All 28 PA (by 31 July) Adopted 16 PA Approval process (CPR Art 29) In preparation in SFC2014 7 RDP Formal submission 110 (104 RDP + 3 NF + 3 NRN) COM Observations 43 RDP
  • 6.
    The EIP websiteis live! Still work in progress…
  • 7.
    Innovation is abroad concept  The implementation of a new or significantly improved product (good or service), or process, a new marketing method, or a new organisational method in business practices, workplace organisation or external relations. [source: OECD]  Also the public sector can innovate ! (and public aspects of agriculture)
  • 8.
    Social Innovation ●Theconcept of social innovation originates in critiques of traditional innovation theory. By calling for social innovation, new theories point at the need to take the social mechanisms of innovation into account (social mechanisms of innovation) ●In the context of rural development, social innovation refers to the (social) objectives of innovation – that is those changes in the social fabric of rural societies, that are perceived as necessary and desirable in order to strengthening rural societies and addressing the sustainability challenge (social inclusion / equity: the innovation of society as well as the social responsibility of innovations)
  • 9.
    The agro-innovation systemand theory  Innovation happens in a social system: “an institutional clustering of practices among the participants (not necessarily implying consensus)” (Anthony Giddens)  Long-term infrastructural investment in ‘mental capital’ and its improvement is crucial for successful economic development and for competitive trade performance (Chris 9 Freeman for OECD, quoting List, Keynes, and investigating historical cases in Europe and Asia)  ‘Coupling mechanisms’ between the education system, scientific institutions, R&D facilities, production and markets have been an important aspect of the institutional changes introduced in successful ‘overtaking’ countries. (Freeman)
  • 10.
    Knowledge & InnovationSystem: 7 functions 1.Knowledge development and diffusion 2.Influence on direction of search and identification of opportunities 3.Entrepreneurial experimentation and management of risk and uncertainty 4.Market formation 5.Resource mobilisation 6.Legitimation 7.Development of positive externalities (c) M. Hekkert et al.
  • 11.
  • 12.
    Science versus Innovationdriven research Aspect Science driven research Innovation driven research Incentive to program a topic Emerging science that can contribute to solving a societal issue (or a scientific question) An issue / problem in society that can be solved by new research, or a new idea to solve an existing issue Participation of users In demonstration phase / via research dissemination In agenda setting, defining the problem and during the research process Quality criteria Scientific quality Relevance (for the sector or a region) Focus Research organisations Networks of producers and users of knowledge Diffusion model Linear model System (network) approach Type of government Science / Research Policy Innovation Policy policy Economic line of thinking Macro-economics Systems of innovation Type of research Interdisciplinary with absorption capacity in AKIS (to work with material science, ICT, chemistry etc.). Transdisciplinary and translational with close interactions.
  • 13.
    Research ERANETs JPIs Education Consumers Retailer s Food processo rs Extensi on Input suppliers Farmers Member states
  • 14.
    Education Research Consumers Retailer s Food processo rs Extensi on Input suppliers Farmers Member states ERANETs JPIs EIP-Agri’s Operational Groups
  • 15.
    Interactive innovation andtransdisciplinary research Large pool of OGs Many Networks Focus groups Operational Group Several Projects Thematic Network Multi-actor Research Project Farmers For replication and up-scaling: • End user material • Identify blockades • Research agenda Transdisciplinary research: Operational Groups as Researcher NGO cases and co-innovators Food company
  • 16.
    What to expectfrom AKIS III  Broad mandate, central issue: How will / should the AKIS develop over time  Uptake in regional rural development plans (and national systems) of the interactive innovation model  Future developments, e.g. ● Role of ICT ● Issues of international cooperation ● Changes in structure of the food chain ● Changes in topics ● Political changes (budgets, decentralisation...)  “Foresight of the AKIS” // “how to innovate AKIS”
  • 17.
    Role of ICT:a source of innovation  Input suppliers (tractors, pesticides) are moving from products to services with the Internet of Things. Towards Big Data.  Changes / replaces some of the activities of farmers: remote control / advise  Advisors (and researchers?) want access to farmers’ data  Some of the advise will be delivered in the form of apps.  Research could create open systems for data exchange  ICT helps to create access to advise and research from other regions, could foster collaboration  E-science, open access
  • 18.
    International cooperation: interactivemodel ? Policy Brief of swg ARCH and swg AKIS Best strategies for intercontinental research and innovation partnerships - towards greater impact on global challenges  Opportunities to align research themes in AR and ARD  Multistakeholder collaboration for complex issues  Cooperation on cross border issues (like pests)  Research methods  Research Infrastructures  Institutional and governance aspects of research (e.g. PPS)  Align research and innovation, bottom-up
  • 19.
    International cooperation: interactivemodel ? Suggestions to SCAR; EIARD; the Expert Group supporting the High Level Africa Initiative, the European Commission (DG DEVCO, DG AGRI and DG RTD) and the Member States’ governments:  Europe from the outside is complex: coordinate!  Bottom-up innovation and private sector involvement  Make added value of European practices explicit  Flexibility to experiment with new funding mechanisms (prizes etc)  Excellence, Relevance, Impact should be balanced in research evaluation  New intercontinental innovation partnerships could become part of the global policy framework
  • 20.
    Changes in thestructure of the industry Farmers are getting bigger, develop into sme’s More private advisory services? On-farm trials? Food businesses are more and more international Do we get PPP schemes like in ICT (Future Internet, Big Data) and Biobased (BIC)? New issues like rural poverty, food & health, ict, biobased economy, urban farming.... New players in business (Amazon.com in addition to retail?) and in research ? Are we actively creating cross-sector innovation ? Political changes: declining national budgets, merger of ministries / institutes, shift to regional authorities
  • 21.
    Thank you for your attention [email protected] www.lei.wur.nl More information: www.eip-agri.eu References • Reflection paper AKIS 1 • Orientation paper AKIS 2 • Summarizing powerpoint presentation available on SlideShare