ICT 2015, Lisbon: Road4FAME ‘pitches’ confirmed potential for entrepreneurial activities in manufacturing IT

Networking Session ICT2015 Pciture for websiteRoad4FAME was part of the biggest annual event for Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) in Europe – ICT2015. Researchers and Developers coming from all parts of Europe came together to present their projects and discuss their latest findings. This years’ conference marked a record of over 5000 participants coming from not only R&D but also politics and industry.
The Conference was opened with a keynote from Günther Oettinger, the EU-Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society. Oettinger emphasised the need for immediate action in order to keep Europe’s competitive edge on the market. Member of European Parliament, Hans-Olaf Henkel even called for a Digital Single Market driven by the European Commission. This involves creating market access for novel digital technologies such as proposed by the Road4FAME catalogue of business models.
In order to boost debate and foster exchange among European stakeholders on potential business opportunities, Road4FAME had organised a networking session at the ICT 2015.The session attracted attention from European Commission officials, academia and industry.
Selected participants pitched their ideas for business opportunities and elaborated on existing business modles and then fielded feedback and questions from the audience. The business models discussed ranged from complex product servitisation with a focus on aftermarket care to open innovation and collaboration in virtual environments to bring new ideas to the product portfolio of manufacturing companies. Finally, Road4FAME project partner Haydn Thompson presented the business model of his company THHINK Wireless Technologies Ltd, which evolves around selling self-powered sensors to install on equipment of various types.
Participants agreed that there is great potential for products and services based on ICT for manufacturing and smart components and that new business models will help to boost entrepreneurial activities on European markets.