The IER - Institute of Economic Research of the Chamber of Commerce of Bolzano/Bozen and the Autonomous Province of Bolzano/Bozen are organizing a conference in Brussels on 11 December 2019 on “Brain Drain - Brain Gain: Local and Regional Experience”. The event is based on a study developed by IER on South Tyrol level that was presented in Bolzano/Bozen in March with great success.

During this second trimester of the year, the ESM Pilot has been extremely active in promoting its activities while participating to several conferences and organising demo-case meetings to boost the pilot.

During the High-level Directors meeting, Saxony-Anhalt was welcomed as a new member to the Network, which raises the network membership to 35 Regions. Saxony-Anhalt is located in the middle of Germany and integrated into three large-scale CEF transport corridors, and the last 30 years have seen Saxony-Anhalt become a central logistics hub. Bordering on four neighboring federal states – Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony – Saxony-Anhalt is deeply integrated into the value chains of a number of large businesses in some of Germany’s key industries.

On 18 June the Vanguard Initiative held its annual High-level Directors’ Meeting in Brussels. During the meeting, the Directors took several steps forward in strengthening the cooperation within the network. The Directors unanimously elected Region Skåne as new Chair for the 2ndsemester of 2019 and engaged with speakers from the European Commission’s DG RTD and DG GROW on Horizon Europe, technology infrastructures and EU industrial policy.