Role of Research Infrastructures in addressing societal challenges

© EFIS

The R&I landscape is evolving in a quite uncertain, complex, and dynamic world, where societal, economic and environmental challenges require research and technology developments to grow and adapt at faster pace. The key questions currently visible in policy  discussions include the following:

• How do Research Infrastructures (RIs) contribute to developing the R&I landscape?
• What is the role of Research Infrastructures in addressing societal challenges?
• How technological advances enabled by RIs’ collaboration are contributing to tackling such crucial challenges as the pandemic?

RIs in environmental sciences are providing new data and insights for the design of a more sustainable development. Technology transfer by large RIs is bringing new products and solutions to the market in various sectors, with particular interest in the health applications of some technologies developed within RIs in Physics and Astronomy field. RIs in Social Sciences and Humanities have a crucial role in interpreting and co-designing the economic and social framework essential in preparing responses to the emerging global challenges.

The International Conference on Research Infrastructures (ICRI) 2021, which took place on 1-3 June virtually in Ottawa, put forward the role of Research Infrastructures in building bridges to a sustainable world. It brought together more than 600 delegates, including policy experts, facility managers, leading researchers and other stakeholders to debate challenges and emerging trends for Research Infrastructures around the world. EFIS Centre continuously works in the field of Research Infrastructures through different EU-funded projects such as eInfraCentral, RI-PATHS, CaTRIS, as well as specific projects on socio-economic impact assessment, sustainability, governance and resilience. Our staff actively participated in ICRI 2021 and here we share some of our key takeaways from the conference.

Read more here.