On 28th February, the Joint Research Centre jointly with the European Commission has organised the 2023 edition of the European Startup Village Forum, an event hosted at the European Commission headquarters to which AEIDL was invited to attend. No less than four Commissioners were in attendance Commissioner Gabriel (DG CONNECT), Commissioner Wojciechowski (DG AGRI), Commissioner Ferreira (DG COTER), Vice-President Šuica, Member of the EU Parliament Carvalho, as well as Vice-President of the European Committee of the Regions Tzitzikostas.
This is a is a flagship initiative of the European Commission and it aims to drive startup-driven innovation in rural areas. The Startup Village Forum intends to be an inclusive space where institutions and stakeholders can meet, discuss and connect to boost entrepreneurship and innovation in rural areas.
The forum unveiled a new paper “Startup Village conceptualisation” which was published by the Joint Research Centre and presented by its lead author, Ms Goodwin-Hawkins, during the 2023 Startup Village Forum. According to this paper, a Startup Village is defined as “a place (or a network of small places) that embrace innovation and ambitious entrepreneurship as a way to unlock development potential and support wellbeing in rural areas”.
Incidentally AEIDL’s flagship rural digitalisation project DESIRA is ending next May. Therefore, for DESIRA Final Conference on 26 and 27 April in Brussels, AEIDL is preparing an ambitious programme involving key drivers and players that can help drive smart innovation in rural areas.