In 2021, the LiEU Network welcomed a new team at its head, with both a new President and a new Operational Director. These arrivals coincide of course with the retirement of our former president Michel Morant and the return to UMONS of Olivier Vande Vyver. Michel Morant has worked for many years to bring together the knowledge transfer centres (KTO) of the FWB universities and to promote the promotion of research in Wallonia and internationally. Olivier Vande Vyver has been a key player in the LiEU Network, in setting up its organisation and coordination. The foundations laid by Michel Morant and Olivier Vande Vyver allow us to approach the future with serenity and ambition.
2021 is also the launch pad for the future ERDF programming with the definition of our strategy for the next 7 years for even more innovation, for the benefit of society and businesses. This strategy is broken down into 3 main areas:
- Catch4Impact, to capture the needs of the socio-economic fabric and align research actions through the creation and animation of a Network of Structuring Values articulated with a high potential ecosystem.
- Boost4Impact, to integrate the valorisation aspects very early in the research process and thus improve the potential impact and exploitation of results.
- Share4Impact, to facilitate the sharing of tools for valorisation and the networking of KTOs, the keystone of our project.
These axes are part of our MIRVALIS project (Networking for the Valorisation of Strategic Innovation) which will be submitted to the ERDF 2022 call with the support of SOWALFIN.
2021 is also the start of the Patlib LiEU unit with a new service for researchers for all actions related to intellectual property.
Finally, 2021 is above all the participation of an entire network and its members in the creation of economic, social and human values for the benefit of researchers and companies, thanks in particular to the support of the authorities of our institutions, the SPW EER and our supervisory minister.
