Environment, Energy and Public Utilities

Climate change has created a worldwide urgency to find new solutions for non-fossil energy. The sustainable transition from oil and gas to renewables such as solar and wind requires significant efforts from society, governments and industries. In parallel, the paradigms of circular economy, waste treatment, quality of air and water need to be included in any agenda of institutions responsible for protecting our environment for the coming generations. The European Green Deal provides a roadmap with actions to boost the efficient use of resources by moving to an environment in which public utilities must re-examine and, in many cases, transform their business models. Technical Assistance Alliance members consult with governments and companies on finding the best solutions for the implementation of changes.

Mobility, Logistics and Infrastructures

Freedom of movement of people and goods are two of the four basic freedoms of the European single market. Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area, -Towards a competitive and resource efficient transport system was announced in 2011.European governments, societies and companies are facing issues in the long run to achieve key goals by 2050, for both passenger transport and freight. New paradigms of Mobility as a Service, the Sharing Economy and technology progress play a significant role in the reduction of conventionally-fuelled cars in cities as well as in aviation. Innovative intermodal solutions enable re-balancing of transport modes, by shifting from road and air to rail and sea. Alliance members are assisting governments in their policy making process’ as well as in setting the rules and enforcement principles to facilitate changes.

Digital, Safe and Secure societies

The digital society in Europe is being developed by taking advantage of all the benefits that the European Digital strategy provides. Digital technologies are also the major enabler for safety and security in various fields of the daily life of citizens. Digital tools allow access to better social care, health monitoring and the general resilience of society in the prevention and reduction of risk from various natural and industrial disasters. The benefits of national and cross-border digital public services are however, facing a number of challenges that local government needs to overcome. E-Democracy and E-Government processes are not developed enough across the European countries and are facing both technological and regulatory obstacles.

Social Inclusion, Labour and Equality

We share the perception of an inclusive society which aims to empower and promote the social, economic, and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion, economic, or other status. However, even Western democracies are still facing wage gaps between genders and age, inequality in education affordability and jobs. Some groups of people still remain vulnerable, especially immigrants and the jobless. We work to ensure there is evidence-based analytical support available to policy makers in order to shape societies which aim to be open and inclusive to all.

Health and Food

Contemporary life sciences emerged in the 20^th century and they are widely used today, in the creation of health systems and food processing. In parallel, technology innovations are widely used in the health sector and agriculture. The newest scientific discoveries confirm close relationships between health of the population, the living environment and nutrition patterns. We support policy makers and medicine practitioners to turn from a healing approach towards prevention of diseases in the first place, and efficient use of public incentives both in the food and health sectors.

Education and Innovations

The European Commission has declared its goal to make Europe a frontrunner in market-creating innovation and SME growth. Although one third of the world’s scientific production is made in Europe. It runs behind US, Japan and North Korea in share of business investment into R&D. We believe that the fundamentals of an overall European innovation landscape are grounded in national education systems as well as in the funding of early innovators. The Global innovation index show serious gaps in innovation results across different European countries. These correlate with outcomes of learning processes starting from early childhood, higher education, vocational and university studies. We provide sound analytical work for education policy practitioners and governmental bodies to ensure the best decisions on increasing learning efficiency in this fast-changing world.