Professor Marc Vervenne Rector University of Leuven (K.U.Leuven)

Indeed, innovative knowledge will be the driving force for prosperity and well-being in this new millennium. The speed and intensity at which new scientific and technological developments are transformed into socially and economically relevant activities have obviously been attested. Many regions in Europe, the United States, and increasingly in Asia claim to have a regional competitive advantage to become successful poles of growth.

Also in Belgium, various regions are clearly demonstrating the ambition to play a dynamic and leading role in building up the European knowledge economy of the 21st century. Reference can be made to the currently dominating growth poles of Leuven, Ghent, Louvain-La-Neuve and Liège. It is clear that the present economic development takes place in close connection to the Belgian universities, research centres and technical institutions. They play a key role in the diffusion of the “state of the art” of the scientific and technical knowledge in, among others, information technology, bio-medical sciences, nanotechnology and genomics.

This knowledge is diffused throughout the existing Belgian industry, and it also generates more and more high-tech start-ups.For success in these new endeavours, we not only need to train scientists and engineers, but also experts in legal aspects, management, intellectual property, marketing and sales.

Moreover, expertise in novel ways of financing, such as seed and venture capital, are be required. In the maturity stage, some of the new innovative companies go for an initial public offering.

From the “Leuven Knowledge Economy Model” we have learned that the success of the knowledge economy regions largely depends on the following parameters:

- presence of a critical mass of high quality research sources;

- presence of an entrepreneurial climate, with entrepreneur role models;

- presence of a legal framework for exploitation of scientific research;

- clear policy and incentives to encourage research groups to actively seek knowledge transfer opportunities;

- presence of a professional interface unit (transfer cell) providing an integrated approach of research valorisation, which can result in spinoffs, contract research and creation of patents (intellectual property);

- presence of sufficient seed and venture capital;

- clear ownership of intellectual property;

- increased awareness among federal, state and local stakeholders;

- presence of excellent networks;

- enthusiasm and a high quality of life.

In conclusion, I would like to state that several regions in Belgium fulfil the aforementioned criteria and can, therefore, position themselves as outstanding “Knowledge Economy Regions” on the European map.

Professor Marc Vervenne Rector University of Leuven (K.U.Leuven)