European Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik called for cooperation between universities and business as he addressed a three-day conference of university rectors from Central Europe at the University of Maribor on Friday.
Potocnik began his address with the story of two young American students who overcame their mutual dislike and joined their ideas in 1997 to create the Internet search engine Google, whose market value today stands at US$ 115bn and which employs 8,000 people around the globe.
"The Lisbon Strategy had similar goals but it is already clear that by 2010 these goals will no be met. The two stories are however connected in terms of the idea that knowledge must be used and transformed into business ideas which can give us a competitive edge," Potocnik told the participants of the conference entitled "The Lisbon Strategy - the Role of Universities and the Competitiveness of the Danube Region".
While stressing that the Lisbon Strategy can bring about positive change even though it is delayed, Potocnik also pointed to the instrumental role of universities in forming the European future.
He highlighted the importance of cooperation between universities and business from the viewpoint of making educational institutions respond to the needs of the market.
According to Potocnik, the European Commission is pushing for a wider debate on what we want and need from universities and how this can be achieved.
The commissioner concluded his address by saying that it was his wish that the European Commissioner ten year from now will be able to begin his speech with a story of two European students who were capable of a similar step as the mentioned founders of Google.
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