Flemish industry federations and strategic research centres strengthen collaboration to accelerate industrial innovation
During the ninth Industry Forum at Sioen in Ardooie, the four Flemish industry federations – Agoria Flanders, essenscia Flanders, Fedustria and Fevia Flanders – and the four Strategic Research Centres (SOCs) imec, VIB, VITO and Flanders Make signed a declaration of commitment to strengthen their collaboration. Through this commitment, the partners aim to translate research results more rapidly into concrete industrial applications and thereby strengthen the competitiveness of Flemish industry. Minister-President Matthias Diependaele attended the signing.
Collaboration on research valorisation
Flanders has internationally renowned research centres, yet according to the sectors involved the potential of this knowledge could be better utilised within the Flemish industry. Today, research results and technological innovations still too often take too long to find their way into industrial applications.
With this declaration of commitment, industry and research centres therefore aim to intensify their efforts in research valorisation and to improve the alignment between research, innovation and the concrete needs of companies. This should ensure that new technologies can be implemented and commercialised more quickly, enabling Flemish companies to better respond to economic and societal challenges.
From research to industrial impact
Following the signing, representatives of the four strategic research centres further explained their role. VITO supports companies in the industrial transition through technology, advice, and data and AI applications, focusing on water, energy and climate challenges, as well as solutions for security, health, circularity and critical materials.
For VITO, CEO Inge Neven emphasised how crucial it is to bring research innovations rapidly to industry. Experience shows that closer collaboration with companies and partners across the entire value chain is essential to enable scaling. “The industrial transition will only succeed if companies can test and de-risk new technologies more quickly,” said Neven. “Through this collaboration, we want companies to make the fullest possible use of VITO’s innovation capacity.”
She also highlighted the importance of pilot installations, test facilities and living labs, where technologies can be validated and scaled up under real-life conditions. According to her, these flexible testing environments allow innovations to be efficiently refined and prepared for market deployment. Neven added that many companies are still insufficiently aware of how they can collaborate with and benefit from the research capabilities of the strategic research centres. By making these opportunities more visible and accessible, we can strengthen the resilience and competitiveness of our economy and help our companies grow.
