Public Private Partnerships (PPPs)
As part of the European Economic Recovery Plan, the Commission has launching three Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs). The three PPPs represent a powerful means of boosting research efforts in three large industrial sectors - automotive, construction and manufacturing - which have been particularly affected by the economic downturn and where innovation can significantly contribute towards a more green and sustainable economy.
The Commission and the industrial partners work intensively together to develop the implementation plans for the three partnerships:
"Factories of the Future" initiative for the manufacturing sector (€1.2 billion for R&D);
"Energy-efficient Buildings" initiative for the construction sector (€1 billion for R&D); and
“Green Cars” for the automotive sector worth a total of €5 billion, of which €1 billion is for research activities.
The Commission foresees to provide a contribution of 50% to the total R&D budget from the budget of the 7th Framework Programme, with matching investment coming from the private sector. In the PPP approach, there are the following advantages:
- Renewed confidence to invest in long-term research even when faced with short-term economic problems;
- A leading role for industry, including SMEs, in the definition of the strategic priorities and the implementation of the research;
- A multi-annual integrated work programme with a pre-defined budget, ensuring continuity and allowing industry to make long-term investment plans,
- A cross-thematic approach going from basic and applied research through to validation and large-scale demonstration, with an increased emphasis on impact and exploitation;
- Increased opportunities to support innovation in SMEs; and
- A single-stage submission of proposals leading to a faster evaluation process and time to contract.
For the forseeable future the PPPs will be implemented within the Framework 7 Programme involving the thematic areas of NMP, ICT, Transport, Energy and the Environment. For more details on the PPPs visit the European Commissions official site for Research on Industrial Technologies.