22 Jan 2024
Expert Group on Economic and Social Impact of R&I (ESIR) starts its third mandate
The European Commission's group of experts on the economic and societal impact of research and innovation (ESIR) started its third mandate as of 18 January 2024. The ESIR group is composed of 16 high-level experts and is chaired by Katherine Richardson, Professor in Biological Oceanography, Globe Institute & Leader Sustainability Science Centre at the University of Copenhagen.
Active since 2020, ESIR provides the Commission services with evidence-based policy advice on how to develop a forward-looking and transformative R&I policy agenda to achieve sustainability goals in Europe.
The experts will address the latest policy requirements and provide a new impetus to its work, by reflecting on technology governance, notably with Artificial Intelligence, the societal transitions, the innovation divide and its synergies with other policies.
Responding to the policy needs of the Commission, the group will:
- co-design policy briefs to provide European and national policy-makers with strategic advice on R&I and sustainability;
- organise outreach activities to fully engage with relevant stakeholders;
- foster policy innovation to find new and more impactful public policies.
The experts come from different backgrounds, i.e., academia, business, think tanks, public and private sectors. During the 2022-2023 mandate, the ESIR Group produced five publications on transformative R&I policy in the poly-crisis age and in times of geopolitical competition, on the future of work and of transformational education. The group also participated in several public events to discuss and exchange ideas.
For more information: