On the 5th and 6th of december the European Commission held it's first Innovation Convention @ Brussels. A conference full of top political leaders like President of the Commission Barroso and Angela Merkel who presented at the opening session. Top Industry leaders like Eric Schmidt of Google and Michael O'Leary CEO Ryanair. Top academics like Nobel Laureate Andre Geim and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. And finally Top thinkers like Don Tapscott who brought it all together in the closing keynote.

The overall message? My take away was that we're moving towards a 'Connect and Collaborate' society empowered by ICT. ICT is driving innovation. You will be able to check it out for yourself in the video registration of the event via the EC website www.ec.europa.eu/ic2011.

During the evening CIOnet was invited by Ajit Jaokar to attend a dinner event at the European Parliament hosted by the EIF (European Internet Foundation). Those present included a number of MEPs and members of DG INFSO and ENTR. Conclusions of the evening were the need to focus on developing the right eSkills, motivate young people to become an entrepreneur and a request to the EC to simplify legislation to implement the Digital Agenda.