People, Planet, Profit: the Making of the Clean Sky 2 PPP

The Clean Sky programme is one of the 5 original Joint Technology Initiatives [JTIs], a new instrument created under FP7 with the aim of accelerating the pull-through of innovations by de-risking and validating technology in major, integrated demonstration projects. Now 6 years in operation, it is evident that this public-private approach has succeeded and is showing promising results. Clean Sky 2 will continue and extend the “PPP” approach under the new Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme [H2020]. The socio-economic and political context under which H2020 was created and will operate has changed considerably from the mid-2000s when the initial JTIs were developed, and H2020 will address a much broader scope balanced across scientific excellence, key societal challenges and importantly: industrial leadership. The announcement by former EC President J.M. Barroso on July 9th 2014 of the European Commission’s Innovation Investment Package, launching a total of over 20bn€ of public and private investment through the renewed JTIs and other public-private instruments demonstrated the European Commission’s commitment to reinvigorating European economies, kick-starting growth and investment, and laying the ground for Europe’s knowledge based and sustainably competitive industries. The announcement capped two years of intense preparation of a Joint Technical Proposal from 16 leading European aeronautics players, coordinated by the Clean Sky JU as “programme office”. Clean Sky 2 has now taken off with over 4bn€ in total committed funding, 2.5 times the original Clean Sky budget, and with a jointly architected 10-year roadmap for its execution. It will move well beyond the original Clean Sky “flight envelope” in terms of addressing a balance of next-generation solutions versus long-term technological breakthroughs; an agenda formally addressing industrial competitiveness and new mobility solutions; and a dedicated “outreach” to Europe’s academia and young researchers to build human capital. The speaker will reflect on the approach taken in bringing Europe’s main industrial interests and research actors together towards a compelling “vision for the future” that meets the challenges set under H2020 and sets the scene for the next decade of aeronautics research in Europe: and in so doing can “finish the job” of addressing the ACARE SRA Goals for 2020 and make the first important steps towards the even more challenging goals set in the new SRIA for 2035 / 2050.