Hereby the proposal to create the DIGITAL SME Scientific Committee is submitted to you for approval. In case you approve the creation of the DIGITAL SME Scientific Committee, the approval form also gives you an opportunity to already provide a list of academic experts that you would like to see as members of the Committee.

Terms of Reference for the Committee can be accessed under this link.

Background

The DIGITAL SME Committee is to be created with the mission of bringing together leading academics and establishing a forum to hold a structural dialogue with DIGITAL SME on its key priority areas.

The Committee gathers academic experts from all disciplines related to EU digital policy (e.g. political science, economics, competition policy, data science, IT), who share our mission to put tech SMEs at the centre of the EU´s agenda and position them as key drivers of European digital sovereignty.

Members of the Committee are to be selected via an open call for expressions of interest, to be launched pending approval of the Committee by the DIGITAL SME Members.

The key purposes of the DIGITAL SME Scientific Committee will be the following:
1.    To advise and inform the DIGITAL SME positions and strategic initiatives
2.    To involve digital SMEs in key academic research projects
3.    To promote partnerships with academics on key EU programmes (e.g. Horizon Europe programmes)
4.    To promote bilateral agreements with academics or universities – related, but not limited to the selection of qualified students or researchers for the staff of DIGITAL SME

The Committee is proposed to hold the role of an advisory body to the DIGITAL SME, however, its advice will have a non-binding value.