Morning session (Hybrid, open to the public)
08:30-09:00 EDT Arrival
Moderator: Dennis Alvord, Senior expert and former Chair of the OECD Regional Development Policy Committee
09:00-09:15 EDT / 15:00-15:15 CEST: Opening remarks
Speakers:
- Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO), European Commission (online), TBC
- OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities (CFE), TBC
- Government of Québec, Canada, TBC
- Emilia-Romagna Region, Italy, TBC
09:15-09:45 EDT / 15:15-15:45 CEST: Keynote presentation
This session will present academic and practitioner insights on leveraging innovation and technological transition in regions, featuring a dedicated issue paper. The presentation is followed by a Q&A.
Speaker:
- Bradley Loewen, Associate Professor and Onsager Fellow, Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture, NTNU, and Visiting Professor, School of Economics and Business Administration, University of Tartu (online)
09:45-10:45 EDT / 15:45-16:45 CEST: Roundtable A: Building fit-for-purpose regional innovation systems
This session will explore how North American and European regions can shape, adapt, and coordinate their respective innovation systems to support industrial transition and economic diversification. It will focus on how regions can develop innovation systems that are fit for purpose – meaning not only built on strong strategic partnerships across different actors, but also able to evolve and reconfigure when economic, technological, or institutional conditions change. Particular attention will be given to the strategic approaches, policy frameworks, and governance arrangements that can support home-grown innovation and align actors around shared regional priorities, including in AI and relevant digital infrastructure, which are becoming important components of regional innovation and industrial strategies.
Questions for discussion:
- How can regions identify and build on their innovation potential?
- How can regions develop innovation systems that are fit for purpose and aligned with industrial transition goals?
- What strategic partnerships and governance arrangements are most effective in coordinating public authorities, business, universities, and other stakeholders?
- How can regions adapt and reconfigure their innovation systems to respond to new opportunities and challenges, including AI infrastructure and data centres, and digital infrastructure?
10:45-11:00 EDT / 16:45-17:00 CEST: Coffee break
11:00-12:00 EDT / 17:00-18:00 CEST: Roundtable B: From pilot to market: Scaling up technological innovation
This session will focus on what North American and EU regions can do to help technological innovations move beyond the pilot stage and achieve wider market uptake. It will examine the policy tools, support instruments, and framework conditions that regions can use to reduce scale-up barriers, connect innovators with finance, infrastructure, skills, and demand, and turn promising solutions into lasting economic and industrial opportunities.
Questions for discussion:
- What policy tool or support measure has the greatest potential to help innovations move beyond the pilot stage?
- How can regional governments attract the investment and finance needed to scale innovation?
- What is one example of a successful scale-up effort in your region, and what made it work?
12:00-12:15 EDT / 18:00-18:15 CEST: Takeaways from participating regions and closing
In this session, all participating regions will share one insight they have gained from this seminar.
Afternoon session (in-person only)
12:15-14:00 EDT: Lunch break
14:00-14:30 EDT: Introduction: OECD insights on innovation and technological change
Each participating region will be invited to share a key challenge and one thing that they would like to learn from the second part of the seminar. This will be followed by a short OECD presentation on insights related to innovation and technological change at the regional level.
14:30-15:30 EDT: Discussion tables – Round 1
This session will be organised around two interactive discussion tables in smaller groups (in parallel) and will give participants the opportunity to exchange experiences and policy approaches in a more focused format.
Discussion Table 1: AI infrastructure and data centres – a strategic choice for industrial transition?
One discussion table will focus on AI infrastructure and data centres, with particular attention to the policy challenges they raise for regional governments, including strategic positioning within regional development priorities, rising energy demand, public acceptance, and employment impacts.
Questions for discussion:
- How can regions assess whether AI infrastructure and data centres fit their broader industrial and regional development strategy?
- How should regional governments address the energy, land-use, and public acceptance challenges linked to AI infrastructure and data centres?
- How can regions maximise local employment, skills development, and innovation spillovers from AI infrastructure investments?
Discussion Table 2: Clean technology innovation for sustainable industrial transition
The second table will focus on clean technology innovation for sustainable industrial transition, examining how regions can support the development and uptake of clean technologies, including in emerging areas such as hydrogen, while aligning sustainability goals with industrial competitiveness and regional development.
Questions for discussion:
- How can regions accelerate the adoption of clean technologies in industry?
- What role can innovation policy play in developing green sectors such as hydrogen?
- What is one example from your region of clean innovation supporting industrial transition?
The main insights from each table will be reported back to the plenary to identify shared challenges, practical lessons, and points for mutual learning across regions.
15:30-15:45 EDT: Coffee break
15:45-16:45: Discussion tables – Round 2
This session will be organised around two interactive discussion tables in smaller groups (in parallel) and will give participants the opportunity to exchange experiences and policy approaches in a more focused format.
Discussion Table 1: Working with higher education institutions to strengthen regional innovation
This discussion table will explore how regions can work more effectively with universities and other higher education institutions to support innovation, entrepreneurship, and industrial transition. It will focus on practical collaboration models, including spin-offs, incubators, knowledge transfer partnerships, and applied research co-operation, that can help turn research and talent into regional economic opportunities.
Questions for discussion:
- Which collaboration models with higher education institutions work best in your region?
- How can regions better support spin-offs, incubators, and knowledge transfer?
- What are the main barriers to stronger university-industry collaboration, and how can policy help address them?
Discussion Table 2: Taking a strategic approach to innovation systems
This discussion table will examine how regions can move beyond ad hoc approaches to innovation and develop more strategic and coordinated innovation systems. It will focus on the policy frameworks, governance arrangements, and coordination mechanisms needed to align actors, set priorities, and ensure that innovation policy supports broader goals of industrial transition and regional development.
Questions for discussion:
- How can regions move from fragmented initiatives to a more strategic innovation system?
- What coordination mechanisms help align government, business, academia, and other stakeholders around shared priorities?
- How can regions adapt and reconfigure their innovation system when economic or technological conditions change?
The main insights from each table will be reported back to the plenary to identify shared challenges, practical lessons, and points for mutual learning across regions.
16:45-17:00 EDT: Takeaways from participating regions and closing
All participants will be invited to share one action point and one or two key takeaways from the seminar.
Additional activity (8-9 June): Conference of Montréal
In-person participants are also invited to join the 2026 Conference of Montréal: Leadership among Uncertainty on 8 and 9 June.
