SixteenresearchorganisationsfromtwelveEuropeancountrieshavejoinedforcesintheareaofindustrialbiotechnology.TherecentawardmadebytheEuropeanUniontothenetworkERAIndustrialBiotechnology(ERA-IB),isanessentialcontributiontoimprovingEurope’scompetitiveposition.ERA-IBwaslaunchedinBrusselson30and31May2006.
Industrialbiotechnologyisthesustainableproductionofchemicalsusingbiologicalrawmaterials.Intheproductionprocessesmicroorganismsandenzymesareusedasacatalyst,andagriculturalproductsandtheresidueoftheseareusedasrenewablerawmaterials.Researchintoindustrialbiotechnologyisessentialinordertomakethechemicalindustryasustainablesector.Moreover,itisviewedasakeytechnologyforobtainingtheLisbonobjectives.
Thecooperationmustresultinaharmonisationofthecurrentlyfragmentednationalresearchpolicies,theimplementationofajointstrategyandcoordinationofnewinternationalresearchprogrammesintheareaofindustrialbiotechnology.ToachievethisthenetworkwillbesupportedbytheEuropeanTechnologyPlatformforSustainableChemistry(ETP-SusChem)andbytheEuropeanAssociationforBioindustries(EuropaBio).
WiththenationalresearchprogrammeB-BasicandtheKluyverCentreforGenomicsofIndustrialFermentation,theNetherlandshasauniqueexpertiseintheareaofresearchintoindustrialbiotechnology.NWOisoneofthefoundersofERA-IBandisalsothecoordinatoroftheproject.TheNetherlands’maintaskistomanagetheentirenetwork.InadditiontothisNWOwillmakeanimportantcontributiontothecommunicationactivitiesofthenewEuropeannetwork.