THEME INCONET-GCC2 Science, Technology and Innovation International Cooperation Network between EU and the Arab Gulf Countries aiming at the bi-

The continuity plan draws on the combined interests and visions of the countries involved, along with the analysis and conclusions of the present report, to set out proposals for cooperation in arranging with joint calls (between EU and local funding agencies), as well as other initiatives to incentivize and facilitate actors in the two regions to engage in joint research and innovation activities. [...] Challenges and Vision 2.1 A challenged and rapidly changing world, with a number of dramatic developments The issues at the centre of INCONET-GCC2, and the prospects for deepened research and innovation collaboration between the EU and GCC in the years ahead, reflect the ongoing changes taking shape in the common wider landscape of economic, social and environmental issues. [...] In particular, the arrival and diffusion of ICT, in a situation of generally underperforming media coverage and education systems, typically coincided with; • Demographic change in the shape of rapidly growing young generations and an average age of only 21 to 25 across the various countries of the region; • Until the present, a deficit of other channels than outright unrest for making the popular. [...] Professional organizations need to collaborate with educational institutions in both the public and the private sphere to work out ways of combining the vitality of the knowledge triangle as a whole with a strengthening of the employability of graduates today. [...] Substantive Focus Based on the analysis of needs that took place in the first phase of the INCONET GCC and the consultation that followed in the start of the second phase with the EC, the following two areas of GCC-EU cooperation were highlighted: • Health Innovation research, with focus on Personalised Healthcare for chronic non- communicable diseases, and; • Smart Cities.