July 4, 2014

The Joint Technology Initiatives (JTI) Event was held in Brussels with the presence of the President of the European Commission, Jose' Manuel Barroso, the Italian Minister of Education, Universities and Research Stefania Giannini, the Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, and the Vice-Presidents of the Commission Siim Kallas, in charge of Mobility and Transport, and Neelie Kroes, in charge of the Digital Agenda.

The JTIs, set up under Horizon 2020, the new 80-billion European Union programme for research and innovation, are programmes whose objective is to support transnational cooperation in the field of industrial research and to achieve their effective implementation.

The current JTIs, medicine, combustion technologies, air and rail transport and electronics, have invited the first requests to be presented for projects and partners under the Horizon 2020 programme.

SESAR, Single European Sky ATM Research, the programme to provide a single technological platform to achieve the Single European Sky, was represented by Massimo Garbini, CEO of ENAV.

Garbini illustrated the opportunities and advantages that this technological platform will bring to continental air traffic, providing a vital contribution to the relaunching of the European economy.

''It is an honour and a great responsibility for me to be here today to represent the entire European air transport industry'', Garbini said. ''This is yet another demonstration of the primary role that Italy, with ENAV, has gained in the sector. The formula of partnership between the public and private sector is the path to follow without hesitation, and in coherence with what is happening for the privatization of ENAV.''