Science and Innovation as Strategic Tools for Industrial and Economic Growth (Nato Science Partnership Subseries: 4)

The great, complex and rapid change happening in fonner Soviet Union is overfloading an impressive impact on the western world, especially Europe, and, in the close future, on the global world. Most of this change is generating positive effects and even more optimistic expectations, but surely the difficulties to support and to render these results real and longlasting cannot be underestimated . In fact, difficulties in the adaptation, especially of the most important Countries capabilities, like R&D process and Innovation development and transfer, are being evidenced in the transitional period to completely new socio-economic and political conditions. For the above reasons various Conferences and Meetings have been organised on international base, most of them taking care of identifying and developing recommendations for improving organisation of Science in East Europe and reshaping the research in Science and Technology in the context of new socio-economic conditions. These efforts were mainly confined to scientific research that was considered one of the most important wealth's of Soviet Union, giving not specific attention to the strategic importance of Science and, even more, Innovation for industrial and socio-economic growth in the new N.I.S. Countries. Furthennore, the impressive speed of change in Innovation on the global market coupled to the enonnous change realised by N.I.S. Countries, especially by the leader Russia, is accelerating the need of an operating solution capable of linking these Countries with the Western World, rules and market, starting from Europe.