Dear readers,

One of this Journal’s highlights is the article about the Western Balkans Regional Research and Development (R&D) Strategy for Innovation that was adopted on October 25 in Zagreb. We report in depth about it on page 4 as the Strategy is the framework for a collective effort to recommend policy and institutional reforms and to promote the Western Balkans’ most urgent priority of increasing innovation, economic growth, and prosperity.

The Journal also deals with the first version of the South East Europe 2020 strategy by the Regional Cooperation Council. This document draws inspiration from the EU strategy Europe 2020 and aims at creating one million jobs by 2020. To make this happen, on page 4 and 5 it is clear that innovation, skills, and trade must be upgraded and national governments need to be far more efficient. Finally, we are also presenting you with a collection of news from the region as well as reports on different initiatives.

After almost 6 years, WBC-INCO.NET has entered its final phase. In order to celebrate and maximize our successes and results, a large Final Conference will be organized in Vienna, on March 27-28, 2014. Save the date in your agenda, since the conference will not only present WBC-INCO.NET results – such as our final publication – but it will also reflect on other initiatives in WBC, focusing on research and innovation. It will discuss the advantages offered by Horizon 2020 for the countries in the region and also offer you the possibility for extending your network of collaboration with a back-to-back brokerage event. 

The WBC-INCO.NET portal will continue to inform you about calls, research funding, relevant events, and documents through the first half of 2014. Additionally, WBC-INCO.NET is currently exploring the possibility of keeping this important dissemination channel open after the project has officially ended. Should you have any comments or suggestions in this regard, feel free to e-mail us at office@wbc-inco.net.

We wish you inspiring reading!