Europe and Asia Deep-Tech Hubs Forge Strategic Alliance to Drive Innovation
A fresh initiative is underway to connect leading deep-tech hubs in Europe and Asia, fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing to accelerate innovation in critical sectors. The collaboration, spearheaded by the International Urban and Regional Cooperation (IURC) programme’s Community of Practice 12 (CoP12), aims to create a unified platform for sharing insights on funding, talent acquisition, and building future-ready ecosystems.
Cities Unite to Bridge Innovation Gaps
CoP12 brings together nine cities: Grenoble Alpes Métropole (France), Nagoya (Japan), Warsaw (Poland), Espoo (Finland), Torino (Italy), Bielsko-Biała (Poland), Leuven (Belgium), Tallinn (Estonia), and Pimpri Chinchwad (India, observer). Melbourne, Australia, is also expected to join the collaboration soon, pending internal governmental approvals.
The initiative convened for its second meeting on February 17, 2026, building on introductory meetings held in January 2026 that involved 12 European and 9 Asian/Australasian cities.
Focus on Deep-Tech Sectors
Grenoble Alpes Métropole, a key player in the initiative, boasts that 44% of its startups are concentrated in deep-tech sectors, including semiconductors, quantum computing, healthcare, and renewable energy. Other cities bring unique strengths to the table:
- Warsaw: A leading European innovation hub and the center of Poland’s IT sector, with 1,000 research institutes and global tech offices.
- Espoo: A top patent submitter in Europe, home to a high concentration of high-tech companies, and startups.
- Torino: Focused on social impact and advanced technology within its innovation ecosystem.
- Leuven: Characterized by strong collaboration between its university, research centers, industry, government, and citizens.
- Bielsko-Biała: A resilient industrial hub focused on sustainable and inclusive development.
- Tallinn: Striving to develop into a “green and global” hub through digital excellence and offering a testbed environment through the “Test in Tallinn” program.
Roadmap for Collaboration
The CoP12 roadmap, presented by Coordinator Amélie DUPRAZ-CANARD of Grenoble Alpes Métropole, identifies three key challenges:
- Promoting deep-tech startups and securing growth capital.
- Attracting talent and fostering entrepreneurship in deep-tech sectors.
- Facilitating technology transfer from laboratories to markets.
Proposed activities include webinars, technical sessions, joint online seminars, and a collaborative network of technology events.
Initial Commitments and Future Plans
During the February 17th meeting, representatives from Warsaw, Bielsko-Biała, Nagoya, and Tallinn expressed support for the roadmap and identified potential collaboration opportunities. Karolina Charchuła (Warsaw) highlighted potential synergies with events planned in Warsaw in June and October. Jan Sienkiewicz (Bielsko-Biała) expressed interest in insights related to urban development and innovation ecosystems, particularly for the construction of new incubators. Sumi (Nagoya) confirmed collaboration possibilities and shared interest in urban development supportive of startups. Eneli Amur (Tallinn) referenced the Latitude 59 tech startup event in May, which will feature demo events for investors.
This initiative represents a significant step towards strengthening the global deep-tech ecosystem and fostering innovation that addresses pressing societal challenges.