As some of you may already be aware the Italian Presidency of the Council of the EU commenced on 1 July, and as is custom will run for six months until the end of December 2014.

The Presidency have already announced their main priorities for the coming months, which include contributing to the Europe 2020 Strategy review process, reaching a political decision on a new strategic partnership initiative in the Mediterranean Area, and contributing to the strengthening of the European Research Area.

In line with these priorities an number of events have been planned during the Presidency period. In addition to events looking at business and academia collaboration, these events include an event in Bologna looking at Enabling Technologies for Societal Challenges (29 September-1 October) and ICT Proposers day (Florence, 9-10 October 2014) and conferences on Transport Safety (4-5 December 2014, Genoa) and Energy (date and location to be confirmed.)

Details of these events will be published on the Italian Presidency website, or look out for the latest UKRO updates and alerts.