The electricity directive from the Clean Energy Package (clean energy for all Europeans) was recently adopted. It is down to the individual Member States to implement the new deal for energy users described in this directive.

Government bodies are in the midst of a digital transformation. But the design of new solutions often gets no further than merely the technical level. “If government bodies still want to be relevant in five years’ time, they will need the courage to set the bar higher and act as choreographers within their own ecosystem”, says Vlerick Professor Stijn Viaene. But what does it mean to take on the role of a choreographer? That is what we will be investigating with LoQutus over the next two years.

From 11 to 16 November, 40 iGMO members headed to South Africa for their annual inspiration field trip. Their aim was to take a step back from their own companies for a while and acquire some food for thought, both from academic lectures at our partner institution Stellenbosch University, and from visits to local entrepreneurs in the townships. Professor Hans Crijns: “Here, entrepreneurship is born of necessity, but at the same time it expresses something incredibly hopeful.”

After six editions of the Future Grid Managers Programme, it was time to revamp it. “UK Power Networks Services, the Elia Group and Enel will now each host a module, allowing Vlerick to really focus on content and optimum cross-fertilisation,” explains energy professor Leonardo Meeus.

A company’s Advisory Board and Board of Directors can have significant impacts on its performance. However, not so many young Belgian companies with growth potential have such governing bodies. Only 8% have Advisory Boards, and one in five have Boards of Directors. Although the compositions of the Boards of Directors are relatively diverse and complementary, only one in five has independent directors. Moreover, only 16% have a female presence; compared to the US (37%) or the UK (47%), women are under-represented on Belgian Boards of Directors. On the positive side, the Boards of Directors meet much more frequently than is generally recommended, which means that these young growth companies fully exploit their expertise. These are the main conclusions of the fourth edition of the Rising Star Monitor

For the fifth consecutive year, Hudson and Vlerick Business School have joined forces to organise the HR Barometer, a survey that analyses the trends and challenges in the Belgian HR sector. So what are its main findings? Firstly, HR focuses on many different things, going beyond mere recruitment and staff administration. Secondly, HR analytics is not a priority for Belgian companies (or at least not yet). Lastly, HR managers would love to focus on agile working, but meet with resistance, even from senior management.

Doctoral researcher Martin Roach developed an economic model for power-to-gas (PTG) that anticipates the EU and Belgian regulation of sector coupling. “Being one of the first to take into account market dynamics, it provides timely and valuable input to the debate”, says a proud professor Leonardo Meeus.

In early May, Professor Mathieu Luypaert presented the results of the M&A Monitor. The large audience, of course, included our three Prime Foundation Partners, who are active in the Centre for Mergers, Acquisitions & Buy-outs. A perfect opportunity to touch base about their partnership.

It appears the merger and acquisition market in Belgium has reached its turning point. For the first time in six years, the sustained rise in acquisition prices has not continued. However the number of transactions did continue to grow, even though there were considerably fewer foreign acquisitions in 2018. Another striking point is that the acquisition of technology and attraction of talent are gaining importance as motivations for an acquisition. Finally, when it comes to the size of transactions, smaller acquisition deals are on the increase. These are the most important conclusions of the sixth edition of the M&A Monitor, an annual survey of more than 150 Belgian merger and acquisition specialists.

On 20 February we invited the crème de la crème of the Belgian scale-up community for the first alumni round table of the Entrepreneurship 2.0 programme, which is now on its fourth edition. The programme’s two founders, Professor Veroniek Collewaert and Deloitte’s Sam Sluismans, look back at it with satisfaction.