EUROPEAN INSTITUTE OF INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY (EIT)

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) is a body of the European Union which was established on 11 March 2008. It was set up in order to "address Europe's innovation gap", and is the EU's flagship Institute designed to integrate innovation, research and growth across the European Union. The idea of a European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) was developed within the framework of the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs, and has been specifically implemented to address Europe's innovation shortcomings. It is based on the concept that innovation is a key driver of growth, competitiveness, and social well-being. The EIT headquarters are in Budapest, Hungary.

The EIT’s mission is to increase European sustainable growth and competitiveness, reinforce the innovation capacity of the EU Member States, and create the entrepreneurs of tomorrow and prepare for the next innovative breakthroughs. The Institute creates an unprecedented level of collaboration between innovation and excellence centres with the aim of boosting the innovation process from idea to product, from lab to market, and from student to entrepreneur.

The EIT is the first EU initiative to fully integrate all three sides of the Knowledge Triangle (higher education, research and business) by way of so-called Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs). The integration of all three sides and the effective transmission and sharing of knowledge, information and skills for joint exploitation is crucial to delivering the jobs and growth opportunities that Europe is seeking, as excellent researchers, students and entrepreneurs working in isolation are much less efficient in delivering the results needed and wanted by the market and consumers. By connecting European business and research, businesses stand to gain as they will be given fresh opportunities to commercialise the most up-to-date and relevant research findings, with the aim of giving Europe first-mover advantage in the latest technological and non-technological fields as well as in open innovation. In return, research organisations will benefit from additional resources, an enhanced networking capacity, and new research perspectives stressing interdisciplinary approaches in areas with strong societal and economic importance. By adding higher education into the mix, businesses will be able to take advantage of a workforce with skills tailored to their needs able to drive their market share forwards; and students will benefit from an education that will make them more attractive to future employers and also more apt at contributing to the development of those employers’ businesses.

The EIT strongly contributes to the objectives set out in Horizon 2020 in particular by addressing societal challenges in a manner that is complementary to other initiatives in these areas.

Organization and activities

Governing Board and management

The EIT Governing Board brings together 15 members balancing prominent expertise from the higher education, research, business and innovation fields. It consists of 12 appointed members and 3 representative members as well as one independent observer from the European Commission. The management team is based at the EIT Headquarters in Budapest. It is in charge of monitoring the activities of the KICs, building and strengthening relationships with key stakeholders both in Europe and beyond, disseminating KIC results, share knowledge, and maintain close links with other EU bodies with a view to ensure, implement, and develop the EIT strategy.

Chairman of the EIT Governing Board: Peter OLESEN : Chairman of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Members of the EIT Governing Board Executive Committee

• Elpida KERAVNOU-PAPAILIOU: Rector of the Cyprus University of Technology, Cyprus
• Jana KOLAR: Head of Research, founder and majority owner of Morana rtd, Slovenia
• Bruno REVELLIN-FALCOZ: Honorary President of the National Academy of Technologies of France

EIT Governing Board Members

• Gabor BOJAR: Founder and Chairman of Graphisoft SE; Graphisoft Park SE; and Aquincum Institute of Technology (AIT), Hungary
• María GARAÑA: President of Microsoft Spain
• Ulf JOHANSSON: Chairman of the board of Novo A/S and Novo Nordisk Foundation, Sweden
• Marja MAKAROW: Vice-President of the Academy of Finland, Finland
• Patrick PRENDERGAST: Provost/President of Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
• Gianfelice ROCCA: Chairman of Techint Group, Italy
• Nigel THRIFT: Vice-Chancellor and President, University of Warwick, UK
• Jeroen VAN DER VEER: Non-executive Director of Shell Company, Netherlands

Representative EIT Governing Board Members

• Jean-François ABRAMATIC: Research Director, Transfer & Innovation division, Inria, France
• Lykke FRIIS: Prorector for Education, University of Copenhagen
• Hans HUBSCHNEIDER: Consultant in the traffic, transportation and energy business, Germany

European Commission Observer

• Xavier PRATS MONNÉ: Director-General for Education and Culture, European Commission

Knowledge and Innovation Communities

The EIT achieves its mission by fully integrating all three sides of the ‘knowledge triangle’, i.e. higher education, research and business, in Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs). By bringing together leading players from all these dimensions to cooperate within the KICs, the EIT is able to promote innovation in Europe. These KICs have the objective to integrate education, research and innovation (the so-called Knowledge Triangle) in one common organisation. The EIT finances the KICs with a maximum of 25% of the total budget. While the EIT´s Headquarters are situated in Budapest (Hungary), the EIT is not concentrated in one campus as a traditional institute, instead operating through the KICs. Each of the KICs operates across a number of hubs called ‘co-location centres’ and there are currently 19 co-location centres spread across Europe.

Climate change

Climate-KIC

• Assessing climate change and managing its drivers
• Transitioning to resilient, low-carbon cities
• Advancing adaptive water management
• Developing zero-carbon production systems

Sustainable Energy

KIC InnoEnergy

• Need of new technologies for sustainable energy and a climate-neutral Europe
• New energy products

Information technology

EIT ICT Labs

• Turning Europe into a global leader in ICT Innovation
• Smart Spaces: exploitation of information in various every day environments
• Smart Energy Systems: focusing on innovation driven by ICT
• Health and Well-being: improve the quality of life through the development of ICT-enabled services
• Digital Cities of the Future: democratic city space through a citizen-centric model
• Future Media and Content Delivery: addressing the challenges of bringing media and content to the consumer
• Intelligent Mobility and Transportation Systems

Education and entrepreneurship

The EIT also focuses on the implementation of education and entrepreneurship programmes. It will encourage higher education institutions to focus on developing innovative curricula that encourage more entrepreneurship, creativity, and leadership.

Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs)

The labs (Knowledge and Innovation Communities) are established all across Europe (the European Union and Switzerland) in co‑location centres.

• The KIC on Climate Change Mitigation and Adaption: (Climate-KIC) has co‑location centres in London, UK; Zurich, Switzerland; Berlin, Germany; Paris, France; and Randstad, Netherlands.
• The KIC on Sustainable Energy (KIC InnoEnergy) has co‑location centres in Karlsruhe, Germany; Krakow, Poland; Grenoble, France; Eindhoven, Netherlands; Leuven, Belgium; Barcelona, Spain; and Stockholm, Sweden.
• The KIC on the Future Information and Communication Society (EIT ICT Labs) has co‑location centres in Berlin, Germany; Eindhoven, Netherlands; Helsinki, Finland; Paris, France; Sophia Antipolis, France; Stockholm, Sweden and Trento, Italy.