The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) marks the 10 years since the unique EU one-stop shop for innovation was created. This evening, the EIT will also announce the winners of the EIT Awards 2018. 38 nominees are competing in categories recognising excellence in innovation, with women entrepreneurs making up more than 40% of the nominees.
More than 350 innovators will gather in Budapest for the EIT’s annual Innovation Forum, INNOVEIT, to discuss the EIT’s unique role in driving innovation across Europe and to celebrate the EIT Awards. The high-level conference takes place in Budapest with the participation of European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, Tibor Navracsics, Member of European Parliament, Lambert van Nistelrooij, leading entrepreneurs, cutting-edge innovators and policy-makers committed to boosting entrepreneurship and innovation.
Tibor Navracsics, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport responsible for the EIT, stated: ‘The EIT is now ten years old – a reason to celebrate! Over the course of this decade, a creative pan-European network, Europe’s largest innovation community, has shown what is possible with a relentless focus on excellence, ambition and – most of all – young people’s talents and aspirations. Now we need to put everything in place to ensure that this project continues to grow and evolve over the next ten years. This will take a sound strategy focusing on the big challenges facing our societies and further enhancing educational performance, a strong focus on involving regions across all of the European Union as well as adequate funding. Our proposal for the EU’s next long-term budget points in this direction, and I am looking forward to working with all involved to make the next ten years of the EIT an even bigger success.
Today, the EIT is Europe’s largest, most connected innovation ecosystem with more than 1000 excellent partners, including many of Europe’s leading companies, universities and research centres, successfully co-operating.
Dirk Jan van den Berg, Chairman of the EIT Governing Board added: ‘Our unique network has nurtured more than 1,250 start-ups and scale-ups that have raised in excess of EUR 890 million in external investment and created over 6 100 highly skilled jobs. That said, we are focused on the next 10 years, conscious that we cannot be complacent. Europe is facing an ‘innovation emergency’. As Europe’s one-stop shop for innovation, the EIT looks forward to collaborate with partners to power students, innovators and entrepreneurs. Today’s Awards ceremony highlights the fruit of 10 years’ of impact, and points to a future based on the creativity and solutions of immensely talented EIT Community entrepreneurs.’
The EIT Awards celebrate Europe’s talented entrepreneurs that power solutions to some of the pressing challenges facing Europe in the fields of climate, energy, digitalisation, food, health and raw materials.
The 38 nominees represent the most promising entrepreneurs and innovators in Europe and compete in four categories: EIT CHANGE, EIT Innovators and EIT Venture, and, for the first time, the EIT Woman Award. The winner of the EIT Public Award will also be announced during the ceremony as voted for by thousands across Europe.
