'Simplicity' key for innovation institute, says chairman

European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said he was pleased that the EIT had become a reality. "When I first proposed this idea, there were pessimists who said it would never happen; there were cynics who said it would be just another programme; but there were also optimists who said it would work – and I'm pleased that they turned out to be correct." 

He added that the crisis should be an incentive to reach the Lisbon Agenda's target of investing 3% of GDP in research and development. 

Karel Bartak, head of unit for communication and exploitation of results at the Commission's education and culture department, said the EIT was becoming more tangible with the first calls for KICs. "We hope it will become an engine of innovation in the future. It's the first initiative to bring together all three sides of the knowledge triangle: research, education and innovation." 

Bartak said the Commission is urging member states not to reduce investment in research and education, as this was the basis of future competitiveness. 

Ján Figeľ, European commissioner for education, training, culture and youth, said Europe should stop complaining about brain drains and take action to make itself more innovation-friendly. "This means making it people-friendly and attractive to researchers," he said. 

Mirko Lorenz, responsible for innovation projects at Deutsche Welle, said the Lisbon Agenda's goals were unlikely to be met. "We are almost at 2010 but are not yet the world's most competitive knowledge economy, as envisaged by the Lisbon Agenda. However, we shouldn't be too cynical about progress. There are a number of leading world companies". 

Lorenz said there had been some positive indications in 2007 that Europe had made positive strides, but these were before the financial crisis struck. 

Roland Strauss, director of Knowledge4Innovation, said Europe has lots of innovation but must find ways of exploiting it and improve its efforts at turning innovation into results. "We need to make better use of existing knowledge and innovations. Throughout Europe, many sectors are not talking to each other. Often the solutions to our problems are already there, but research has been unnecessarily replicated." 

John Vassallo, vice-president for EU affairs and associate general counsel at Microsoft, said that in the 1930s, the companies which came out best from the depression were those who were innovators. He said healthcare and education are areas where Europe needs to invest in order to respond to demographic changes. 

Vassallo also warned against taking knowledge for granted. "The new bubble is the knowledge bubble. Just as we thought debt was free, we think knowledge is free. But inventors and researchers must be remunerated properly." 

Magnus Madfors, director of R&D policy at Ericsson, said the EIT is an excellent instrument to build research capacity. "It brings together research, education and innovation. There is a list of programmes but none bring together all three." 

Christopher Allen, deputy head of the unit developing industrial policy at the Commission's enterprise and industry department, said there had been a paradigm shift in the Lisbon Agenda. "There has been a move away from member states setting their own agenda to having a more networked approach." 

Juan Cajiao, president of the Association Internationale des Etudiants en Sciences Economiques et Commerciales (AIESEC International), stressed the importance of motivating people to become more innovative and to communicate more about innovation. "We have to ask how we will make innovation popular with kids and with people who are already working."