Tag: EIT

Martin Schuurmans, chairman of the newly-formed European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), says he is "not pessimistic" about Europe's ability to lead on research and innovation. But it needs to speed up if it wants to keep up with global competitors, the EIT chairman told EurActiv in an interview.

Applications to host the first Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) chosen by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) will be rejected if they exceed 40 pages, according to Martin Schuurmans, who chairs the institute's board.

The chairman of the European Institute for Innovation and Technology (EIT), Martin Schuurmans, has denied claims by a leading academic that the institute's flagship innovation projects will become "monopolies of knowledge".

The innovation communities of the EU's Institute of Technology and Innovation (EIT) may well include non-European actors, revealed Bálint Magyar, a member of the recently inaugurated governing board of the EIT, in an interview with EurActiv Hungary. 

A new 18 member-strong governing board of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), appointed yesterday (30 July), has until the end of 2009 to identify, select and launch the first EU "innovation hubs", expected to cover the fields of climate change, renewable energy and ICT.

Following Poland's veto of the otherwise unanimously-backed Budapest as the seat for the European Innovation and Technology Institute (EIT), the final decision will now be taken by research ministers at an Intergovernmental Conference on 18 June.

Even after the final approval of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), opinions diverge on the necessity of the institute, which was originally deisgned as the European rival to the US Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Nevertheless, concrete research, education and innovation actions are expected to start by 2010.

For the first time, the EU will be spending more on competitiveness than agriculture. After a conciliation meeting last Friday, the Council and Parliament reached an agreement on the 2008 budget, securing an extra €2.7 billion for the EU's two flagship projects - Galileo and the European Institute of Technology.

The Parliament's industry committee is waiting for the Commission and Council to come up with a realistic solution for the budget of the European Institute of Technology (EIT), before considering adoption of the proposal in plenary this Autumn.

The sooner the details on the European Technology Institute (ETI) are ready and concrete proposals are on the table, the sooner business will provide the cash to support it, according to EU business leaders. Their financial contribution to the institute could cover some 20-30% of the final costs.

The informal Competitiveness Council has backed a German Presidency initiative on gradual progress towards a European Institute of Technology and urged the Commission to quickly submit a convincing and concrete funding proposal for the institute.