European Institute of Innovation and Technology EIT
Created in 2008, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) is a unique EU initiative that spurs innovation and entrepreneurship across Europe with one simple idea: through diversity there is strength. We bring together leading universities, research labs and companies to form dynamic pan-European partnerships. Together, these unique partnerships, called Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), develop innovative products and services, start new companies, and train a new generation of entrepreneurs. They bring ideas to market, turn students into entrepreneurs and, most importantly, they innovate. The EIT Community puts entrepreneurs and innovators at the heart of our efforts.
The EIT’s support helps innovators and entrepreneurs across Europe to turn their ideas into products and services for the market. This is crucial to fulfilling the mission of the EIT: delivering the jobs and sustainable economic growth opportunities that Europe is seeking. The EIT is playing a vital role in helping to increase economic growth and create jobs. The EIT is an integral part of Horizon 2020, the EU’s Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. Horizon 2020 is a key pillar of the Innovation Union – a Europe 2020 flagship initiative that aims to enhance Europe’s global competitiveness.
KICs bring together businesses (industry and SMEs), research centres and universities as partners, creating a favourable environment for creative thought and innovation to flourish, allowing innovative products and services to be developed in every area imaginable, including climate change, healthy living and active ageing, new companies to be started, and a new generation of entrepreneurs to be trained. They carry out a whole range of activities that cover the entire innovation chain – including training and education programmes, reinforcing the journey from research to the market, innovation projects as well as business incubators and accelerators. KICs have been conceived so that they are able to react in an effective and flexible way to new challenges and changing environments.
Financial Sustainability Mechanism
From their initial conceptualisation, all EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) were required by the EIT to become gradually independent of its financial support. To this end, Financial Sustainability (FS) mechanisms were developed and implemented within the KICs. The EIT has therefore called upon all KICs to implement concrete FS mechanisms at project level.
The involvement of TUM ForTe already before the submission of a full proposal for an EIT project is necessary and mandatory. Please find below specific information on how to deal with this issue in the EIT Food KIC. Respective information for the other KICs will follow as soon as the FS mechanisms are finalised.
There are currently six KICs and each focuses on a different societal challenge:
2010
- EIT Climate-KIC: addressing climate change mitigation and adaptation
- EIT Digital: addressing Information and Communication Technologies
- EIT InnoEnergy: addressing sustainable energy
2014
- EIT Health: addressing healthy living and active ageing
- EIT Raw Materials: addressing sustainable exploration, extraction, processing, recycling and substitution
2016
- EIT Food: addressing sustainable supply chains from resources to consumers