YERUN welcomed the opportunity to contribute to the discussion on the future of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and its Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs).
Nearly two decades after its creation, and with a new Strategic Innovation Agenda and legislative framework ahead, this is an important moment to reconsider the role of the EIT within Europe’s innovation landscape.
The objective remains highly relevant. Europe needs to make better use of the connections between education, research and innovation, and to translate knowledge more effectively into economic and societal value. This has become even more important in the context of Europe’s renewed focus on competitiveness, technological capacity and strategic autonomy.
The question is therefore not whether the knowledge triangle matters, but how (and if) the EIT can best contribute to it. If the EIT is to retain a prominent role in supporting the knowledge triangle-connecting education, research and innovation- it must be able to mobilise the potential of the European higher education sector as a whole, rather than primarily benefiting a set of those.
YERUN has consistently raised this point. Since its first contribution to the EIT consultation in 2018, YERUN has called for greater openness of the KICs, with more opportunities for universities, and greater consistency across their rules and operating models. We have also strongly supported the development of the EIT HEI Initiative as a means of strengthening innovation capacity across the wider higher education sector.
Many of these messages remain relevant today. At the same time, the development of the wider EU innovation landscape – including the EIC and the proposed European Competitiveness Fund makes it even more important to clarify where the EIT brings distinctive European added value compared to other initiatives.
Against this background, YERUN highlights four priorities for the future EIT.
1. Open the KICs to the wider higher education community
2. Reinforce the KICs as European innovation networks
3. Continue the EIT HEI Initiative – while reconsidering how it is managed
4. Simplify and harmonise the way the KICs operate
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Previous YERUN positions on the EIT
• December 2018 – YERUN contribution to the EIT Open Consultation. YERUN called for the right balance between the EIT as a funding instrument and as an institutional network, greater openness of the KICs, and wider opportunities for higher education institutions to benefit from EIT innovation ecosystems.
• September 2019 – Inclusive and open: this is how the EIT could support innovative higher education all over Europe. In response to the proposed EIT Regulation and Strategic Innovation Agenda 2021–2027, YERUN called for more inclusive and participatory KICs, periodic opening of KIC partnerships, harmonised rules across KICs, and adequate investment in innovation capacity development across the higher education sector.
• November 2019 – A dedicated action for the EIT to promote innovation capacity development in European Higher Education? Yes, please! YERUN strongly supported the creation of a dedicated action to strengthen universities’ innovation and entrepreneurial capacity, while stressing that its benefits should extend beyond institutions already participating in KICs.
• April 2020 – YERUN proposed amendments to the EIT legislative proposals. YERUN proposed concrete amendments aimed at strengthening the openness and transparency of KICs, facilitating the inclusion of new partners, improving monitoring and evaluation, and ensuring that the EIT remained focused on its core innovation mission.
