Newly independent EIT KICs will not cut less profitable activities, says EIT Digital chief, but someone must pay if Europe wants more
photo credits: Carl Campbell/ Unsplash
EIT Digital has no plans to abandon its less profitable activities now that it is financially independent, but their scale depends on how much additional funding it can find.
“Many of our activities, especially early-stage incubation and education, we could do more [of] for Europe, if there was more financial support,” its chief executive, Federico Menna, told Science|Business. “But now we have to finance everything on our own, so we also have to go where the market is.”
EIT Digital was one of the first three knowledge and innovation communities (KICs) created by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) in 2010, alongside the EIT Climate-KIC and EIT InnoEnergy. All three are now financially independent after their 15-year partnership agreements with the EU-funded EIT expired on December 31, but they can still apply for EU money including for some EIT schemes.
The KICs bring together public and private innovation actors across Europe to address…
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