European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Digital Sustainable Growth
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Objective of the practice:
Lead Europe’s digital transformation and future of innovation by mobilising open-innovation ecosystems of global players in strategic areas, supporting the growth of digital ventures, helping business and entrepreneurs to be at the frontier of digital innovation and engaging with EU-wide and national initiatives to drive a strong digital economy and financial sustainability.
Subtopics of the practice:
Accelerate the market adoption and scaling of research-based digital technologies by investing in strategic areas, addressing Europe’s key societal challenges: Digital Tech, Digital Cities, Digital Industry, Digital Wellbeing, and Digital Finance.
Geographical scope of the practice:
Europe
Short summary of the practice:
The EIT Digital project aims to create world-leading players in strategic areas across Europe by assisting organisations and innovators with improved access to funding, expert support, and educational programmes.
Detailed information on the practice:
The practice aims to build a strong Digital Europe by creating world players in areas strategic for Europe, contributing to European Digital Sovereignty in full alignment with European Commission priorities. Its activities focus on key sectors essential for digital sovereignty, as identified in the EIT Digital Strategic Innovation Agenda (SIA): digital technologies, wellbeing, cities, industry, and finance. Since its implementation, EIT Digital has become increasingly entrepreneurial. The program has focused on expanding its ecosystem and supporting startups, experiencing significant growth between 2022 and 2024 In addition to these results, success in this practice is evaluated more in detail using selected EIT Digital impact and growth metrics, measured by several KPIs, including: partners in the ecosystems, products launched on the market, startups created, annual intake of scaleups into Accelerator, total investment attracted by supported and alumni scaleups, annual Master school graduates, annual learners, internships offered by industrial Partners to second-year Master School students. The project contributes to long-term sustainability by transforming into a scalable and sustainable organisation, consolidating its European ecosystem, and ensuring financial sustainability through local, regional, and national support. It focuses on expanding through new partners and Satellite locations, establishing new sites only if non-EIT funding is secured for their operations.
Resources needed:
Summary of the 2021-2022 budget1: € 106,46M; WP1. Education € 21,81M; WP2. Innovation € 53,66M; WP3. Entrepreneurship € 5,24M; WP4 EIT RIS € 11,81M; WP5. Management and communication € 11,41M; Cross-KIC-TI € 2,52 M. Summary of the 2023-2024 budget (with actual EIT contribution)2: EIT Digital Grand Total € 130,90M; WP1. Education € 33,60M; WP2. Innovation € 49,00M; WP3. Entrepreneurship € 4,64M; WP4 EIT RIS € 16,54M; WP5. Management and coordination €10,44M; WP6. Communication, dissemination and exploitation of results 0,57M; Cross-KIC and HEU € 16,11M.
Results achieved:
From 2019 to 2021, the Entrepreneurial Academy expanded from 0 to 15, the Innovation Factory increased from 14 to 35, and the Venture Program grew from 27 to 30. Moreover, the EIT Digital Accelerator has established itself as a leading program for deep tech scaleups, supporting over 400 startups since 2012 in raising over 1 billion euros. It has been recognized as a top European accelerator and has numerous alumni that are now successful international companies. The results measured through the KPIs are as follows: partners in the ecosystems: 360 in 2022, 400 in 2023, 450 in 2024; products launched on the market: 65 in 2022, 67 in 2023, 70 in 2024; startups created: 40 in 2022, 50 in 2023, 60 in 2024; annual intake of scaleups into Accelerator: 40 in 2022, 45 in 2023, 50 in 2024; total investment attracted by supported and alumni scaleups: €1.1B in 2022, €1.2m in 2023, €1.3Bm in 2024; annual Master school graduates: 400 in 2022, 450 in 2023, 500 in 2024; annual learners: 600 in 2022, 800 in 2023, 1000 in 2024; internships offered by industrial Partners to second-year Master School students: 50% in 2022, 50% in 2023, 50% in 2024.
Potential for learning:
The practice could be particularly interesting for other regions due to its focus on fostering innovation and growth in the digital sector through a sustainable approach. It promotes the integration of digital technology and entrepreneurial talent, which are essential for implementing economic growth in the digital era. Business and entrepreneurs can refer to these practices to improve themselves in order to be at the forefront of digital innovation. The innovative solutions offered can be valuable also for master students, doctoral graduates and high-level professionals that come from other regions that would like to learn the digital skills from an entrepreneurial perspective and integrate technical competence in key digital areas with business modelling thinking.
Further information:
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101113245
Keywords:
Digital Transformation, Venture Support, Digital Europe, EU policy, Knowledge Triangle Integration, Green Economy, Cybersecurity

