San Francisco, United States, 28 March 2019 – The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) opened the first Community Hub outside of Europe in Silicon Valley yesterday. Building on the existing Silicon Valley Hub of EIT Digital, the EIT Hub in San Francisco will support European innovators to attract US customers, partners and investors. It will also showcase innovation made in Europe and bolster the visibility of innovative European solutions to global challenges.
Martin Kern, EIT Interim Director, said: ‘To strengthen Europe’s competitiveness and to tackle the most pressing global challenges facing our society through innovation, we have to connect globally. This EIT Hub will further strengthen Europe’s innovation ecosystem and act as a bridge between Europe and Silicon Valley for entrepreneurs, innovators and students.’
Jim Wunderman, President & CEO Bay Area Council, stated: ‘The Bay Area Council welcomes the establishment of the EIT Hub in Silicon Valley and is happy to welcome the EIT among its partners. International ties have long standing tradition that have been beneficial to both sides and the presence of the EIT strengthens our connection to Europe.’
The EIT was created in 2008 to drive innovation across Europe. The EIT Community, Europe’s largest innovation network with more than 1000 partners from business, education and research, powers innovators and entrepreneurs, helping them turn new ideas into innovative products and services. Greater transatlantic collaboration will generate new opportunities for growth and jobs in Europe.
Rene Arvin, Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Omnibot, added: ‘This is precisely what scale-ups need: support and access to a network that opens doors throughout the growth stages. We’ve scaled, are ready to grow further globally and thrilled that EIT Digital and the EIT Hub in Silicon Valley will be there to support us on the next stage of our journey’.
In the first phase, the EIT Silicon Valley Hub will represent EIT Digital, EIT Climate-KIC, EIT Food, EIT Health, and EIT Raw Materials. The Hub will support European ventures to sell their products and services on the US market, attract US students to the EIT’s entrepreneurial education programmes in Europe, provide a gateway to Europe for US-based organisations, facilitate joint open innovation initiatives and generally stimulate stronger collaboration between the EIT Community and Silicon Valley.
In the near future, the EIT Community will continue expanding their footprint beyond Europe and establish additional EIT Community Hubs in Tel Aviv (Israel) and Beijing (China).
Pictures of the launch event in San Francisco can be found here.
EIT BACKGROUND: Europe’s future is connected to its power to innovate!
What is the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT)?
The EIT was created in 2008 to drive Europe’s ability to innovate. The EIT is a unique EU initiative, the only one to fully integrate business, education and research. The Institute supports the development of dynamic pan-European partnerships among leading universities, research labs and companies. These are called Innovation Communities and each focuses on a specific global challenge.
More: EIT in a nutshell Infographic
What challenges do the EIT’s Innovation Communities focus on?
The first six Innovation Communities work to mitigate and adapt to climate change (EIT Climate-KIC), accelerate the digital transformation (EIT Digital), create sustainable sources of energy and increase its supply (EIT InnoEnergy), provide sustainable and healthier food (EIT Food), support healthier and longer living (EIT Health), and manage our planet’s raw materials in an efficient, secure and sustainable way (EIT RawMaterials). Together with their leading partners, they offer a wide range of innovation and entrepreneurship activities. This includes education courses that combine technical and entrepreneurial skills, business creation and acceleration services and innovation driven research projects.
In December 2018, the EIT selected two new Innovation Communities in the areas of urban mobility and added value manufacturing.
What has the EIT Community achieved
Contact:
Caroline Vandenplas – E: caroline.vandenplas@eit.europa.eu – T: +36 1 481 9371
For more information visit eit.europa.eu & follow the EIT on Twitter @EITeu
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