consultation
European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT): Commission consults on future strategy
The European Commission today launches a public consultation on the future strategy of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) following the success of its initial phase. The consultation will feed into a 'strategic innovation agenda' for the EIT which the Commission is due to propose by the end of this year. The agenda will outline the Institute's main priorities until 2020, focusing on the Institute's mission and objectives, funding and future themes.
The European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, Androulla Vassiliou, who is responsible for the EIT, will announce the consultation at a conference in Budapest.
"With the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, we are pioneering a new collaboration between higher education, research and business. The Commission is keen to listen to the views of our partners before finalising our proposal on the future strategy. The idea of is to build on the lessons learned from the Institute's first phase and to prepare the way for expanding the EIT. The Institute has the potential to become a powerful motor of innovation and entrepreneurship in Europe," declared Commissioner Vassiliou.
The EIT has an administrative headquarters (in Budapest), but operates from 16 sites throughout Europe, from Barcelona to Stockholm, through cross-border public-private partnerships known as 'knowledge and innovation communities', or KICs for short. The KICs bring together excellent higher education institutions, research centres and businesses. To date, three KICs have been created, focusing on sustainable energy (InnoEnergy KIC), climate change (Climate KIC) and information and communication society (EIT ICTLabs).
The consultation complements a broad debate on the future of EU research and innovation funding (see Commission Green Paper "From Challenges to Opportunities: Towards a Common Strategic Framework for EU Research and Innovation funding", 9 February 2011).
Your views on the future of higher education
The European Commission has just launched a public consultation on the modernisation of higher education in Europe. Contribute with your views by filling in a short online questionnaire.
Europe 2020 - the EU's strategic agenda for growth - stresses the vital role of the European higher education sector in developing human capital and driving research and innovation in the knowledge economy. As part of its efforts to help develop higher education in Europe, the European Commission plans to adopt a new Communication on the modernisation of higher education in the third quarter of 2011. This will provide strategic direction for the development of European higher education in the next ten years, including in the areas of education, research and innovation. This new Communication will review progress towards the objectives set out in the 2006 Communication on modernisation higher education and propose action to respond to the challenges of the new decade.
To help prepare the new Communication, the European Commission is currently undertaking a wide-ranging consultation with stakeholders in European higher education. As part of this, we would like to invite you to complete a short online questionnaire, asking for your views on priorities for higher education, including its research and innovation dimensions, in the period up to 2020.
The questionnaire will take around 10 minutes to complete. The consultation will be open until 15 March 2011. You can complete it in English, French or German.