Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Digital platforms touch our everyday lives: operating systems, search, mobile and social are deeply transforming our economy and our society. Network effects apply, putting these platforms at the heart of the global society, and making the world hyperdependent on them. In order to fuel growth in our continent and protect our way of life, Europe needs to take centre stage in the future of digital. We need to invent the next wave of digital platforms, applications and innovations.
PRE-INCUBATION
From deep tech to venture or mvp (minimum viable product)
The first focus of EIT Digital’s innovation & entrepreneurship strategy is to drive the market uptake of top European research results (“deep tech”). The objective is both to “create digital disruption” (through venture creation) and to “support digital transformation” (through the launch of a Minimum Viable Product - or MVP).
SCALEUP ACCELERATION
From venture to dominant industry player
The second focus of EIT Digital’s innovation & entrepreneurship strategy is to build a new generation of dominant European industry players. To this end, EIT Digital provides growth support to fastgrowing European deep tech startups (also known as scaleups). This addresses a European weakness: Europe creates a fair number of startups, but most of them stay small. Europe needs to put more emphasis on scaleup support across the continent and beyond, in order to build the likes of Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple. In addition, deep tech scaleups are the ones that the European future depends upon.
Figure: The integrated Innovation and Entrepreneurship funnel
Innovation Focus Areas
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Digital Cities
By 2050, the global urban population will increase by 75% to 6.3 billion (i.e. two thirds of the world population). The challenge of developing and maintaining attractive, inclusive and safe urban environments needs to be met on multiple fronts. Stakeholders are local governments, city service providers, industry, and the citizens... -
Digital Finance
Finance is digital. All established players in the Financial Services Industry acknowledge the need of a deep digital transformation for their organisations as the only means to survive and thrive in the future. Technological capabilities are seen as essential for a future in an industry... -
Digital Industry
With the digital transformation, the manufacturing industry is faced with new technological opportunities and business models. Digital has opened new ways to organise production, logistics and delivery, and offers better means to serve and satisfy consumers. Mass production... -
Digital Tech
Core digital technologies are the basis of our economy’s and society’s deep digital transformation. EIT Digital invents our digital future with novel communication, computing and cybersecurity technologies, especially software. These technologies are not only a necessity to serve vertical segments: they are also driving a massive number... -
Digital Wellbeing
Slowing down the healthcare costs is the key driver for innovation in the health domain. The objective is to lower the demand for cure and long-time care and allowing the youth, the working professional andthe elderly to maintain a good quality of life. The focus is to leverage...