Proposal for a DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the Strategic Innovation Agenda of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT): the contribution of the EIT to a more innovative Europe
Date: 2011-11-30
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU financing, EU office or agency, EU research policy, innovation, research and development, research body

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 30.11.2011 
COM(2011) 822 final 

2011/0387 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

on the Strategic Innovation Agenda of the European Institute of Innovation and 
Technology (EIT): the contribution of the EIT to a more innovative Europe  

(Text with EEA relevance) 

{SEC(2011) 1433} 
{SEC(2011) 1434} 

 
 
  
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

The  European  Institute  of  Innovation  and  Technology  (EIT)  has  been  set  up  by  Regulation 
(EC)  294/2008  with  the  objective  of  contributing  to  sustainable  economic  growth  and 
competitiveness by reinforcing the innovation capacity of the EU and its Member States via 
the full integration of the knowledge triangle. According to the provisions of the Regulation, 
and  based  on  a  draft  proposal  from  the  EIT,  the  Commission  shall  adopt  before  the  end  of 
2011 a proposal for adoption by the European Parliament and the Council of the EIT Strategic 
Innovation  Agenda,  which  will  define  long-term  priority  fields  for  the  EIT,  including  an 
overview of the planned higher education, research and innovation activities, for a period of 
seven years.  

The  EIT  submitted  its  first  draft  Strategic  Innovation  Agenda  to  the  Commission  before  30 
June 2011. 

2. 

RESULTS OF CONSULTATIONS WITH THE INTERESTED PARTIES AND 
IMPACT ASSESSMENTS 

The preparation of the proposal took account of the responses to the open public consultation 
on  the  EIT  as  well  as  the  results  of  the  open  public  consultation  on  the  Common  Strategic 
Framework  for  Research  and  Innovation  Funding.  Views  were  expressed  by  the  Member 
States and a wide range of stakeholders from industry, academia and civil society. It showed a 
strong  support  to  the  mission  of  the  EIT  to  drive  more  and  better  cooperation  between  the 
worlds  of  higher  education,  entrepreneurship,  research  and  innovation.  According  to 
respondents,  the  EIT  should  play  a  distinctive  role  in  'Horizon  2020',  the  future  EU 
Programme  for  Research  and  Innovation,  and  forge  closer  links  with  other  European  and 
national  efforts.  A  majority  of  respondents  praised  the  way  in  which  the  EIT  ensures  the 
participation of businesses in its work and urged the Institute to step up its outreach activities. 
Moreover,  respondents  considered  business  involvement  as  highly  relevant  for  the  future 
success of the EIT. Flexibility, clarity on rules and clear returns on investment are therefore 
fundamental in order to attract private sector participation. 

The proposal also relies on the external evaluation report in which the concept of integrating 
the knowledge triangle, as well as the themes around which the EIT is structured, are regarded 
as highly relevant. There is much support for the model which has been developed by the EIT, 
based around long-term highly integrated networks of co-location centres. Respondents were 
also  positive,  and  consistent,  in  their  perspective  that  the  merit  of  the  KICs  was  to  act  as  a 
catalyst  for  creating  additional  value  from  the  activities  which  individual  members  already 
undertake on a more fragmented basis. 

3. 

LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL 

The  proposal  is  based  on  Article  173(3)  of  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European 
Union (TFEU). It builds on the provisions laid down in the EIT Regulation and complements 
the proposals included under the Horizon 2020 package. 

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4. 

BUDGETARY IMPLICATION  

The  legislative  financial  statement  attached  to  the  proposal  amending  the  Regulation 
establishing the EIT sets out the budgetary, human and administrative resource implications. 

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2011/0387 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

on the Strategic Innovation Agenda of the European Institute of Innovation and 
Technology (EIT): the contribution of the EIT to a more innovative Europe  

(Text with EEA relevance) 

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and in 
particular Article 173(3) thereof,  
Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 294/2008 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council of 11 March 2008 establishing the European Institute of Innovation and Technology1, 
, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national Parliaments, 

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee2,  

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

Regulation  (EC)  No  294/2008  requires  the  Commission  to  submit  a  proposal  for  the 
first Strategic Innovation Agenda (hereinafter referred to as the SIA), on the basis of 
the draft provided by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.  

The SIA should define long-term priory fields for the European Institute of Innovation 
and  Technology  ("the  EIT")  and  include  an  assessment  of  its  economic  impact  and 
capacity  to  generate  best  innovation  added-value.  The  SIA  should  take  into  account 
the results of the monitoring and evaluation of the EIT.  

The first SIA should include detailed specifications and terms of reference concerning 
the operation of the EIT, the modalities for co-operation between the Governing Board 
and the Knowledge and Innovation Communities (hereinafter referred to as the KICs) 
and the modalities for the funding of the KICs, 

1 
2 

OJ L 97, 9.4.2008, p. 1. 
OJ C , , p. . 

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HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION: 

Article 1 

The Strategic Innovation Agenda of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology as 
set out in the annex is hereby adopted. 

Article2 

This Decision shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in 
the Official Journal of the European Union. 

Done at Brussels, 

For the European Parliament 
The President 

For the Council 
The President 

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ANNEX  
THE EIT STRATEGIC INNOVATION AGENDA  

1. 

THE EUROPEAN INSTITUTE OF INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY: AN EU INNOVATION 
PLAYER: 

The  Strategic  Innovation  Agenda  (SIA)  outlines  the  priorities  for  the  European  Institute  of 
Innovation and technology (EIT) over the period 2014-2020 as well as the modalities for its 
operation. It is therefore a key tool of European policy makers to steer the strategic direction 
of  the  EIT,  while  leaving  considerable  autonomy  to  the  Institute  in  defining  the  ways  and 
means to achieve the set goals.  
The  SIA  is  the  result  of  an  in-depth  process  that  has  sought  to  take  stock  of  the  EIT 
experience so far, and to fully reflect the reality of the European innovation landscape. It is 
based  on  a  first  SIA  draft  from  the  EIT  Governing  Board  submitted  to  the  European 
Commission on 15 June 2011, in conformity with the requirements of the EIT Regulation. It 
also builds on the results of an independent evaluation of the EIT's initial period as well as on 
a  consultation  process  open  to  all  those  having  a  current  or  potential  stake  in  the  EIT's 
activities,  including  businesses,  higher  education  institutions,  and  research  organisations,  as 
well as national and regional authorities.  

1.1. 

EIT: Addressing societal challenges via innovation in the knowledge triangle  

In a rapidly changing world, Europe's pathway to the future rests on growth which is smart, 
sustainable  and  inclusive.  To  achieve  this  goal  and  to  remain  competitive  in  the  global 
knowledge economy, the 'knowledge triangle' of research, education and innovation and the 
interaction  between  these  three  sides  have  been  recognised  as  key  driving  forces.  The 
European  Union  has  acted  accordingly  and  identified  these  fields  as  policy  priorities  in  its 
Europe  2020  strategy.  These  priorities  are  notably  implemented  through  the  flagship 
initiatives  'Innovation  Union'  and  'Youth  on  the  Move',  which  form  the  overarching  policy 
framework for EU actions in these fields. They are complemented by the flagship initiatives 
on  an  'Integrated  Industrial  Policy  for  the  Globalisation  Era'  and  on  a  'Resource-Efficient 
Europe'.  The  European  Institute  of  Innovation  and  Technology  will  fully  contribute  to 
achieving the goals of these flagship initiatives. 

The reasons for putting research, education and innovation at centre stage are straightforward. 
In  a  context  of  increasing  global  competition  and  facing  a  demographic  challenge  at  home, 
Europe's  future  economic  growth  and  jobs  will  increasingly  come  from  innovation 
breakthroughs in products, services and business models as well as from its ability to nurture, 
attract and retain talent. While there are individual success stories across Europe, EU Member 
States on average underperform in comparison with global innovation leaders. Moreover, the 
EU  is  facing  increased  competition  for  talent  from  new  centres  of  excellence  in  emerging 
economies.  

A genuine change in our innovation systems and paradigms is therefore necessary. Still too 
often,  excellence  in  higher  education,  research  and  innovation,  while  clearly  existing  across 
the  EU,  remains  fragmented.  Europe  needs  to  overcome  this  lack  of  strategic  co-operation 
across boundaries – countries, sectors and disciplines. Moreover, Europe needs to embrace a 
true  entrepreneurial  culture,  which  is  essential  for  capturing  the  value  of  research  and 
innovation,  for  setting-up  new  ventures  and  actual  market  deployment  of  innovations  in 
potential high-growth sectors. Europe needs to foster the role of higher education institutions 

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as  engines  of  innovation,  as  talented  people  need  to  be  equipped  with  the  right  skills, 
knowledge and attitudes in order to drive innovation forward.  

The EIT has been set up precisely to this end – to contribute to sustainable economic growth 
and  competitiveness  by  reinforcing  the  innovation  capacity  of  the  Union  and  its  Member 
States.  By  fully  integrating  the  knowledge  triangle  of  higher  education,  research  and 
innovation, the Institute will strongly contribute to tackling societal challenges under Horizon 
2020 and bring about systemic change in the way European innovation players collaborate.  

To  achieve  this  goal,  the  EIT  combines  strategic  orientation  at  EIT  level  with  a  bottom  up 
approach  through  its  Knowledge  and  Innovation  Communities  (KICs).  KICs  are  highly 
integrated  partnerships,  bringing  together  excellent  universities,  research  centres,  small  and 
large  companies  and  other  innovation  actors  on  a  long-term  basis  around  specific  societal 
challenges.  Each  KIC  is  organized  around  a  small  number  of  interconnected  co-location 
centres  where  partners  work  closely  together  on  a  daily  basis  and  with  an  unprecedented 
degree  of  common  strategic  objectives.  Co-location  centres  build  on  existing  centres  of 
excellence,  developing  them  further  into  local  innovation  ecosystems  and  linking  them 
together  into  a  broader  network  of  innovation  nodes  across  Europe.  Within  the  EIT 
framework , the individual KICs have been given a large degree of autonomy in defining their 
internal organisation, composition, agenda and working methods, allowing them to choose the 
approach that is best suited to meet their objectives. At strategic level, the EIT organizes the 
selection process of KICs, coordinates them with a flexible framework and disseminates their 
best governance and funding models. 

Through the KICs, the EIT helps to create environments where innovation is more likely to 
thrive  and  to  generate  breakthroughs  in  the  way  higher  education,  research  and  business 
collaborate. This approach helps addressing the increasingly complex societal challenges set 
out  in  Horizon  2020  in  a  holistic  way,  bringing  together  excellent  people  from  different 
sectors, backgrounds and disciplines – who otherwise would not necessarily meet – to jointly 
find solutions to the challenge.  

Achievements 

The  EIT  has  completed  its  initial  phase,  which  was  dedicated  to  launching  its  operations 
through  the  KICs  and  to  put  in  place  the  EIT  decision  making  and  executive  functions  – 
Governing  Board  and  headquarters.  The  EIT  has  also  been  successful  in  reaching  its  main 
objective  -  the  full  integration  of  the  entire  innovation  chain,  bringing  together  higher 
education institutions, research organisations and businesses via three initial Knowledge and 
Innovation Communities, established in 2010 in areas identified by Council and Parliament as 
essential  to  Europe's  future  development.  These  are  sustainable  energy  ('KIC  InnoEnergy'), 
climate  change  adaptation  and  mitigation  ('ClimateKIC')  and  future  information  and 
communication society ('EIT ICT Labs').  

Moreover,  the  EIT  is  now  consolidating  itself  as  an  innovation  institution  through  the 
headquarters  in  Budapest.  It  has  also  set  up  the  EIT  Foundation,  a  legally  independent 
organisation dedicated to promoting and supporting the work and activities of the EIT, and to 
enhancing the EIT's societal impact.  

KICs on their way to world class integrated partnerships 

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The  current  three  KICs  have  succeeded  in  achieving  critical  mass  in  their  respective  areas, 
including a balanced participation from the different components of the knowledge triangle. 
The combined strength of partners in a KIC – both in number and in the weight they represent 
in their respective fields – gives them the potential to be world class. 

Graph 1- KICs co-location 

The  KICs  have  followed  differentiated  approaches  in  building  up  their  strategies  and 
governance  structures,  reflecting  different  thematic  fields.  One  KIC  has  been  set  up  as  a 
company  while  two  others  are  non  profit  associations.  All  are  structured  around 
approximately 30 core partners and five to six co-location centres, which are usually flanked 
by  a  varying  number  of  additional  affiliate  partners,  including  small  and  medium  sized 
enterprises (SMEs).  

The  set-up  of  the  KICs  as  single  legal  entities  led  by  a  Chief  Executive  Officer  (CEO) 
provides a clear departure from a traditional multi-beneficiaries approach. Moreover, all KICs 
follow  business  logic  for  the  strategic  planning  of  their  activities,  and  all  KICs  have 
implemented the co-location concept: bringing diverse teams together in one physical place, 
acting  as  a  clearing  house  for  many  KIC  activities,  and  combining  competences  and  skills 
developed in different areas of specialisation at pan-European level.  

KICs  activities  span  the  entire  innovation  chain  and  include  among  others  the  setting  up  of 
EIT  labelled  Master  and  PhD  programmes  which  combine  excellent  science  with 
entrepreneurship education, business creation services, and mobility schemes. With the KICs' 
initial  activities  focused  on  talent  and  people,  first  results  have  been  achieved  on  education 

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and  entrepreneurship,  including  the  setting  up  of  Masters  and  PhD  programmes.  Two  KICs 
have  joined  forces  and  co-operate  in  a  joint  Master  programme  in  Smart  Grids.

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The KICs' achievements in their first year (2010-2011) are promising: 

Nearly 500 students completed their training on summer courses and more than 200 students 
are  presently  enrolled  in  specific  KIC-branded  Master  courses.  And  demand  from  talented 
people  is  high:  KIC  InnoEnergy  for  example  received  950  applications  for  their  Master 
course with 155 students who could be admitted. Students which graduated from ClimateKIC 
courses in 2010 and 2011 have formed an alumni association with the aim to maintain long-
term involvement with the KIC.  

Six  start-ups  have  already  been  created  with  seed  money  from  prizes  and  awards  or  with 
support from the KICs. More than 50 start-ups are presently undergoing incubation activities. 
EIT ICTLabs is supporting 18 small companies with business coaches. 

Links within the knowledge triangle were established at regional level via cross-disciplinary 
professional  development  programmes,  such  as  Climate  KICs'  'Pioneers  in  practice' 
programme (59 individuals have attended this mobility scheme so far).  

New Intellectual Property (IP) rules were established stipulating sharing the profits from IPR 
between companies involved and the KIC legal entity. 

Graph 2 -KIC partners 2011 (Business, HE, Research) 

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EIT ICT Labs

Climate-KIC

KIC InnoEnergy

Business

Research

Higher education institutes

Others

1.2.  EIT added value: distinguishing features  

The  EIT  approach  is  characterized  by  a  number  of  elements  by  which  it  brings  true  added 
value at Union level:  

• 

Overcoming  fragmentation  via  long-term  integrated  partnerships  and  achieving 
critical  mass  through  its  European  dimension:  Building  on  existing  cooperation 
initiatives, the EIT brings the selected partnerships in the KICs to a more permanent 
and strategic  level.  KICs allow world-class  partners to unite in new  configurations, 
optimize existing resources, access new business opportunities via new value chains 
addressing  higher  risk,  and  larger  scale  challenges.  Moreover,  while  there  are  a 
significant number of centres of excellence across EU Member States, they often do 
not attain the critical mass for global competition individually. The KICs' co-location 

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• 

• 

• 

centres offer strong local actors the opportunity to closely connect to other excellent 
partners across borders, thereby allowing them to act and be recognized globally.  

Enhancing  the  impact  of  investments  on  education,  research  and  innovation  and 
testing new ways for innovation governance: The EIT acts as a catalyst, adding value 
to  the  existing  research  base,  by  accelerating  the  take-up  and  exploitation  of 
technologies and research outcomes. Innovation activities contribute in turn to align 
and leverage research investments and to make education and training activities more 
responsive  to  business  needs.  To  this  end,  the  EIT  has  been  equipped  with  a 
substantial degree of flexibility to test out new innovation models, allowing for true 
differentiation in the KICs' governance and funding models and quick adaptation to 
better cope with emerging opportunities. 

Nurturing  talent  across  borders  and  fostering  entrepreneurship  through  knowledge 
triangle  integration:  The  EIT  nurtures  people-driven  innovation  and  puts  students, 
researchers, and entrepreneurs at the heart of its efforts. It provides new career paths 
between  academia  and  the  private  sector,  and  innovative  schemes  for  professional 
development.  The  EIT  label  attached  to  innovative  KICs'  Masters  and  PhD 
programmes  will  contribute  to  creating  an  internationally  recognized  brand  of 
excellence  helping  to  attract  talent  from  Europe  and  abroad.  Entrepreneurship  is 
fostered  through  a  new  generation  of  world-class  students,  equipped  with  the 
knowledge and attitudes to turn ideas into new business opportunities. 

Smart  funding  through  leverage  combined  with  a  results-  and  business-oriented 
approach:  The  EIT  provides  up  to  25%  of  the  KICs  budget  and  catalyzes  75%  of 
financial  resources  from  a  wide  range  of  public  and  private  partners,  creating  a 
significant  leverage  effect  by  pooling  large–scale  investment  and  streamlining 
different  sources  of  public  and  private  towards  jointly  agreed  strategies.  Moreover, 
by focussing on both market and societal impact, the EIT follows a results-oriented 
approach. KICs operate according to a business logic, on the basis of annual business 
plans,  including  an  ambitious  portfolio  of  activities  from  education  to  business 
creation,  with  clear  targets,  deliverables  and  key  performance  indicators  (KPIs) 
against which they are measured.  

1.3. 

Synergies and complementarities with other policy and funding initiatives  

The  inter-relationships  between  research,  innovation  and  education  are  increasingly  being 
recognised  within  EU  initiatives  and  programmes.  There  is  great  potential  for  mutually 
reinforcing  actions  at  European,  national  and  regional  level.  At  EU  level,  the  strategic 
framework  provided  by  Horizon  2020  –  the  Framework  Programme  for  Research  and 
Innovation (2014-2020) – will further ensure these synergies are fully exploited.  

The  EIT  will  strongly  contribute  to  the  objectives  set  out  in  Horizon  2020,  in  particular  by 
addressing  societal  challenges  in  a  complementary  way  to  other  initiatives  in  these  areas. 
Within Horizon 2020, the EIT will be part of the "tackling societal challenges" objective but 
following  the  approach  of  seamless  interaction  across  objectives,  it  will  also  contribute  to 
"industrial leadership and competitive frameworks" by stimulating results-driven research and 
fostering  the  creation  of  high  growth  innovative  SMEs.  Finally,  it  will  contribute  to  the 
creation  of  an  "excellent  science  base"  by  fostering  mobility  across  boundaries  –  of 
disciplines,  sectors  and  countries  –  and  by  embedding  entrepreneurship  and  a  risk-taking 
culture in innovative post-graduates degrees. The EIT will thereby significantly contribute to 

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promoting the framework conditions that are needed to realise the innovative potential of EU 
research and to promote the completion of the European Research Area (ERA).  

Moreover,  the  EIT  brings  a  fully  fledged  education  dimension  to  the  EU's  research  and 
innovation  policy.  Via  innovative,  entrepreneurial  education  it  plays  an  important  bridging 
role between the research and innovation framework and education policies and programmes 
and  provides  the  long  term  commitment  needed  to  deliver  sustainable  changes  in  higher 
education.  Notably  through  new,  trans  and  interdisciplinary  EIT-labelled  degrees  the  EIT  is 
leading a collaborative effort towards education for innovation with clear spill over effects on 
the  broader  European  agenda  for  the  modernisation  of  higher  education  institutions  thereby 
promoting the European Higher Education Area.  

Moreover,  there  are  opportunities  for  mutually  reinforcing  interaction  with  the  Union's 
Cohesion  Policy  by  addressing  the  linkages  between  the  local  and  global  aspects  of 
innovation. Co-location centres provide for cross-border collaboration and are well positioned 
to  capitalise  on  various  funding  schemes  from  their  respective  regions.  The  co-location 
centres play a major role in strengthening the local-global connectivity of the KIC as a whole, 
including through close co-operation with regional authorities, in particular those involved in 
designing and delivering the Regional Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3). 
Furthermore, linkages between KICs and local cluster organisations could be strengthened to 
increase  the  involvement  of  SMEs  in  the  activities  of  the  KICs.  While  opportunities  for 
synergies  differ  depending  on  the  thematic  area  of  a  KIC,  a  number  of  initiatives  and 
programmes  at  EU  level  seem  particularly  prone  to  offering  benefits  from  cooperation  and 
coordination. As the very concept of the EIT/KICs rests on adding value to existing European 
excellence, the KICs – present and future – will by definition seek to explore these synergies 
to  a  maximum.  KICs  will  add  value  to  initiatives  that  may  exist  in  the  relevant  areas, 
including Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs), European Innovation Partnerships (EIPs) and 
Public Private Partnerships (PPPs).  

Joint  Programming  Initiatives,  a  key  instrument  for  addressing  fragmentation  in  research, 
should provide the nucleus of the pan-European KIC research base. In turn, KICs can speed 
up and foster the exploitation of excellent public research pooled together by the JPIs, thereby 
addressing fragmentation in innovation. The Joint Technology Initiatives (JTIs) and the newly 
established  Public  and  Private  Partnerships  provide  platforms  for  promotion  of  large-scale 
industry-driven research and enhance the development of major technologies. KICs can help 
catalysing 
transfer  and 
commercialisation  and  to  develop  new  ventures  within  existing  business  via  entrepreneurial 
talent. Through its knowledge triangle approach, the EIT will complement investment of the 
European Research Council (ERC) on world-class frontier research by addressing the whole 
innovation  chain  from  ideas  to  application  and  exploitation  and  provide  additional 
opportunities in innovation and exposure to entrepreneurship to 'Marie Curie' researchers and 
'Erasmus for all' students.  

these  major 

investments 

technology 

to  boost 

research 

The  upcoming  European  Innovation  Partnerships  will  provide  overarching  frameworks  to 
facilitate alignment and synergies among supply and demand-driven research and innovation 
instruments and policies. The KICs can contribute to the EIPs through their distributed nature 
and on the ground experience, and in particular by developing the necessary human capital, 
educating  key  actors  such  as  entrepreneurs  and  researchers,  and  identifying  framework 
conditions  and  best  practise  on  policy,  regulatory  or  standardisation  issues  in  their  relevant 
sector.  

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In  practice,  opportunities  for  synergies  will  materialise  in  different  ways,  from  KIC  to  KIC 
and  challenge  to  challenge.  Today,  linkages  are  being  developed  at  KIC  level  with  other 
initiatives, varying according to the specificities of each KIC and its thematic area.  

Examples of synergies between KICs and other initiatives in practice (as of 09/2011) 

• 

• 

• 

EIT  ICT  Labs  liaises  and  works  closely  with  the  future  Internet  Public  Private 
Partnership, the Artemis Joint Technology Initiative and EUREKA initiatives such as 
ITEA (Information Technology for European Advancement), and the Trust in Digital 
Life  partnership.  By  applying  KIC  "catalysts"  such  as  the  Innovation  Radar,  the 
Patent  Booster  and  the  Technology  Transfer  along  the  lifecycle  of  EU  funded 
research projects, EIT ICT Labs boosts their market impact. By offering access to its 
co-location centres it can enhance the mobility of people and ideas across Europe. 

KIC InnoEnergy contributes to the delivery of the EU's Strategic Energy Technology 
Plan  (SET  Plan),  through  inter  alia,  its  participation  in  the  SETIS  platform  on 
technology  watch  and  mapping.  It  also  currently  interacts  with  the  Commission's 
Joint Research Centre (JRC) for the simulation capabilities in building scenarios.  

Climate  KIC  is  actively  providing  synergies  with  Joint  Programming  Initiatives 
(JPIs) in the area, as the innovation agenda and implementation plan of Climate KIC 
will be partially based on the common strategic agenda identified in the JPI climate 
(climate  services  and  adaptation).  Climate  KIC  Regional  Innovation  and 
Implementation  Communities  (RICs)  provide  an  original  pan-European  regional 
innovation  model,  which  uses  regions  as  test  beds,  linking  up  the  development  of 
managerial capability and regional strengths to global challenges. 

2. 

2. DEEPENING THE ROLE OF THE EIT AFTER 2013: PRIORITIES  

2.1. 

Incentivizing growth, impact and sustainability through the EIT  

Lessons from the set up phase 

The process of setting up the initial KICs has involved a substantial 'learning by doing'. It has 
shown that KICs are novel concepts and the challenge of getting legally organised as a KIC 
and forming contractual relationships with KICs and their partners was underestimated by all 
parties  involved  in  the  process.  A  lack  of  awareness  of  the  suitability  of  different  forms  of 
legal entity did not help smoothing the set-up process. While the bottom-up approach, which 
gives substantial leeway to each KIC to organise their partnerships is to be maintained, further 
guidance  should  be  given  to  identify  suitable  legal  set-ups.  Moreover,  the  challenge  of 
bringing different academic and business cultures together into one legal entity should not be 
underestimated; hence the importance of sharing common values at both KIC and EIT level. 
Furthermore,  KICs  are  large  scale  institutional  innovations,  and  no  two  KICs  are  the  same. 
This  offers  a  rich  array  of  innovation  models,  but  also  renders  the  overall  coordination  and 
monitoring of KICs more challenging.  

In the future, clearer guidance should be given upstream since the selection process to ensure 
that  essential  strategic  features  are  shared  by  all  KICs,  while  allowing  for  differentiated 
approaches in KICs organisation, delivery and funding approaches. Finally, the current total 
number  of  three  KICs  does  not  yet  provide  the  critical  mass  for  the  EIT  to  develop  its  full 

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potential  as  a  leading  innovation  Institute.  With  only  three  KICs  there  are  limited 
opportunities to achieve cross-KIC benefits of adjacent innovation opportunities as well as to 
reap economies of scale in administration and dissemination. It also means that the EIT is not 
of  a  sufficient  scale  to  truly  act  as  a  European  institution  in  its  own  right.  In  this  respect 
additional KICs are required in order for the EIT to gain the critical mass for being more than 
simply  the  ‘sum  of  its  parts’.  If  the  EIT  is  to  explore  new  innovation  governance  and 
management models through the KICs, a limited number of additional partnerships need to be 
set up in order to enlarge the sample on which the EIT experience is based upon.  

The EIT as an investor in the knowledge triangle  

Building  on  these  lessons  the  EIT  aims  to  consolidate  and  further  develop  its  role  as  an 
'investor' which nurtures and enables existing centres of excellence in research, business and 
higher  education  in  Europe  to  come  together  and  foster  their  long-term  systematic 
collaborations through the KICs.  

The 'EIT investor' approach stands for a focus on identifying best strategic opportunities and 
selecting a portfolio of world-class partnerships – the KICs – to deliver on these. As part of 
this approach, the EIT awards the annual grants to the KICs based on their past performance 
and  proposed  activities  in  their  business  plan.  The  assessment  of  the  business  plans  will  be 
supported  by  external,  independent  experts.  In  this  perspective,  the  EIT  should  not  only  set 
out  broad  directions  and  visions,  but  needs  to  provide  KICs  with  an  appropriate  level  of 
support and monitor their performance. At the same time, KICs are given a substantial degree 
of  leeway  to  define  their  internal  strategies  and  organisation  as  well  as  to  deliver  their 
activities and mobilise the talent and resources needed.  

Returns  on  EIT  investment  in  KICs  will  be  measured  in  terms  of  tangible  benefits  for  the 
European  economy  and  society  at  large,  such  as  creation  of  new  business,  products  and 
services  in  existing  and  future  markets,  better  skilled  entrepreneurial  people,  new  and  more 
attractive job opportunities and the attraction and retention of talent from across the EU and 
abroad.  

This requires the set-up of a robust monitoring and evaluation system for the EIT, focusing on 
achievements,  outputs  and  generation  of  both  economic  and  societal  impact  to  be 
benchmarked  against  best  international  practices.  Setting  up  a  balanced  performance 
monitoring  system  to  assess  the  EIT  impact  via  the  KIC,  the  EIT  own  performance  as  an 
organisation and the EIT contribution to Horizon 2020 is a priority in this direction.  

An important element in this regard is also the development, together with the KICs, of a true 
EIT  'corporate  identity'  around  a  set  of  shared  values.  While  all  KICs  and  their  individual 
partners do have their own corporate identities and values, they all share values that bring the 
EIT/KICs  community  together.  They  are:  excellence  across  the  knowledge  triangle;  skilled 
and  entrepreneurial  people;  long-term  collaboration  across  borders,  disciplines  and  sectors; 
and  the  focus  on  societal  and  economic  impact.  Such  an  identity  will  also  enhance  the 
external visibility and reputation of the EIT and KICs. 

2.1.1.  Consolidating and fostering growth and impact of the existing KICs 

The EIT will actively support the initial three KICs to enhance their potential and impact and 
their  contribution  to  the  objectives  of  Horizon  2020.  Over  time,  the  KICs  will  expand  their 
initial portfolio of activities in order to seize new market or societal opportunities. To support 

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these developments, the EIT will advise and define, in close co-operation with each individual 
KIC, tailor-made co-financing strategies, which at the same time underpin strategic activities 
from an EIT perspective.  

KICs  should  remain  dynamic  partnerships  and  hence  be  open  to  new  partners  but  also  to 
discontinue existing ones if appropriate. The KIC should tap into new sources of existing and 
potential excellence whenever they bring added value, through participation of new partners 
in the existing co-location centres, enhanced cross-co-location work within each KIC or even, 
the  set-up  of  a  new  co-location  centre,  while  keeping  their  KIC  partnership  focused,  robust 
and manageable.  

A good balance between co-operation and competition is equally important for bringing KICs 
to  maximum  performance.  The  EIT  will  incentivize  KICs  to  engage  in  cross-KIC  work  in 
areas  which  offer  a  strong  potential  for  synergies,  e.g.  via  joint  professional  development 
courses,  joint  research  activities,  masters  or  PhDs  degrees  or  cross-KIC  mobility  between 
academia and business. At the same time, the EIT will provide incentives for a certain degree 
of competition to encourage KICs to stay focused on results and impact and take appropriate 
measures in case of underperformance.  

KICs  not  only  build  on  their  partners'  existing  excellent  research  base,  but  are  also  the 
frontrunners for promoting and implementing the EIT's educational mission. The objective is 
to educate and train talented people with the skills, knowledge and mindset needed in a global 
knowledge  economy.  To  this  end,  the  EIT  actively  promotes,  inter  alia,  the  EIT-labelled 
degrees  by  monitoring  their  quality  and  coherent  implementation  across  KICs.  In  this 
endeavour  they  will  make  extensive  use  of  peer  and  expert  evaluations,  and  establish  a 
dialogue  with  national  and  quality  assurance  bodies.  This  will  enhance  the  national  and 
international  recognition  of  the  EIT  labelled  qualifications  and  raise  their  attractiveness 
globally,  while  providing  a  platform  for  collaboration  at  international  level.  In  the  future, 
KICs  will  be  encouraged  to  expand  their  educational  activities  beyond  post-graduate 
education  to  a  greater  variety  of  study  modes  to  cater  for  a  wider  range  of  innovative, 
professional  development  activities,  involving  executive  education,  tailor-made  training 
courses  and  summer  schools.  To  enhance  the  impact  of  KICs'  educational  activities  and  to 
reach  out  to  a  wider  audience,  KICs  may  envisage  the  design,  on  an  experimental  basis,  of 
modules for undergraduate courses or packages targeted to school education.  

The EIT will: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Gradually set- up competitive review mechanisms for the allocation of a percentage 
of the KICs grant, which will take into account that KICs grow at different speeds.  

Incentivise KICs to develop joint activities on cross-cutting issues . 

Set  up  a  system  of  peer  evaluations  for  EIT  labelled  qualifications  and  engage  in 
dialogue with national and international quality assurance bodies. 

Encourage KICs to develop a greater variety of educational and training activities.  

2.1.2.  Creating new KICs  

In  order  to  further  enhance  impact  and  to  incentivise  innovation  in  new  areas  of  societal 
challenges, the EIT will gradually expand its portfolio of KICs. By following an incremental 
development  path  in  establishing  new  KICs,  the  EIT  will  ensure  that  lessons  learned  from 

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previous  rounds  are  duly  taken  into  consideration,  and  that  KICs  are  set  up  only  in  areas 
where there is a clear innovation potential and top-class excellence to build on. In the period 
2014-2020, new KICs will therefore be set up in two waves, i.e. three new KICs each in 2014 
and 2018, leading up to a portfolio of nine KICs in the period 2014-2020 (equalling the set-up 
of  40-50  co-location  centres  across  the  EU).  A  potential  new  selection  process  for  KICs  in 
2018  shall  strongly  build  on  the  results  of  a  thorough  external  evaluation  of  the  EIT  and 
existing  KICs,  including  an  assessment  of  KICs'  economic  and  societal  impact  and  the 
contribution  of  the  EIT  to  strengthening  the  innovation  capacity  of  the  EU  and  Member 
States, as well as on the results from the evaluations of Horizon 2020.  

New KICs will be set up in areas of large societal  challenges which  offer a true  innovation 
potential. The EIT thereby fully contributes to the goals of the larger EU policy agenda and in 
particular  to  the  objectives  of  Horizon  2020,  which  identifies  a  number  of  large  societal 
challenges,  and  enabling  and  industrial  technologies.  The  objective  is  to  set  up  KICs  in 
thematic  areas  which,  due  to  their  magnitude  and  complex  nature,  can  only  be  addressed 
through  a  cross-disciplinary,  cross-border,  and  cross-sectoral  approach.  The  selection  of  the 
thematic fields therefore needs to be based on a careful analysis as to whether a KIC can bring 
true added value and have a positive impact on economy and society.  

The  European  Commission  has  carried  out  this  analysis  through  a  process  designed  to 
objectively  assess  the  potential  of  future  KIC  themes.  One  starting  point  was  the  draft  SIA 
which the EIT Governing Board submitted to the Commission in June 2011. In parallel, a set 
of  robust  criteria  was  developed  to  allow  for  an  objective  assessment  of  the  innovation 
potential  offered  by  each  future  theme.  The  validity  of  these  criteria  was  checked  with  the 
wider  innovation  community  from  across  the  knowledge  triangle  through  an  open  public 
consultation. This process resulted in the following list of criteria.  

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Address major economic and societal challenges Europe faces, and contribute to the 
delivery of the Europe 2020 Agenda; 

Align  and  co-ordinate  with  relevant  EU  policies  as  well  as  with  existing  initiatives 
under Horizon 2020 and Erasmus for All.  

Be able to mobilize investment and long-term commitment from the business sector; 
have an existing market for its products or be able to create new ones; 

Create  sustainable  and  systemic  impact,  measured  in  terms  of  new  educated 
entrepreneurial people, new technologies and new business ; 

Bring  together  a  critical  mass  of  world-class  research,  education  and  innovation 
stakeholders, which would otherwise not unite; 

Require  trans-disciplinary  approaches  and  the  development  of  new  types  of 
education across the boundaries of disciplines; 

Address  major  innovation  gaps  such  as  the  European  paradox,  i.e.  themes  where 
Europe has a strong research base but a weak innovation performance. 

The assessment of the themes proposed in the EIT draft as well as by the wider stakeholder 
community  clearly  showed  a  certain  degree  of  variation  regarding  potential  impact  the 
establishment of a KIC would offer. As a result, a number of themes were discarded entirely; 

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others were redefined in order to better respond to the specificities of the European and global 
context in this area.  

The following thematic areas have been identified as those where the establishment of a new 
KIC has greatest potential to add value to existing activities and bring about a real boost to 
innovation:  

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Added-value manufacturing 

Food4future - sustainable supply chain from resources to consumers 

Innovation for healthy living and active ageing 

Raw  materials  –  sustainable  exploration,  extraction,  processing,  recycling  and 
substitution 

Smart secure societies  

Urban mobility  

More  details  on  the  individual  themes  are  provided  in  the  factsheets  at  the  end  of  the 
document3.  

Based on these themes, the EIT will have the autonomy to organise the future KICs selection 
process. The success of future calls for KICs will depend largely on clear guidance as regards 
the  expectations  and  requirements,  as  well  as  a  timeframe  allowing  KIC  applicants  to  get 
solidly  organised  both  legally  and  financially  before  submitting  a  proposal.  KICs  will  be 
selected  against  detailed  criteria  defined  in  the  EIT  Regulation,  based  on  the  overarching 
principles of excellence and innovation relevance. Any KIC selected will need to demonstrate 
how it will create maximum impact in the given area and prove the viability of its strategy.  

In  view  of  the  two  waves  of  KIC  selections  foreseen  in  2014  and  2018,  three  themes  have 
been identified for the first wave. Reflecting the need for a gradual approach in establishing 
new KICs, the selection of the first three themes has been based on the maturity of the field, 
the  potential  societal  and  economic  impact,  as  well  as  the  opportunities  for  synergies  with 
other initiatives. They are: 

• 

• 

• 

Innovation for healthy living and active ageing 

Raw  materials  –  sustainable  exploration,  extraction,  processing,  recycling  and 
substitution 

Food4future - sustainable supply chain from resources to consumers  

For  the  second  wave  in  2018,  the  remaining  themes  (urban  mobility,  added-value 
manufacturing and smart secure societies) will be considered, while taking into account new 
and unforeseen challenges which may arise in the future.  

3 

The  factsheets  provide  a  synthesis  of  the  analysis  carried  out  on  the  relevance  and  added  value  of 
creating a KIC in the proposed themes. They give indicative information on what a KIC in the specific 
area could do, but do not prescribe future KICs' activities and working methods". 

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The EIT will 

• 

• 

Timely prepare a selection procedure for a second wave of KICs in 2014 and – after 
the evaluation of Horizon 2020, including its specific programme and the EIT – for a 
third wave in 2018 

Ensure that framework conditions of future KIC selection procedures are conducive 
to  an  optimal  outcome,  notably  by  providing  clear  guidance  concerning 
requirements  and  processes,  and  by  allowing  sufficient  time  for  proposers  to 
organise the partnership 

2.2. 

Enhancing EIT's impact  

Fostering innovation across the Union  

In the initial period, the EIT has mainly focused its efforts on establishing the KICs. While it 
is a clear goal for the EIT to strengthen existing centres of excellence, the EIT will need to 
ensure  it  also  delivers  benefits  to  areas  of  the  Union  which  are  not  directly  participating  in 
KICs. It is therefore mission critical for the EIT to actively promote the dissemination of good 
practices  for  the  integration  of  the  knowledge  triangle  in  order  to  develop  a  common 
innovation and knowledge sharing culture.  

In the future, the EIT must work to make the KIC experience understandable and replicable 
and build it into a culture that can act as a role model in Europe and beyond. By identifying, 
analysing and sharing good practices, as well as new governance and funding models from the 
KICs,  the  EIT  seeks  to  ensure  that  knowledge  generated  within  the  EIT  and  its  KICs  is 
disseminated  and  capitalised  upon  for  the  benefit of people and institutions, including  those 
not directly participating in the KICs.  

The EIT can play the decisive role in synthesising the diversity of approaches applied by the 
KICs and in making them transferable in areas where innovation capacity is weak, and which 
would otherwise not be able to benefit from the experience gained by the EIT. Such outreach 
will  ensure  that  the  benefits  of  the  EIT  experience  promote  the  development  of  innovation 
capacity in these areas. This activity is able to generate strong returns in so far as it builds on 
the work of the KICs.  

Main drivers of learning at EIT level may be: innovation-driven research for the creation of 
new businesses and new business models, management of IP portfolios and new approaches 
to  IP  sharing,  entrepreneurship  and  new  integrated  forms  of  multi-disciplinary  education; 
innovative  governance  and  financial  models  based  in  the  concept  of  open  innovation  or 
involving public authorities. This will help the EIT to be a role model and to act as a 'game 
shifter'  in  the  European  innovation  landscape  and  to  become  an  internationally  recognised 
innovation institution. 

Fostering and attracting talent  

Talented people are at the heart of successful innovation. It is one of the EIT's foremost roles 
to  give  talented  people  the  opportunity  to  use  their  potential  to  the  full  and  to  create 
environments  where  they  can  thrive.  Through  the  KICs,  the  EIT  is  generating  such 
environments, but needs to complement them with strategies for attracting and including top 
talent from beyond the KICs.  

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The EIT will therefore put in place a specific people scheme to ensure that talent – students, 
researchers,  teaching  staff  and  entrepreneurs  at  all  career  levels  –  beyond  the  co-location 
centres  will  be  fully  connected  to  the  initiative.  Such  a  scheme  will  not  only  provide  top 
talents  from  beyond  the  KICs  with  the  opportunity  to  benefit  from  the  innovation 
environments  created  within  the  co-location  centres,  but  will  also  provide  them  with 
incentives  to  make  full  use  of  the  knowledge  and  know-how  acquired  in  areas  beyond  the 
KICs. Typically, the EIT Foundation could play a significant role in this area.  

Moreover, the EIT has a clear role to play in attracting talent from outside the EU. By creating 
a  strong  brand  and  forging  strategic  relations  with  key  partners  from  around  the  globe,  the 
EIT can add to the attractiveness of the partners within the KICs. In close cooperation with 
the  KICs,  the  EIT  should  develop  a  strong  international  strategy,  identifying  and  liaising 
relevant interlocutors and potential partners. In this context the EIT and its KICs should take 
full advantage of existing EU initiatives in the area, such as the 'Erasmus for all' programme 
and  the  Marie  Curie  Actions.  In  addition,  the  EIT  can  foster  knowledge  sharing,  mentoring 
and networking by encouraging the setting up of an EIT alumni network.  

The  EIT  will  complement  its  efforts  to  promote  talented  people  and  brilliant  ideas  by  other 
measures, such as the organisation of competitions for ideas or awarding of prizes, either as 
an own initiative or in cooperation with leading global partners.  

The EIT will 

• 

• 

• 

• 

In close cooperation with the KICs, establish a scheme ('EIT fellows') allowing high 
talent people from across the EU and beyond to get involved in the activities of KIC 
co-location centres for a limited period of time, thereby creating mutual benefits for 
the participant as well as for the KIC.  

Set up/customise a web based tool to provide a platform for knowledge sharing and 
networking around the EIT.  

Build  and  support  a  functional  and  strong  network  of  graduates  from  EIT/KIC 
educational and training activities ('EIT alumni'). 

Make lessons learned and successes from KICs systematically accessible to the wider 
EU  innovation  community  and  beyond.  This  may  include  the  development  of  a 
repository  of  open  course  ware  from  the  EIT's  and  KICs'  educational  and  training 
activities.  

2.3. 

New delivery mechanisms and results-oriented monitoring  

Simplification, implemented in a responsible and accountable manner, is a must for the EIT to 
achieve  effective  results,  promote  innovation  breakthroughs  and  the  involvement  of  the 
business community. There is still room for the EIT to exploit its flexibility to a full, in order 
to push simplification further.  

As an 'investor' in KICs, the EIT considers simplification as a dynamic process, embedded in 
the  EIT  operation  and  an  integral  part  of  its  supporting  function  towards  the  KICs.  To  this 
end, the EIT will strive to adapt, improve and streamline its monitoring, reporting and funding 
processes and constantly seek for simplified approaches that can help the KICs to cope with 
new, emerging needs and foster their impact.  

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The  KICs  will  provide  an  ideal  testing  ground  for  new  approaches  to  funding  and 
management  of  innovation.  Through  KICs'  experimentation  and  experience,  the  EIT  will 
deliver  a  simplification  agenda  in  key  areas  such  as  contractual  agreements,  simplified 
reporting, lumps sums and flat rates.  

The  Commission  will  closely  monitor  the  EIT's  ability  to  deliver  the  simplest  possible 
agreements and principles for the funding and management of KICs activities, based on the 
EIT's  own  simplification  agenda.  Insights  gained  –  including  failures  –  will  be  shared  with 
future KICs and EU programmes and schemes under Horizon 2020. 

The Commission has reinforced its efforts in supporting the EIT towards establishing a sound 
and  solid  results-oriented  monitoring  system.  This  monitoring  system  will  ensure  full 
accountability  of  the  EIT  and  the  KICs,  quality  of  the  deliverables,  the  contribution  to 
Horizon  2020  priorities,  and  at  the  same  time  allow  for  sufficient  flexibility  in  the  KICs' 
business  dynamics.  It  will  allow  the  EIT  to  develop  a  solid  capacity  for  gathering  and 
analysing  the  input  from  the  KICs,  to  measure  the  performance  of  the  EIT  against  its  own 
objectives  and  to  benchmark  EIT  and  KICs  against  best  practices  at  European  and  global 
level.  The  system  will  be  designed  in  a  flexible  manner  and  if  needed  adjusted  to  take  into 
account  the  EIT's  and  KICs'  evolving  and  growing  portfolio  of  activities.  Following  the 
recommendation  of  the  independent  external  evaluation  and  the  overarching  monitoring 
provisions  under  Horizon  2020,  the  Commission  has  proposed,  in  association  with  the  EIT 
and the KICs, the establishment of a results-orientated performance monitoring system for the 
EIT, addressing four activity levels:  

• 

• 

• 

• 

Horizon  2020  level:  to  regularly  monitor  the  EIT  and  KICs'  contribution  to 
achieving the objectives of Horizon 2020 

EIT  level:  to  assess  the  performance  of  the  EIT  as  an  efficient  and  effective  EU 
body; this will be measured in terms of support provided to the KICs, the intensity 
and coverage of its outreach, dissemination and international activities and its ability 
to deliver simplified procedures. 

Cross-KIC  level:,  to  monitor  the  contribution  of  all  KICs  to  achieving  the  EIT 
strategic  objectives,  as  identified  in  a  dedicated  instrument  such  as  an  EIT 
Scoreboard.  

Individual  KIC  level:  to  monitor  individual  KIC  performance  based  on  individual 
targets  and  key  performance  indicators  (KPIs)  as  laid  down  in  the  individual  KIC 
business  plans.  KIC  have  different  business  models  and  markets  and  thus  different 
industrial  KPIs  which  are  central  for  the  successful  management  of  the  individual 
KIC. 

The EIT will  

• 

• 

Set up a simplification agenda, including benchmarks to assess progress, and report 
to  the  Commission  on  its  implementation  progress  through  the  Annual  Activity 
Report;ensure that new models of simplification are disseminated across the EU and 
inform other EU initiatives. 

Establish,  in  cooperation  with  the  Commission  and  the  KICs,  a  comprehensive 
system  to  monitor:the  EIT's  contribution  to  Horizon  2020;  the  EIT's  impact  via  its 

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own  and  KIC  activities;  and  KIC  results.  The  EIT  will  report  on  all its monitoring 
activities in the annual activity report 

3. 

EFFECTIVE DECISION MAKING AND WORKING ARRANGEMENTS 

The EIT’s governance structure combines the bottom-up approach of the KICs with strategic 
guidance  from  the  EIT  level.  Decision-making  at  the  EIT  level  therefore  needs  to  be 
characterised by a truly strategic outlook, combined with efficient implementing mechanisms 
and a systematic involvement of knowledge triangle actors across Europe.  

The  governance  model  of  the  EIT  has  proven  its  overall  value.  However,  experiences  from 
the  initial  period  show  that  further  efforts  can  be  made  to  enhance  the  effectiveness  of  the 
EIT's  decision-making  and  implementing  mechanisms.  The  relationship  between  the  EIT 
Governing  Board,  responsible  for  strategic  decisions,  and  the  EIT  headquarters,  responsible 
for  implementation,  has  to  be  more  clearly  defined  and  streamlined.  The  EIT  headquarters 
will  have  to  define  the  critical  domains  where  the  EIT  should  provide  support  to  the  KICs, 
striking  an  appropriate  balance  between  supporting  and  monitoring  functions.  Finally,  the 
Governing Board needs to better ensure that strategic decisions are properly informed by the 
experiences from the KICs and the wider innovation community.  

3.1. 

Streamlining and clarifying EIT decision-making  

The  EIT  Governing  Board  sets  the  strategic  direction  of  the  EIT  and  the  framework 
conditions  for  the  KICs,  and  through  its  members  connects  the  EIT  with  the  various 
stakeholder  communities  in  the  field.  In  line  with  the  EIT's  business-orientated  approach, 
decision-making needs to be efficient, quick, and focused.  

Determining  factors  in  this  regard  are  size,  composition  and  procedures  of  the  Governing 
Board.  The  principle  of  independent  members,  combined  with  a  limited  number  of  elected 
members  representing  the  KIC  community,  has  proven  its  value  and  allows  gathering  of 
expertise from across the knowledge triangle. The initial model with 18 elected members plus, 
more  recently,  four  additional  KIC  representatives  has,  however,  shown  its  limitations.  A 
Board  scaled  down  in  size  will  lead  to  more  efficient  decision-making  and  reduce 
administrative  overheads.  Finally,  further  efficiency  can  be  gained  by  re-focusing  the  EIT 
Governing Board towards its core role of providing strategic guidance. Moreover, coherence 
with  other  EU  initiatives  will  be  further  strengthened  via  reinforced  consultation  with  the 
European  Commission  on  the  EIT  Triennial  Work  Programme.The  information  on  EIT  and 
KICs  from  the  EIT  Triennal  Work  Programme  will  enable  to  assess  and  ensure 
complementarity  with  the  other  parts  of  Horizon  2020  and  other  Union  Policies  and 
instruments.  All  these  changes  have  been  incorporated  in  the  modified  EIT  regulation 
accompanying the SIA.  

The  decisions  of  the  EIT  Governing  Board  are  implemented  by  the  EIT  headquarters  under 
the  leadership  of  the  Director  who  is  accountable  for  the  EIT’s  actions.  In  doing  so,  the 
headquarters  mirror  the  results-oriented  nature  of  the  EIT  and  its  KICs  and  are  the  driving 
force behind simplification of procedures. At the same time, the EIT headquarters develop the 
capacity to systematically digest the learning from the KICs and make these findings available 
for  the  benefit  of  the  wider  innovation  community.  Over  time,  the  EIT  headquarters  will 
become  a  resourceful  repository  of  good  practice  and  a  real  knowledge  partner  for  policy 
makers.  

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Attraction and retention of talented professionals is a challenge for the EIT headquarters. To 
equip  the  EIT  office  with  the  best  talent  and  skills,  it  will  define  a  clear  human  resource 
strategy,  including  options  beyond  direct  employment  such  as  secondments  or  temporary 
attachments, promoting regular exchanges of staff and internships with excellent innovation, 
research and education institutions from the EU and the rest of the world.  

The EIT will 

• 

• 

Ensure  through  a  smart  human  resource  strategy,  including  systematic  use  of 
internal  and  external  expertise,  and  internal  management  procedures  that  the  EIT 
will develop into a reference institution for innovative governance.  

Take concrete measures to further promote a culture of openness and transparency.  

3.2. 

Investing in KICs: EIT-KICs relations 

Interactions  between  the  EIT  and  the  KICs  not  only  provide  the  framework  for  KICs  to 
operate successfully, but are also at the core of the mutual learning process enabling the EIT 
to  play  its  role  as  a  test  bed  for  new  innovation  models.  In  order  to  provide  KICs  with 
appropriate framework conditions, clear and coherent guidance must be given by the EIT at 
all  stages  of  the  process  without  at  the  same  time  being  overly  prescriptive.  Interactions 
between  EIT  headquarters  and  the  KICs  need  to  be  systematic  and  trust-based  in  order  to 
achieve maximum efficiency. Both the contractual relations between the EIT and the KICs as 
well as the organisational arrangements of the EIT headquarters should contribute thereto.  

Moving  away  from  a  merely  administrator  role,  the  EIT  headquarters  will  optimise  their 
operational  functions  to  steer  the  KICs  to  maximum  performance  and  make  good  results 
widely  available.  There  are  efficiency  gains  to  be  achieved  from  providing  a  number  of 
centralised services and functions, rather than at individual KIC level. While all KICs work 
on specific themes, a number of elements are of a cross-cutting nature and it is precisely there 
where  the  EIT  can  provide  tangible  added  value.  Such  knowledge  provider  functions  can 
relate  notably  to  the  EIT  headquarters  becoming  an  information  broker  and  resourceful 
interlocutor,  e.g.  in  fostering  cross-KIC  exchange  and  mutual  learning,  facilitating  relations 
with the EU institutions and other key organisations, such as the Organisation for Economic 
Co-operation  and  Development  (OECD),  or  on  specific  cross-cutting  issues,  such  as 
counselling  on  IP,  technology  and  knowledge  transfer,  benchmarking  against  international 
best  practices,  or  undertaking  anticipation  and  foresight  studies  to  identify  future  directions 
for the EIT and the KICs. The EIT and KICs should decide together where these tasks can be 
most effectively dealt with. In this regard, it will be of crucial importance for the EIT and the 
KICs to establish viable mechanisms for systematic collaboration around cross-cutting issues.  

The EIT will 

• 

• 

• 

Provide  clear  and  coherent  guidance  on  the  expectations,  obligations  and 
responsibilities throughout the entire life cycle of the KICs.  

Develop  in  close  cooperation  with  the  KICs  a  capacity  within  EIT  headquarters  to 
facilitate cross-KIC exchange and learning.  

Provide a number of services to KICs on horizontal issues where efficiency gains can 
be achieved, as well as implement other corporate policies to the same end.  

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3.3. 

Engaging with stakeholders  

Active  exchange  and  mutual  learning  with  other  initiatives  should  be  a  cornerstone  of  the 
EIT's  efforts  in  testing  out  new  innovation  models.  The  EIT  therefore  needs  to  tap  into 
existing  good  practices  and  external  expertise  in  order  to  become  the  reference  body  for 
innovation  it  aspires  to.  It  is  therefore  indispensable  for  the  Governing  Board  to  take  its 
decisions informed by the insights and needs of the innovation actors on the ground, and in 
the  context  of  the  wider  European  framework.  By  embracing  a  culture  of  openness  and 
external  engagement,  the  EIT  can  actively  promote  the  take-up  and  acceptance  of  new 
innovations by society at large.  

To  this  end,  the  EIT  will  directly  engage  with  Member  States  and  other  stakeholders  from 
across  the  innovation  chain,  generating  beneficial  effects  on  both  sides.  In  order  to  render 
such  dialogue  and  exchange  more  systematic,  the  setting  up  of  an  EIT  Stakeholder  Forum, 
bringing together the wider community of stakeholders around cross-cutting issues could be 
an  appropriate  tool  to  facilitate  a  two-way,  interactive  communication.  Stakeholders  will 
include representatives of national and regional authorities, organized interests and individual 
entities from business, higher education, and research, cluster organisations, as well as other 
interested  parties  from  across  the  knowledge  triangle.  The  organisation  of  the  Stakeholder 
Forum has been incorporated in the modified EIT regulation accompanying the SIA.  

Moreover, active consultation with other EU institutions, in particular with relevant services 
of the Commission, from early on in the process will help to maximise synergies and mutual 
learning with other EU initiatives.  

The EIT will  

• 

• 

• 

Set  up  a  regular  EIT  Stakeholder  Forum,  to  facilitate  interaction  and  mutual 
learning  with  the  wider  innovation  community  from  across  the  knowledge  triangle, 
and  including  national  and  regional  authorities.  In  this  context,  the  web-based 
platform can further help fostering interactions between participants.  

Make  systematic  use  of  existing  associations  of  universities,  business  and  research 
organisations  and  cluster  organisations  as  platforms  for  the  knowledge  exchange 
and dissemination of results. 

Establish  a  mechanism  to  further  facilitate  synergies  between  the  EIT/KICs  and 
other  EU  initiatives,  such  as  an  annual  meeting  between  the  EIT,  the  KICs  and 
relevant services of the European Commission.  

4. 

ESTIMATE OF FINANCIAL NEEDS AND SOURCES OF FUNDING 2014-2020 

4.1. 

Consolidating a smart funding model towards KICs  

The EIT designed an original funding model which builds on joint strengths and resources of 
existing excellent organisations; EIT funding acts as a catalyst to leverage and pool together 
supplementary financial resources from a wide range of public and private partners. On this 
basis, the EIT provides on average up to 25% of the total KIC funding, while the remaining 
minimum 75% should come from non-EIT sources. This includes KIC partners' own revenues 
and resources, but also public funding at national, regional and EU level, in particular the – 

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current  and  future  –  Structural  Funds  and  the  Framework  Programme  for  Research  and 
Innovation.  In  the  latter  case  the  KICs  (or  some  of  their  partners)  apply  for  funding  in 
accordance  with  the  respective  rules  of  the  programmes  and  on  an  equal  footing  with  other 
applicants.  The  contribution  from  KIC  partners  is  not  a  classic  grant  "co-financing" 
requirement, but a pre-requisite for a minimum level of involvement of existing organisations 
and  their  financial  commitment  to  the  KIC.  This  bottom-up  approach  guarantees  strong 
commitment  from  KIC  partners,  incentivizes  investment  and  stimulates  structural  and 
organizational  change  among  KIC  partners  and  beyond.  The  experience  of  the  initial  KICs 
shows that industry is financially committed to the delivery of the KIC business plans and that 
the share of the KIC budget from industrial partners amounts between 20%-30% of the total 
KIC annual budget. Furthermore, KICs have managed to align and pool additional streams of 
national funding, which would not have been available otherwise (by way of illustration, the 
German  Government  has  decided  to  entrust  the  management  of  the  "Software  Campus" 
education initiative to ICT Labs, with a budget of 50 million € over a 5-year period, coming 
from both public and private sources).  

The  EIT  funding  is  foreseen  only  for  "KIC  added  value  activities",  namely  activities  that 
allow the integration of knowledge triangle (education, research and innovation) policies and 
partners within and across the KIC, in accordance with the objectives and priorities laid down 
in the KIC business plans. It includes in particular education, entrepreneurship and business 
creation  projects  of  the  KICs,  which  top  up  investment  in  well-established  activities  (eg. 
existing research projects). The administration, management and coordination activities of the 
KIC should also be covered by the EIT contribution.  

KICs  go  through  various  development  phases  with  different  characteristics  of  their  total 
budgets before reaching cruising speed. The absorption capacity of a KIC is relatively limited 
at the very beginning, but develops substantially over the following years.  

After an initial set-up phase of two years, KIC budgets grow exponentially and can mobilise a 
significant level of new resources from existing and new partners in a relatively short time. To 
reach a sufficient critical mass and to achieve impact at European level, KIC annual budgets 
will  be  between  250-450  million  euro  at  cruising  speed,  depending  on  the  strategy, 
partnership and market potential of each individual KICs.  

While KICs will not be fully financially independent from the EIT, they will be encouraged to 
become sustainable in the medium-term; i.e. reduce their dependency from EIT funding- for 
their further consolidation and further expansion. EIT funding will continue to be provided for 
certain  KIC  added  value  activities  where  EIT  investment  brings  substantial  returns,  such  as 
education, business creation, co-location, outreach and dissemination 

Currently, the EIT funding to the KICs is carried out solely via grants. In the next Multiannual 
Financial  Framework  (MFF  2014-2020)  new  financial  mechanisms  may  well  be  established 
via  debt  or  equity  instruments.  As  an  'investor'  in  KICs,  the  EIT  will  follow  these 
developments closely, and will encourage KICs access to make full use of them, facilitating 
and coordinating access if appropriate. 

4.2. 

EIT budget needs  

The EIT's budget needs in the period 2014-2020 are 3,1 billion euro and are based on three 
main  components:  the  necessary  expenditure  for  consolidation  of  the  existing  three  KICs, 

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gradual  development  towards  new  KICs  in  2014  and  2018  respectively,  and  dissemination 
and outreach activities and administrative expenditure.  

Around  1,69  billion  euro  (53,15%  of  the  total  EIT  budget)  is  envisaged  to  fund  the  KICs 
designated in 2009 and already operating at the cruising speed; 1,01 billion euro (31,81%) is 
envisaged  for  the  second  wave  of  KICs  (at  that  time  during  the  start  up  and  development 
phases) and 259,75 million euro (8,16%) for KICs established as a result of the third wave. 

Therefore, the projected EIT budget for the KICs in the period 2014-2020 equals to 2,9 billion 
euro  (93,13%  of  the  EIT  total  budget  for  the  period  2014/2020).  Through  the  EIT's  strong 
leverage effect, the KICs are expected to mobilise a further 8,890 billion euro of other public 
and private sources.  

The  EIT  will  also  engage  in  a  number  of  dissemination  and  outreach  activities,  such  as  the 
EIT  fellowship  programme  which  will  significantly  enhance  the  impact  of  its  operations 
across Europe. Moreover, a number of cross-cutting supporting and monitoring services will 
provide added value and efficiency gains for KIC activities. In implementing and developing 
these activities, the EIT will need to follow a strategy aimed at a high efficiency ratio, i.e. a 
maximum of impact to be achieved through light-touch mechanisms. Around 141,76 million 
(4,4%) of the EIT budget is needed to implement these activities. 

If  the  EIT  is  to  pioneer  new  models  of  open  innovation  and  simplification,  this  should  be 
reflected  in  its  approach  to  administration.  The  EIT  headquarters  needs  to  be  a  lean 
organisation,  which  follows  a  strategic  approach  towards  tapping  into  expertise  whenever 
needed,  but  without  creating  unnecessarily  heavy  and  permanent  structures.  The  costs  of 
administrative  expenditure,  covering  necessary  staff,  administrative,  infrastructure  and 
operational  expenses,  will  over  time  not  exceed  2,4%  of  the  EIT  budget.  Part  of  the 
administrative expenditure is covered by the host country Hungary through provision of free 
of charge office space until the end of 2030, as well as an annual contribution of 1.5 million 
euro  to  the  staff  cost  until  the  end  of  2015.  On  this  basis,  administrative  expenditure  will 
therefore be approximately 77 million euro for 2014-2020.  

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Graph 3: Breakdown of the budget needs 

4,40% 2%

6,60%

28%

Existing KICs: 59%

Second wave: 28%

Third wave: 6,6%

59%

Dissemination and outreach
activities: 4,4%

Administrative expenditure: 2%

The  precise  breakdown  is  provided  in  the  financial  statement  attached  to  the  proposal  for 
amendment of the EIT Regulation. 

The EIT during the next MFF will primarily be funded through a contribution from Horizon 
2020, of which an amount of 2.8 billion euro is envisaged. In addition the EIT will receive a 
contribution  equalling  around  2.5%  of  the  total  EIT  budget  from  Norway,  Island  and 
Liechtenstein who are participating states by means of a European Economic Area decision. 

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Factsheet 1: Added-value Manufacturing 

1. 

THE CHALLENGE 

One of the major challenges defined in the European Innovation Agenda and which also has 
to be addressed within the framework of Horizon 2020 is the competitiveness of EU Member 
States  on  the  global  market.  One  of  the  sectors  where  the  problem  is  particularly  urgent  is 
manufacturing.  

Manufacturing in European countries is under considerable strain: increased competition from 
other developed economies, low cost production in developing countries, and scarcity of raw 
materials  are  putting  pressure  on  the  European  manufacturing  companies.  Parallel  to  this, 
there are further factors driving change in the manufacturing sector: new market and societal 
needs,  rapid  advances  in  science  and  technology,  environmental  and  sustainability 
requirements. 

One  possible  answer  to  address  these  challenges  is  the  development  of  a  "high  value  (or 
added-value)  manufacturing"  industry.  This  concept  defines  an  integrated  system  including 
the  whole  cycle  of  production,  distribution  and  end-of-life  treatment  of  goods  and 
products/services applying a customer/user driven innovation system. Rather than competing 
primarily  on  cost,  added  value  manufacturers  deliver  value  by  delivering  product/service 
innovation,  establishing  process  excellence,  achieving  high  brand  recognition  and/or 
contributing to a sustainable society4.  

The  manufacturing  sector  is  of  considerable  economic,  social  and  environmental 
significance. In 2010 the manufacturing sector accounted for 15.4% of EU GDP and over 33 
million jobs5. This figure increases to 37% if power generation, construction, and associated 
business  services  are  included.  At  the  same  time,  manufacturing  also  contributed  to  about 
25% of the waste, 23% of greenhouse gases and 26% of NOx generated in Europe. 

Bearing this in mind, it is quite clear that the overall objectives in the field of manufacturing 
must  be  increased  competitiveness  of  Europe  within  the  global  market  as  well  as  the 
development of more sustainable and environment-friendly manufacturing processes. 

2. 

RELEVANCE AND IMPACT 

A KIC on added-value manufacturing will help meeting Horizon 2020 priorities in terms 
of advanced manufacturing and processing, and its specific objective of "transforming today's 
industrial  forms  of  production  towards  more  knowledge  intensive,  sustainable,  low-carbon, 
trans-sectoral  manufacturing  and  processing  technologies,  to  realise  innovative  products, 
processes and services". 

It  will  be  able  to  mobilise  investment  and  long-term  commitment  from  the  business 
sector,  and  to  expand  and  create  new  markets.  It  could  have  in  particular  a  function  in 

4 

5 

Concept  presented  at  Sainsbury  Review:  The  Race  to  the  Top  –  Lord  Sainsbury’s  review  of  the  UK 
Government’s Science and Innovation Policies, 5 October 2007.  
Eurostat. 

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supporting the actions defined in the Strategic Research Agenda of the European Technology 
Platform (ETP) "Manufuture": 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Development of added-value products and services; 

Development of new business models; 

Development of advanced manufacturing engineering processes; 

New emerging manufacturing sciences and technologies; 

Transformation of existing  research and education infrastructures to support world-
class manufacturing. 

Whilst  supporting  the  development  of  new  products,  services,  business  models  and 
manufacturing  processes,  emphasis  should  be  put  on  sustainability,  with  the  reduction  of 
resource  and  energy  inefficiencies,  maximising  positive  environmental  impacts,  but  also 
contributing  to  strengthening  positive  economic  and  social  impacts.  Concretely,  such  clean 
approach  will  imply  energy  and  material  efficient  processes  and  machinery,  the  use  of 
renewable power sources, and/or the employment of smart energy management, leading thus 
to significant reductions of waste and emissions. By contributing to the development and 
deployment  of  more  sustainable,  resource-efficient  and  competitive  manufacturing,  a 
KIC would be able to trigger industry and consumers behavioural change and to create 
systemic impact. 

A KIC on added-value manufacturing could also have a very important role and impact 
at  regional  level:  Fostering  the  creation  of  interconnected  regional  clusters  with  local 
transfers and collaboration, developing competences in high-end manufacturing technologies, 
and developing excellence in manufacturing technologies would be the key missions of a KIC 
at regional level. In this connection, specific attention could be given to those regions more 
affected by declining manufacturing capacity as well as to SMEs. 

One  of  the  major  challenges  for  reaching  the  above  aims  is  the  availability  of  a  highly 
qualified  workforce  which  is  sufficient  in  quality  as  well  as  in  numbers.  A  KIC  would 
therefore have a very important role to play in re-shaping the education landscape in this field. 
By  creating  closer  links  between  skills  demanders  and  education  providers,  a  KIC  would 
promote joint post-graduate degrees, post-graduate professional training and industrial "real-
life" courses.  

Capacity-building will be also a central element of a KIC in added-value manufacturing. This 
concerns  not  only  the  supply  of  high  qualified  work  force,  but  also  the  possibility  of 
establishing the KIC as a forum for interaction and promotion of transdisciplinary skills and 
competences,  particularly  for  the  combination  of  multiple  key  enabling  technologies  as 
proposed by the High-Level Group on Key Enabling Technologies (KETs)6. 

A KIC on this area will have the potential to bring together different actors and stakeholders 
in  this  very  transdisciplinary  sector,  including  key  upstream  and  downstream  parts  of  the 

6 

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/ict/files/kets/hlg_report_final_en.pdf 

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value  chain.  This  includes  processing  industries  (e.g.  steel  or  chemicals)  which  are 
immediately linked with the value chain for added-value manufacturing. 

3. 

SYNERGIES 
INITIATIVES 

AND 

COMPLEMENTARITIES  WITH 

EXISTING 

A KIC as described above would be complementary to a number of other EU initiatives, as 
well as at the level of Member States and industry associations.  

In addition to the already mentioned ETP "Manufuture", it could also establish links with the 
ETPs  on  Smart  Systems  Integration  and  the  Joint  Technology  Initiative  (JTI)  on  Embedded 
Computing Systems. The Public Private Partnership (PPP) on Factories of the Future as well 
as  a  number  of  Framework  Programmes  (FP)  projects  would  also  be  natural  co-operation 
partners. The KIC would take into account the research priorities and action plans defined in 
the framework of the ETPs and the research work carried out so far by the JTI, PPP and FP 
projects in this area. 

Similarly, it would also liaise with the CIP (Competitiveness and Innovation Programme) eco-
innovation  market  replication  projects,  where  experience  in  the  area  of  more  sustainable 
manufacturing has been developed. Such experience will continue with Horizon 2020 namely 
in  the  context  of  the  Climate  action,  Resource  efficiency  and  Raw  Materials  societal 
challenges.  Synergies  may  also  be  considered  with  the  Environmental  Technologies 
Verification  (ETV)  pilot  programme,  which  aims  at  promoting  high  value  environmental 
technologies by providing a third-party validation of their performance. 

An added-value manufacturing KIC could be also a connection point for synergy effects with 
the European Technology Research Council, which the High-Level Group on Key Enabling 
Technologies recommends for promoting excellence in technological research and innovation. 

A  KIC  in  this  area  would  be  complementary  to  these  activities  since  it  would  focus  on 
transdisciplinary  activities  within 
triangle  with  a  strong  focus  on 
the  knowledge 
entrepreneurial education. 

4. 

CONCLUSION 

A KIC which focuses on the integration of all stakeholders concerned with manufacturing and 
which  puts  a  strong  focus  on  re-shaping  the  education  agenda  in  this  field  would  be  well-
suited to address the challenges outlined above. It also meets the criteria put forward for the 
selection of KIC themes in the SIA: 

• 

• 

• 

It  addresses  a  major  economic  and  societal  relevant  challenge  Europe  is  facing  (to 
increase  the  competitiveness  of  EU  Member  States  on  the  global  market  and 
contribute  to  the  development  of  a  more  sustainable  and  environmentally-friendly 
manufacturing process), and contributes to the delivery of the Europe 2020 agenda of 
smart and sustainable growth. 

This  KIC  focus  is  aligned  with  the  priorities  defined  in  Horizon  2020  and 
complementary with other EU activities in the area. 

It can build on a solid industrial sector which will be attracted by a KIC. 

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• 

• 

• 

• 

It  offers  possibilities  for  various  emerging  products,  services  and  business  models, 
and – above all – it will be well-suited to address the urgent need for qualified people 
in this sector. 

It  takes  a  systemic  approach  and  thus  requires  transdisciplinary  work  and  the 
development of new education across the boundaries of disciplines.  

It will bring together a critical mass of excellent research, innovation, education and 
training stakeholders along the value chain, which would otherwise not unite. 

It will address the European paradox, since it will capitilise EU's strong research base 
and  find  new  innovative  approaches  to  ensure  a  more  competitive,  sustainable  and 
resource-efficient manufacturing sector. 

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Factsheet 2: Food4Future – Sustainable supply chain from resources to 
consumers 

1. 

THE CHALLENGE 

The global food supply chain is facing a complex set of challenges.  

On the demand side, the situation is characterised by an  increasing  world  population,  by  an 
increasing standard of living (especially in the new emerging countries) creating demand for a 
more  varied,  high-quality  diet  requiring  additional  food  production.  As  a  result  the  UN  has 
predicted  that  food  demand  will  rise  by  around  70%  by  20507.  At  the  same  time,  the  fast 
expansion  of  the  bioenergy  sector  further  accentuates  the  demand  for  by-products  derived 
from the food production process. 

On  the  supply  side,  global  climate  change  will  aggravate  pressures  on  food  production  and 
food supply. In addition, a number of food production systems in the world are unsustainable. 
Without  change,  the  global  food  system  will  continue  to  degrade  the  environment  and 
compromise the world’s capacity to produce food in the future. 

These  problems  in  particular  have  to  be  seen  in  connection  with  consumers'  attitudes  and 
concerns, as production is driven by consumers and markets. During the last two decades the 
complexity of food consumption has increased dramatically. Consumers demand affordable, 
diversified,  high  quality  and  convenient  food  products  responding  to  their  tastes  and  needs. 
Concerns regarding various issues, ranging from food safety and environmental protection to 
ethical  considerations,  such  as  fair  trading  practices  or  animal  welfare,  are  continuously 
increasing  and  result  in  growing  demands  by  consumer  groups  for  political  action.  Finally, 
food  consumption  habits  (including  food  wastage)  can  have  strong  impacts  on  consumer 
health and well-being, as well as on primary production and on the environment.  

Horizon  2020  addresses  this  complexity  and  defines  the  challenges  relating  to  this  sector: 
"The challenge is to secure supplies of safe and high quality food and bio-based products and 
to  ensure  sustainable  management  of  biological  resources,  contributing  to  both  rural  and 
coastal  development  and  to  competitiveness  of  the  European  biobased  industries,  while 
preserving  terrestrial  and  marine  eco-systems,  reducing  fossil-dependency,  mitigating  and 
adapting to climate change and promoting zero-waste."  

2. 

RELEVANCE AND IMPACT 

A  KIC  on  sustainable  supply  chain  will  help  meeting  Horizon  2020  priorities,  namely 
those defined in the context of the societal challenge "Food Security, Sustainable Agriculture 
and the Bio-Economy".  

This  thematic  field  is  in  addition  highly  relevant  in  terms  of  economic  and  societal 
impact.  Questions  of  food  safety  and  security  have  a  bearing  on  nearly  all  sectors  of  our 
economy and society, and very often call for regulatory action.  

7 

Food  and  Agriculture  Organisation  of  the  United  Nations  (FAO).  2009.  Global  agriculture  towards 
2050. 

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The food industry is the largest manufacturing sector in Europe and plays an essential role in 
Europe's  wider  economic  development.  Despite  its  relevant  role,  the  competitiveness  of  the 
European food and drink industry is being challenged. Over the last decade, Europe's share of 
the global market has declined from 25% to 21% in the face of competition from emerging 
economies, such as China, India and Brazil. Increasingly unable to compete on cost alone, the 
European food industry needs to be able to add value by creating healthier, more sustainable 
and resource-efficient products if it is to reverse this decline. 

Action  is  needed  to  ensure  a  climate  resilient  and  sustainable  global  food  system  while 
meeting the increasing food demand within the constraints of available land and declining fish 
stocks, protecting the natural environment and safeguarding human health.  

A  KIC  in  this  area  will  focus  on  the  food  supply  chain.  This  focus  lends  itself  particularly 
well to the holistic approach of a KIC. It comprises resource input in the very beginning of the 
chain  (fertilisers,  etc.),  food  production,  processing,  packaging  and  distribution;  and  it  ends 
with  the  consumers  which  might  be  a  specific  priority  of  a  KIC  (reduction  of  food  waste, 
healthy nutrition, etc.). The objective is to ensure a more efficient and effective food supply 
chain system, while improving the sustainability and traceability in all parts of this chain.  

Addressing the food supply chain via a KIC will thus give the possibility to address not only 
some  of  the  major  economic  and  societal  relevant  challenges  Europe  is  facing,  but  also  to 
mobilise investment and long-term commitment from the business sector – namely, in the 
deployment  of  new  and  innovative  technologies,  processes  and  knowledge  to  increase 
sustainable  food  production,  processing,  packaging  and  distribution,  to  reduce  waste  and 
promote better nutrition. Through its integrative approach, a KIC in this area will be able to 
influence  the  industry  approach  to  focus  more  on  consumer-driven  innovation.  This  will  go 
along  with  the  potential  of  new  business  models  and  market  strategies  that  focus  on 
consumers' needs and trends and build upon enhanced awareness of the food chain, which can 
have  potential  to  get  innovations  and  technological  possibilities  in  line  with  consumer 
interests and thus create new business opportunities. 

A KIC in this area will be very important to overcome the high level of fragmentation of 
the  whole  food  supply  chain.  It  will  blend  a  critical  mass  of  excellent  research, 
innovation,  education  and  training  stakeholders  along  the  whole  chain.  All  elements  of 
the  chain  (primary  sector,  food  production,  food  processors,  retailers,  food  service  channels 
and  –  not  least  –  the  consumer)  are  inextricably  linked  to  each  other  for  the  conception  of 
future  innovations.  A  KIC  will  provide  the  necessary  systemic  and  transdiciplinary 
approach to tackle these issues.  

The  major  added  value  of  a  KIC  in  this  area  will  be  its  role  in  addressing  the  current 
shortage  of  skills  and  human  resources.  Currently,  probably  as  many  as  half  of  the 
European food and beverage manufacturing industries are facing a shortage in scientific and 
skilled personnel. This is a barrier to innovation in this sector. By integrating education with 
the other sectors of the knowledge triangle, a KIC will address this issue. It will at the same 
time  offer  the  opportunity  to  stimulate  new  educated  entrepreneurial  people,  capable  of 
developing new innovative technologies and business. This focus on entrepreneurship would 
be particularly relevant in the food sector, which characterised by a high number of SMEs.  

The major risks associated to the success of a KIC under this theme are mainly related to the 
necessary  accompanying  innovation  framework  conditions,  which  KICs  are  not  directly 
addressing. For increasing sustainability throughout the food supply chain, some changes in 

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regulation  may  be  needed  in  order,  for  example,  to  internalise  food  production  costs. 
Therefore,  the  KICs  need  to  liaise  with  ongoing  EU  and  national  innovation  and  policy 
activities on these matters (see next section). 

3. 

SYNERGIES 
INITIATIVES 

AND 

COMPLEMENTARITIES  WITH 

EXISTING 

The  EU  is  fully  engaged  in  this  field.  A  KIC  would  contribute  to  address  Horizon  2020 
societal challenge "Food Security, Sustainable Agriculture and the Bio-Economy". It would in 
particular co-operate with the proposed European Innovation Partnership (EIP) "Agricultural 
Productivity  and  Sustainability".  Whilst  the  latter  will  put  emphasis  on  building  bridges 
between  cutting-edge  research  and  practical  innovation,  a  KIC  would  in  particular  create 
complementarity in educating key actors, such as entrepreneurs and consumers. Coordination 
is also needed, with the Joint Programming Initiative "Agriculture, Food Security and Climate 
Change", which will pool national research efforts to integrate adaptation, mitigation and food 
security in the agriculture, forestry and land use sectors. The European Maritime and Fisheries 
Fund will promoting environmental and social sustainability of fisheries and aquaculture, thus 
highlighting  the  need  for  technical  developments  coupled  with  new  entrepreneurial  skills  in 
these  fields,  in  line  with  the  evolution  of  consumers'  behaviour,  providing  possibilities  for 
synergies.  Likewise,  coordination  will  also  be  possible  with  the  recently  launched  JPI 
"Healthy Food for a Healthy Life" and "Connecting Climate Research in Europe", and with 
European Technology Platforms in relating areas (in particular, the Food for Life Platform) or 
numerous  FP  7  projects.  Similarly,  it  would  also  liaise  with  the  CIP  (Competitiveness  and 
Innovation Programme) eco-innovation market replication projects, where food and drink is 
one  of  the  priority  areas.  Such  experience  will  continue  with  Horizon  2020  namely  in  the 
context of the Climate and Resource Efficiency societal challenge. 

A  KIC  in  this  area  would  be  complementary  to  these  activities  since  it  would  focus  on 
transdisciplinary  activities  within  the  knowledge  triangle  with  a  strong  focus  on  innovative 
products and services and entrepreneurial education as well as on consumer issues. 

4. 

CONCLUSION 

A  KIC  which  focuses  on  the  food  supply  chain  is  most  suited  to  address  the  challenges 
outlined above. It also meets the criteria put forward for the selection of KIC themes: 

• 

• 

• 

It addresses a major economic and societal relevant challenge (the need to ensure a 
resilient  and  sustainable  food  system  while  meeting  the  increasing  food  demand 
within  the  constraints  of  available  land,  protecting  the  natural  environment  and 
safeguarding  human  health),  and  contributes  to  the  delivery  of  the  Europe  2020 
agenda  and  its  objectives  on  climate  and  energy,  employment,  innovation  and 
education. 

This  KIC  focus 
in  Horizon  2020  and 
complementary with other EU activities in the food sector, in particular with the EIP 
"Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability". 

is  aligned  with  priorities  defined 

It  is  able  to  mobilise  investment  and  long-term  commitment  from  the  businesses 
sector and offers possibilities for various emerging products and services – namely, 
in the deployment of new and innovative technologies, processes and knowledge to 

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increase  sustainable  food  production,  processing,  packaging  and  distribution,  to 
reduce waste and promote better nutrition.  

It  creates  sustainable  and  systemic  impact,  measured  in  terms  of  new  educated 
entrepreneurial  people,  new  technologies  and  new  business.  It  will  foster  new 
technological developments and more efficient and sustainable production systems. 

It  aims  at  overcoming  the  high  level  of  fragmentation  of  the  whole  food  supply 
chain;  favouring  traceability;  and  will  bring  together  a  critical  mass  of  excellent 
research, innovation, education and training stakeholders along the whole chain. 

It thus requires transdisciplinary work involving different areas of knowledge, such 
as agronomy, ecology, biology, chemistry, nutrition, and socio-economy. 

It will address the European paradox, since it will find new innovative approaches to 
ensure a more sustainable and efficient supply chain and to improve food security. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

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Factsheet 3: Innovation for Healthy Living and Active Ageing 

1. 

THE CHALLENGE 

Health, demographic change and well-being have been identified as major societal challenges 
which will be addressed within the framework of Horizon 2020. The overarching aims of any 
action to address this challenge should be to improve the quality of life of European citizens 
of all ages and to maintain economic sustainability of the health and social care systems in the 
face of increasing costs, shrinking human resources and citizens' expectations for the best care 
possible. 

The  challenges  relating  to  the  health  and  social  care  sector  are  numerous  and  closely 
interlinked. They range from chronic diseases (cardiovascular, cancer, diabetes) together with 
overweight and obesity, infectious (HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis) and neurodegenerative diseases 
(exacerbated  by  an  increasingly  ageing  population)  to  social  isolation,  reduced  wellbeing, 
increased  dependency  of  patients  on  formal  and  informal  care,  and  multiple  exposure  to 
environmental factors with unknown long-term health consequences. In addition, barriers for 
the application, exploitation and deployment of new findings, products and services prevent to 
effectively respond to those challenges.  

The  response  to  these  challenges  has  been  defined  in  Horizon  2020  as  aiming  "to  provide 
better  health,  quality  of  life  and  general  wellbeing  for  all  by  supporting  research  and 
innovation activities. These activities will focus on the maintenance and promotion of health 
throughout  our  lifetimes,  and  on  disease  prevention;  on  improving  our  ability  to  cure,  treat 
and  manage  disease  and  disability;  supporting  active  ageing;  and  on  contributing  to  the 
achievement of a sustainable and efficient care sector."  

2. 

RELEVANCE AND IMPACT 

A KIC on innovation for Healthy Living and Active Ageing will help meeting Horizon 
2020  priorities,  namely  those  defined  in  the  context  of  the  societal  challenge  "Health, 
Demographic Change and Wellbeing".  

This  thematic  field  is  highly  relevant  from  a  societal  and  public  policy  point  of  view. 
Questions of healthy living and active ageing have a bearing on nearly all sectors of our lives 
and society, and very often call for regulatory action. The health and social care sector is 
also  highly  relevant  from  a  socio-economic  perspective,  since  it  is  one  of  the  sectors  on 
which  most  money  is  spent  (public  and  private);8  and  the  sector  does  not  only  offer 
opportunities  for  economic  and  technological  innovation,  it  also  has  a  great  potential  for 
social innovation. 

The socio-economic relevance can be further underlined by the fact that Europe benefits from 
the  presence  of  a  solid  pharmaceutical  sector  and  well-developed  health  and  social  care 
systems  providing  jobs  to  millions  of  people  across  the  EU.  The  sector  is  also  one  of  the 
biggest high-tech manufacturing sectors in the EU. The potential for growth in these areas is 

8 

Spending on health differs from country to country. Share in GDP ranges from 1.1 to 9.7% and from 
4%  to  over  18%  of  total  public  spending.  Health  related  sectors  have  a  high  R&D  intensity: 
pharmaceuticals and biotechnology outnumber by far any other sector (15.9%); health care equipment 
and services are also very high (6.8 %). 

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very  high  since  an  ageing  society  means  an  increase  of  aggregated  demand  for  care  and 
independent living products and services. 

Other sectors also come into play, such as tourism. The ageing population is formed to a large 
extent  by  a  generation  which  is  used  to  travel  and  still  willing  to  travel,  has  high  quality 
demands,  and  hence  a  growing  need  of  accessible  services  (transport,  hotels,  entertainment 
etc). More accessible tourism services can boost the competitiveness of the whole sector and 
would promote further inclusion of the ageing population.  

Not least, the EU benefits from a world-class level of research and education in this area. 
In  many  EU  countries  excellent  research  infrastructures  and  institutions  do  exist  which 
provide an attractive basis for industry involvement in the planned activities of the EIT. 

The challenges related to healthy living are valid across Europe. The responses, which can be 
provided  by  a  KIC,  require  the  intense  co-operation  between  excellent,  multidisciplinary 
and  multi-sector  teams  with  participants  from  all  sectors  of  the  knowledge  triangle 
(research,  business  and  education).  A  KIC  on  this  theme  would  have  the  added  value  of 
linking  the  activities  of  innovation  and  higher  education  with  the  already  existing 
excellent research base. In doing so, it will put particular emphasis on higher education 
curricula,  new  skills  development  (needed  e.g.  for  technology  development  but  also  for 
elderly care), strengthening entrepreneurial aspects in order to foster the development of a 
highly entrepreneurial workforce in the area, to support the development of new products 
and services, and to strengthen existing value chains or even create new ones. Examples 
of potential products and services that could be created through a KIC go beyond technology 
applications (such as applications that treat, code, standardise and interpret data in areas like 
cancer,  cardiovascular  diseases;  or  tools  for  risk  assessment  and  early  detection),  and  could 
trigger social innovation with new concepts improving for example lifestyle management and 
nutrition,  fostering  active  and  independent  living  in  an  age-friendly  environment,  or 
maintaining economically sustainable care systems.  

Focusing on the systemic aspects of European health and social care systems and support to 
active  ageing,  a  KIC  on  this  thematic  field  would  also  include  a  stronger  co-operation 
between  large  and  smaller,  more  specialised,  firms  for  greater  knowledge  circulation.  In 
addition,  a  specific  added  value  a  KIC  could  provide  in  this  area  could  be  the  creation  of 
innovative  partnerships  at  the  local  level  which  is  of  particular  importance  in  the  services 
sector.  

Through its integrative approach to the knowledge triangle, a KIC on healthy living and active 
ageing would be therefore a key contributor to addressing the 'European paradox': adding 
value  to  the  excellent  EU's  position  in  scientific  research,  and  transforming  this  asset  into 
innovative products and services, and new business opportunities and markets.  

The major risks associated to the success of a KIC under this theme are mainly related to the 
necessary accompanying innovation and policy regulatory framework conditions, which could 
require some adaptations KICs are not directly aiming at addressing9. Therefore the need of 
KICs liaising with ongoing EU and national innovation and policy activities on these matters 
(see next section).  

9 

For  example  in  terms  of  patient's  access  to  high  quality  medicines,  which  is  prolonged  because  of 
legislation  for  approving  new  drug  products  on  the  market  with  more  time  dedicated  to  tests  and 
certification and for setting prices and reimbursement modalities.  

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3. 

SYNERGIES 
INITIATIVES 

AND 

COMPLEMENTARITIES  WITH 

EXISTING 

Health and active ageing related issues are strongly supported by many EU initiatives. Such 
initiatives encompass a broad range of policy domains in addition to the health sector, such as 
economy, security and the environment. They therefore indirectly contribute to such targets of 
Europe 2020 as R&D/Innovation, employment and social inclusion.  

A  KIC  on  innovation  for  healthy  living  and  active  ageing  will  closely  co-operate  with  the 
pilot European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on Active and Healthy Ageing. It will take into 
account the concrete actions presented in the EIP Strategic Innovation Plan and contribute to 
delivering its objectives. It will create complementarity in education and training key actors, 
but  also  in  providing  a  unique  structured  network  of  practitioners  well  placed  to  identify 
framework conditions and best practise on policy, regulatory or standardisation issues having 
an impact in the sector. In the context of the EIP, a KIC in this area can also contribute to the 
Lead Market Initiative – eHealth which aims at stimulating the market for innovative eHealth 
solutions  through  its  focus  on  policy  instruments  (standardisation,  certification  systems  and 
public procurement). 

Coordination  will  be  also  fostered  with  the  Joint  Programming  Initiative  (JPI)  to  boost 
research  on  Alzheimer’s  and  other  neurodegenerative  diseases,  and  the  JPI  'More  Years, 
Better Lives' - the potential and challenges of demographic change. A KIC in this area will 
speed up and foster the exploitation of excellent public research pooled together by these JPIs, 
and thereby address fragmentation in the innovation landscape.  

A  KIC  will  also  strongly  build  on  and  capitalise  the  major  research  results  of  the  Joint 
Technology  Initiative  on  Innovative  Medicines  and  of  the  numerous  framework  programme 
research projects addressing this thematic field (such as the health research programme or the 
ICT  research  activities  on  health  and  ageing) 
transfer  and 
commercialisation via entrepreneurial top talent. Likewise, it will coordinate with the work of 
the  Ambient  Assisted  Living  Joint  Programme  and  the  Competitiveness  and  Innovation 
Programme. 

technology 

to  boost 

In conclusion, a KIC in this area would be complementary to these activities since it would 
focus  on  transdisciplinary  activities  within  the  knowledge  triangle  with  a  strong  focus  on 
innovative products and services and entrepreneurial education. 

4. 

CONCLUSION 

A KIC which focuses on the broader issue of innovation for healthy living and active ageing 
meets the criteria put forward for the selection of KIC themes: 

• 

• 

It  addresses  a  major  economic  and  societal  relevant  challenge  (lifelong  health  and 
wellbeing  of  all,  while  maintaining  economically  sustainable  care  systems),  and 
contributes  to  the  delivery  of  the  Europe  2020  agenda  and  its  objectives  on 
employment, innovation, education and social inclusion. 

This  KIC  focus 
in  Horizon  2020  and 
complementary  with  other  EU  activities  in  the  health  and  social  care  areas,  in 
particular with the EIP on Active and Healthy Ageing.  

is  aligned  with  priorities  defined 

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• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

It can build on a strong research base and on a solid industrial sector which will be 
attracted by a KIC. It is able to mobilise investment and long-term commitment from 
the  businesses  sector  and  offers  possibilities  for  various  emerging  products  and 
services. 

It  will  address  the  European  paradox,  since  it  will  capitalise  EU's  strong  research 
base and find new innovative approaches to improve the quality of life of European 
citizens  and  to  maintain  economic  sustainability  of  the  health  and  social  care 
systems. 

It  creates  sustainable  and  systemic  impact,  measured  in  terms  of  new  educated 
entrepreneurial  people,  new  technologies  and  new  business.  It  will  foster  new 
technological developments and social innovation. 

It aims at overcoming the high level of fragmentation of the whole health and social 
care sector; and will bring together a critical mass of excellent research, innovation, 
education and training stakeholders along the sector. 

It  takes  a  systemic  approach  and  thus  requires  transdisciplinary  work  involving 
different  areas  of  knowledge,  such  as  medicine,  biology,  psychology,  economy, 
sociology, demography, ICT. 

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Factsheet 4: Raw materials10 – Sustainable exploration, extraction, 
processing, recycling and substitution 

1. 

THE CHALLENGE 

Modern  society  is  totally  dependent  upon  access  to  raw  materials.  Access  to  affordable 
materials is essential for the effective functioning of the EU economy. However, the triptych 
of  decreasing  finite  natural  resources,  an  ever  increasing  human  population,  and  rapidly 
increasing levels of consumption in the developing world are putting increasing demands on 
the planets' raw materials and natural resources. These factors are some of those responsible 
for the predicted increase in natural resource consumption during the next decades. 

As  highlighted  by  the  Resource-Efficiency  Roadmap  and  Horizon  2020,  we  should  aim  to 
ensure  accessibility  and    availability  of  raw  materials  that  is  needed  for  the  European 
economy  and  for  the  satisfaction  of  our  well  being,  whilst  achieving  a  resource  efficient 
economy that meets the needs of a growing population within the ecological limits of a finite 
planet.  

2. 

RELEVANCE AND IMPACT 

This  thematic  field  is  highly  relevant  in  terms  of  economic  and  societal  impact.  Raw 
materials are crucial for the world economy and quality of life; increasing resource efficiency 
will  be  key  to  securing  growth  and  jobs  for  Europe.  It  will  bring  major  economic 
opportunities, improve productivity, drive down costs and boost competitiveness. 

Whilst the EU does have an excellent research pedigree and various centres of excellence 
exist,  much  more  could  be  done  to  capitalise  on  this  within  this  priority  area.  A  KIC 
would be particularly suited for this. 

Aligning  with  other  EU  activities,  a  KIC  in  this  area  should  concentrate  on  fostering  a 
knowledge  hub  and  centre  of  expertise  on  academic,  technical  and  practical  education 
and research in sustainable surface, subsurface and deep-sea mining, material management, 
recycling  technologies,  material  substitution  and  geopolitical  trade  in  raw  materials.  This 
would act as a broker and clearing house for European centres of excellence on these related 
topics  and  manage  a  research  programme  of  strategic  importance  to  EU  industry.  For  this 
reason and in order to maximise the impact of the actions and avoid any duplication with EU 
activities,  including  the  EIP  on  Raw  Materials,  the  KIC  will  provide  the  necessary 
complement  in  the  areas  of  human  capital  (i.e.  training,  education)  for  the  technology 
innovative pilot actions (e.g. demonstration plants) for land and marine exploration, extraction 
and  processing,  collection  and  recycling.  At  the  same  time  it  could  include  targets  around 
becoming  a  technology  pioneer  by  creating  pilot  schemes  and  demonstrators  of  innovative 
processes  and  solutions,  involving  for  example  the  use  of  economically  attractive  and 
sustainable alternative materials of strategic importance to the EU. It can consequently trigger 
the  expansion  of  existing  markets  and  creation  of  new  ones,  namely  in  the  areas  of 
sustainable  extraction  and  processing,  materials  management,  recycling  technologies,  and 
materials  substitution.  It  will  be  necessary  to  assess  impacts  and  develop  innovative,  cost-

10 

In this document the narrower definition of “non energy, non agricultural raw materials” will be used in 
order to reduce potential overlap with existing Climate Change and Energy KICs, as well as with other 
future KIC priority areas such as food.  

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effective  adaptation  and  risk  prevention  measures  for  particularly  sensitive  habitats,  such  as 
the Arctic. 

A KIC in this area will be very important to overcome the barrier which lack of technology 
constitutes. Technical innovation is required to develop a host of complementary technologies 
that could change the shape of traditional mineral and raw material value chains. This is an 
area  that  requires  further  work  to  develop  new  processes  and  in  order  to  optimise  and 
commercialise existing knowledge in this area. The entrepreneurial approach of a KIC would 
be particularly suited to address this issue. 

Another added value element of a KIC on raw materials is its contribution to addressing the 
sector's  limited  networking  opportunities.  In  fact,  the  disparate  nature  of  the  various 
involved research areas means that there are limited opportunities to meet researchers within 
different  subject  areas  and  benefit  from  the  cross  pollination  of  ideas  and  collaboration  that 
will  be  required  to  foster  cost  effective  low  carbon,  environmentally  sound  solutions. 
Networking within a KIC, bringing together stakeholders from the three strands of the 
knowledge  triangle  across  the  whole  value  chain  would  contribute  to  overcome  this 
weakness. It will give the possibility for enhancing both technology, knowledge and know-
how transfer, as well as to provide researchers, students and entrepreneurs the knowledge and 
skills  necessary  to  deliver  innovative  solutions  and  to  turn  them  into  new  business 
opportunities. 

3. 

SYNERGIES 
INITIATIVES 

AND 

COMPLEMENTARITIES  WITH 

EXISTING 

The  EU  has  identified  this  priority  field  as  one  of  the  grand  challenges.  A  KIC  would 
contribute  to  Horizon  2020,  namely  to  the  societal  challenge  related  to  the  supply  of  raw 
materials and resource efficiency. It would contribute to the proposed EIP on Raw Materials. 
The  EIP  on  Raw  Materials  will  provide  overarching  frameworks  to  facilitate  alignment  and 
synergies among existing supply and demand-driven research and innovation instruments and 
policies in the field. This will cover technology-focused activities, but also the identification 
of  framework  conditions  and  best  practise  on  policy,  regulatory  or  standardisation  issues 
having  an  impact  on  innovation  in  a  given  sector  or  challenge.  A  KIC  in  this  area  would 
create  complementarity  in  educating  key  actors,  but  also  in  providing  a  unique  structured 
network of practitioners. It would provide a solid basis for supporting other innovation-related 
actions which will be carried out in the framework of the EIP, and for the success of which 
human  capital  is  an  absolute  necessity.  It  will  also  be  well placed  to  support  the  EIP  in  the 
identification  of  framework  conditions  and  best  practise  on  policy,  regulatory  or 
standardisation issues having an impact on the sector. A KIC would also strongly build on and 
capitalise  the  results  of  the  numerous  research  projects  of  the  7th  Framework  Programme 
addressing  the  topic,  in  particular  those  funded  in  the  framework  of  the  nanosciences, 
nanotechnologies, materials & new production technologies, and environment themes.  

Similarly, it would also liaise with the CIP (Competitiveness and Innovation Programme) eco-
innovation market replication projects, where material recycling is one of the priority areas. 
Such experience will continue with Horizon 2020, namely in the context of the climate action, 
resource efficiency, and sustainable supply of raw materials societal challenges. 

A  KIC  in  this  area  would  be  complementary  to  these  activities  since  it  would  focus  on 
transdisciplinary  activities  within  the  knowledge  triangle  with  a  strong  focus  on  innovative 
products and services and entrepreneurial education.  

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4. 

CONCLUSION 

A KIC in this area is most suited to address the challenges outlined above. It also meets the 
criteria put forward for the selection of KIC themes in the SIA: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

It addresses a major economic and societal relevant challenge Europe is facing (the 
need  to  develop  innovative  solutions  for  the  cost-effective,  low  carbon  and 
environmentally  friendly  exploration,  extraction,  processing  and  recycling  of  raw 
materials),  and  contribute  to  the  delivery  of  the  Europe  2020  agenda  and  its 
objectives on climate and energy, employment, innovation and education. 

This  KIC  focus 
in  Horizon  2020  and 
complementary with other EU activities in the raw materials area, in particular with 
the EIP on Raw Materials. 

is  aligned  with  priorities  defined 

It  is  able  to  mobilise  investment  from  the  businesses  sector  and  offers  possibilities 
for  various  emerging  products  and  services  –  namely,  in  the  areas  of  sustainable 
extraction  and  processing,  materials  management,  recycling  technologies,  and 
materials substitution.  

It  creates  sustainable  and  systemic  impact,  measured  in  terms  of  new  educated 
entrepreneurial  people,  new  technologies  and  new  business.  It  offers,  in  particular, 
opportunities for social value creation by making efforts towards addressing the goal 
of sustainability of the whole product lifecycle: using raw material more efficiently 
and improving effectively recycling and recovering of raw materials. 

It  includes  a  strong  education  component  which  is  lacking  in  other  initiatives,  and 
will bring together a critical mass of excellent research and innovation stakeholders.  

It  requires  transdisciplinary  work  involving  different  areas  of  knowledge,  such  as 
geology,  economics,  environmental  sciences,  chemistry,  mechanics  and  multiple 
industrial areas (construction, automotive, aerospace, machinery and equipment, and 
renewable energies). 

It  will  address  the  European  paradox,  since  Europe  counts  with  a  strong  research 
base  and  a  weak  innovation  performance  on  this  area.  It  offers  opportunities  for 
innovation  in  sustainable  mining  and  materials  management.  Substitution  and 
recycling  can  promote  further  sector  change  and  enhance  investment  activities 
through the creation of new products, services and supply chain approaches. 

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Factsheet 5: Smart Secure Societies 

1. 

THE CHALLENGE  

One  of  the  major  challenges  to  be  addressed  within  the  framework  of  Horizon  2020  is  the 
need to foster  secure  European  societies in the context of growing global  interdependencies 
and the transition towards digital societies.  

Today's  societies  are  facing  serious  security  challenges  that  are  growing  in  scale  and 
sophistication. These challenges are triggered by developments ranging from organised crime, 
terrorism,  to  cross  border  illegal  activity  and  natural  and  man-made  disasters,  which  put  at 
risk and destabilise the basic principles of our societies. Moreover, cyber attacks and breaches 
to privacy are putting at risk the whole operation of Internet and all the services running on it. 
In support of EU's policies to tackle these challenges, action is needed to deliver innovation in 
the  security  sector.  Action  is  in  particular  necessary  to  exploit  the  information  and 
communication technologies and related services' potential to tackle the security challenges. 
The objective is to address Europe's security gaps, through the development and deployment 
of innovative ICT solutions fighting, preventing and mitigating serious and organised crime 
(including cyber crime), terrorism, strengthening the management of our external land and sea 
borders,  and  building  resilience  to  natural  and  man-made  disasters,  such  as  forest  fires, 
earthquakes,  floods  and  storms.  This  objective  will  also  include  the  development  of  ICT 
technologies, devices and services for the prevention, management and recovery from cyber-
attacks  and  breakdowns  of  ICT  infrastructures,  raising  trust  and  security  on-line  and 
protecting privacy, identity and private data. As a transversal priority, these objectives should 
be met whilst respecting ethics, privacy, and citizens' fundamental rights. 

2. 

RELEVANCE AND IMPACT 

Security  is  highly  relevant  from  a  policy  and  socio-economic  point  of  view.  From  the 
public policy perspective, maintaining an adequate level of security within any society can be 
considered as a basic (pre-)requisite for establishing an environment in which individual and 
companies are motivated to carry out their activities. In particular, the expansion of the digital 
single market is dependent on user's trust in the security of transactions, integrity of their data 
and the protection of their privacy and identity. The events related to 'global terrorism' and the 
increased  damages  to  human  lives  and  assets  produced  by  natural  and  man-made  disasters 
have over the past years further increased the policy relevance of this field. 

On  top  of  these  public  concerns,  this  field  is  also  relevant  from  a  socio-economic  point  of 
view. It is estimated that the world security market for security solutions (excluding defence) 
was of 45 billion Euro is 2009 and is expected to grow to more than 87 billion euro in 2020 
(an  average  growth  larger  than  6%/year)11.  It  employs  about  250.000  workers  at  the  world 
level  and  about  50.000  in  Europe.  Looking  at  indirect  employment,  EU  security  services 
market is constituted by more than 1.700.000 private guards12. In addition to the market size 
of IT security, some estimates indicated that the direct cost of cyber crime to be 350 billion 
euro per year worldwide, and around 80 billion euro in the EU.  

A  KIC  on  smart  secure  societies  will  be  able  to  mobilise  investment  and  long-term 

11 
12 

Data from European Organisation for Security.  
Data from the Confederation of European Security Services. 

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commitment from the business sector, as well as to expand and create new markets for its 
products and services. Within the framework of a KIC, the business sector could be attracted 
by  the  market  opportunities  for  innovative  ICT  products  and  services  supporting,  inter  alia, 
more  intelligent  solutions  for  crime  prevention,  higher  security  standards  through  electronic 
identification  and  authentification,  smarter  borders,  and  warning  systems  to  better  protect 
critical infrastructures. Due to the transversal nature of security technologies, the activities of 
this  KIC  will  impact  not  only  the  ICT  security  sector,  but  also  the  whole  ICT  market  for 
equipment and access device manufacturers and service providers.  

The  societal  dimension  of  security  could  be  further  enhanced  by  the  KIC  integrative 
approach to innovation and its potential to promote social innovation. Building on a strong 
research and scientific base, a KIC in this area will be able to bring together education 
and innovation stakeholders which would otherwise not unite to develop new knowledge, 
concepts,  business  models,  approaches  and  strategies  to  tackle  societies'  security  challenges 
and  promote  citizens'  well  being.  The  objective  is  that  these  new  innovative  products, 
services, processes, models and approaches developed in the framework of the KIC meet the 
pressing  needs  for  more  secure  European  societies,  where  citizens  feel  secure  in  their  daily 
lives (including those at more vulnerable positions). Attention could be paid to the protection 
of individual's privacy, protection of children in the internet and protections against abuses of 
identity and profiling, while increasing user friendliness and adoption. 

The societal dimension of a KIC on secure societies could be further reinforced by the KICs 
co-location  model,  through  which  regional  actors  work  closely  together  whilst  combining 
competences and skills developed in different areas of specialisation. 

A  major  added  value  element  of  a  KIC  on  smart  secure  societies  will  be  its  contribution  to 
helping  overcome  the  current  levels  of  fragmentation  and  compartmentalisation  the 
sector faces across Europe. Through its integrative nature and transdisciplinary approach, it 
will create the opportunity to establish a closer cooperation between the knowledge triangle 
actors  (business,  research  and  universities),  individuals  and  public  authorities  acting  on 
different  areas  of  knowledge,  and  thus  ensure  a  better  articulation  between  technological, 
societal, policy and regulatory considerations and the market potential. 

A  KIC  on  smart  secure  societies  will  also  help  addressing  the  need  for  a  qualified 
workforce. It will have a very important role to play in re-shaping the education landscape in 
this  field.  It  will  at  the  same  time  offer  the  opportunity  to  stimulate  new  educated 
entrepreneurial  people,  capable  of  developing  new  innovative  technologies,  services  and 
business. This focus on entrepreneurship would be particularly relevant in this area, which has 
the potential to involve a high number of SMEs. 

In connection with the KIC innovation and educational objectives, a KIC can also indirectly 
trigger  increased  awareness  of  citizens,  private  sector,  and  institutional  end-users'  (civil 
protection,  police  forces,  border  guards,etc.)  as  well  as  affect  their  attitudes  towards  new 
innovative solutions. 

Whilst a KIC on smart secure societies has the potential to create sustainable and systemic 
impact  measured  in  terms  of  new  educated  entrepreneurial  people,  new  technologies, 
business,  models  and  approaches,  it  also  offers  the  possibility  for  impact  at  global  level. 
Security  challenges  are  global  in  nature  and  should  be  addressed  in  cooperation  with  third 
countries. 

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innovation 

such  as  clear 

framework  conditions, 

The  major  risks  for  the  success  of  a  KIC  in  this  area  are  mainly  related  to  the  lack  of  the 
regulatory  conditions, 
required 
standardisation and public procurement. In fact, in some European countries, the absence of a 
clear public policy and strategy towards security has been pointed out as a factor that reduces 
clarity  in  terms  of  demand  and  supply  side  developments.  Another  difficulty  relating  to  the 
security sector is the definition of its boundaries to defence requirements. While defence will 
not  be  covered  in  the  framework  of  a  KIC  on  smart  secure  societies,  there  is  a  blurring  of 
distinctions  between  security  and  defence  in  terms  of  the  associated  technology  and  system 
requirements. Finally, a pre-condition for the success of this KIC is to get the involvement of 
end-users and, in particular, public authorities. This is a difficult task and will require close 
cooperation  with  relevant  Commission's  policy  initiatives  in  this  field.  These  risks  are 
expected  to  be  tackled  through  KIC's  liaison  with  ongoing  EU  and  national  innovation  and 
policy activities on these matters (see next section). 

3. 

SYNERGIES 
INITIATIVES 

AND 

COMPLEMENTARITIES  WITH 

EXISTING 

A  KIC  as  described  above  would  be  complementary  to  a  number  of  EU  initiatives  in  this 
thematic area.  

A KIC on smart secure societies will contribute to Horizon 2020 objectives. It will build up 
on the results of the numerous FP research projects addressing the topic - in particular, those 
funded in the framework of security, ICT trust & security, future internet and socio-economic 
sciences and humanities. It will take into account relevant activities of the JRC. 

It will also liaise with the work of the relevant EU Agencies, such as FRONTEX (in the field 
of  border  security),  Europol  (in  the  fight  against  serious  international  crime  and 
terrorism),ENISA  (on  network  and  information  security),  and  CEPOL  (the  European  Police 
College).  

A  KIC  in  this  area  would  be  complementary  to  these  activities  since  it  would  focus  on 
transdisciplinary  activities  within  the  knowledge  triangle  with  a  strong  focus  on  innovative 
products and services and entrepreneurial education. 

4. 

CONCLUSION 

A KIC which focuses on the role of ICT for delivering innovation to secure societies and puts 
a strong focus on re-shaping the education agenda in this field would be well-suited to address 
the challenges outlined above. It also meets the criteria put forward for the selection of KIC 
themes in the SIA: 

• 

• 

• 

It  addresses  a  major  economic  and  societal  relevant  challenge  (the  need  to  reduce 
security  gaps  and  lead  to  prevention  of  security  threats  while  integrating  societal 
aspects), and contributes to the delivery of the Europe 2020 agenda and its objectives 
on employment, innovation, education and social inclusion. 

This  KIC  focus 
complementary with other EU activities in the area.  

is  aligned  with  priorities  defined 

in  Horizon  2020  and 

It  is  able  to  mobilise  investment  and  long-term  commitment  from  the  businesses 
sector and offers possibilities for various emerging products and services. 

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• 

• 

• 

• 

It  creates  sustainable  and  systemic  impact,  measured  in  terms  of  new  educated 
entrepreneurial  people,  new  technologies,  business  and  services.  It  will  foster  new 
technological developments and social innovation. 

It  will  build  on  a  strong  research  and  scientific  base,  and  bring  together  education 
and  innovation  stakeholders  which  would  otherwise  not  unite  to  develop  new 
knowledge, concepts, business models, approaches and strategies to tackle societies' 
security challenges. 

It  contributes 
to  overcoming 
compartmentalisation the sector faces across Europe. 

the  current 

levels  of 

fragmentation  and 

It  takes  a  systemic  approach  and  thus  requires  transdisciplinary  work  involving 
different areas of knowledge, such as ICT, socio-economic sciences and humanities, 
civil protection, health, transportation, energy among others. 

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Factsheet 6: Urban Mobility 

1. 

THE CHALLENGE 

The  theme  of  smart,  green  and  integrated  transport  has  been  identified  as  one  of  the  major 
societal challenges which will be addressed within the framework of Horizon 2020. The 2011 
Transport  White  Paper  further  reinforces  the  importance  of  taking  action  in  this  domain 
during  the  next  decade.  Urban  mobility  is  a  particularly  challenging  task.  It  addresses  a 
number of topics such as transport (including new mobility concepts, transport organisation, 
logistics,  transport  systems  safety  and  security),  environmental  issues  (reduction  of 
greenhouse  gases,  air  pollution  and  noise)  urban  planning  (new  concepts  for  bringing  work 
and  living  closer  together),  and  has  an  important  impact  both  at  the  economic  and  social 
levels (new business creation, employment, social inclusion, housing and location strategies). 
The overarching aim is to improve the quality of life of European citizens who – in increasing 
numbers  –  live  in  large  urban  conglomerations  where  much  of  Europe's  economic 
performance is generated.13 

Sustainable  urban  mobility  can  only  be  achieved  if  breakthrough  innovations  leading  to 
greener, more inclusive, safer and smarter solutions are found. Failing to achieve this will – in 
the  long  run  -  result  in  high  societal,  ecological,  and  economic  costs.  However,  new 
innovative mobility concepts – in particular when individual means of transportation are to be 
replaced  by  public  and  collective  means  of  transport  –  should  be  accepted  by  citizens. 
Bringing about behavioural changes with no disadvantages for the quality of life and the cost 
of living in urban areas will be one of the great challenges to be addressed in this area. 

2. 

RELEVANCE AND IMPACT 

The  key  objective  of  a  KIC  on  urban  mobility  will  be  to  ensure  a  greener,  more  inclusive, 
safer and smarter urban mobility system. 

As already outlined above, the theme is highly relevant from a societal and public policy 
point of view. It also is highly relevant from a socio-economic perspective since it involves 
important  economic  sectors  in  GDP  and  employment  terms,  such  as  the  automotive  or  the 
construction  sectors.  Urban  mobility  is,  in  addition,  linked  with  environmental  protection 
strategies  and  fully  embedded  in  policies  of  social  inclusion,  location,  housing  and  urban 
design.  

A KIC on urban mobility is both  in line with the priorities defined in Horizon 2020 and 
with Europe 2020 strategy objectives of achieving a smarter, more sustainable, low carbon 
and  inclusive  urban  development.  A  KIC  in  this  thematic  area  could  contribute  to  each  of 
Europe  2020  strategy  objectives  by,  for  example,  the  promotion  of  eco-efficient  solutions, 
intelligent  ICT  schemes  for  traffic  management,  and  provision  of  more  efficient  and 
affordable transport services.  

13 

More than 70% of Europeans live in urban areas, which represent more than 25% of the EU territory. 
Around 85% of the EU’s GDP is generated in urban areas. Urbanisation is expected to rise in Europe to 
some 83% by 2050. 

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In  fact,  since  urban  mobility  is  by  nature  systemic,  a  KIC  on  this  area  could  offer  many 
possibilities for innovation along the innovation chain, such as the development of multi-
modal transport systems, and smarter and more sustainable transport solutions. 

A KIC on urban mobility draws on a solid technological and industrial base and offers a 
potential for new products and services14, in particular in the fields of sustainable planning 
and eco-industries.  

Furthermore, the development of innovative urban mobility models will also benefit from the 
strong policy attention and support that this thematic priority profits from. In addition, these 
innovative  urban  models  can  have  a  global  impact  if  they  are  transferred  to  the  massively 
growing  urban  conglomerations  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  especially  in  Africa,  Asia  and 
Latin America.  

A KIC in this area will put urban mobility and urban transport planning in the wider context 
of  sustainable  urban  planning  and  spatial  development  at  local  and  regional  level.  The  KIC 
would thus have the advantage of working in a multi-disciplinary and cross-sectoral field 
and of contributing to overcome the current levels of organisational fragmentation the 
sector faces. It would create the opportunity to establish a closer cooperation between public 
authorities (mainly at local, regional levels), local associations, and the private sector (such as 
developers  and  infrastructure  actors),  research  institutes  and  universities  (integrating  the 
knowledge  triangle).  Bringing  together  world-class  partners  in  new  configurations  will  give 
the  KIC  on  urban  mobility  the  possibility  of  optimising  existing  resources  and  exploit  the 
business opportunities created through these new value-chains. 

The KIC on Urban Mobility will focus on those activities of the innovation triangle which can 
benefit  from  additional  EU  support  specifically  via  the  EIT.  In  reality,  the  major  added 
value  of  a  KIC  in  this  area  will  be  its  role  in  integrating  the  three  strands  of  the 
knowledge  triangle  and  in  bringing  systemic  change  in  the  way  the  innovation  players 
work  together.  Likewise,  KIC  focus  on  people-driven  innovation,  which  puts  students, 
researchers and entrepreneurs at the heart of KIC efforts, will be fundamental to address the 
challenges  outlined  above.  Consequently, 
there  will  be  a  strong  emphasis  on 
education/training,  entrepreneurship  and  deployment  of  results,  e.g.  developing  skills  and 
knowledge  of  urban  transport  professionals  in  local  and  regional  administrations  (life-long 
learning  /  staff  exchange  programmes  /  professional  training),  proposing  specific  higher 
education  programmes  in  Urban  Mobility  (summer  schools/exchange  schemes),  taking 
innovative  transport  concepts  successfully  to  the  market  (support  for  spin-offs  and  start-ups 
from universities and research institutions, etc.). Moreover, the concept of co-location could 
be strengthened within a KIC focussing on this theme, since naturally this thematic area 
has a strong local and regional dimension. 

3. 

SYNERGIES 
INITIATIVES 

AND 

COMPLEMENTARITIES  WITH 

EXISTING 

Mobility  related  issues  are  strongly  supported  by  many  EU  initiatives.  The  EU  is  fully 
engaged in this field. 

14 

Some examples of new potential markets: new services for travellers, maintenance, and management of 
traffic  movements  and  road  congestion;  new  applications  in  vehicles;  immersive  communication 
services to support communication and avoid travelling (JRC 65426 EN). 

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Links with other EU activities exist and will be enhanced. A KIC on urban mobility will take 
into  account  the  actions  developed  in  the  framework  of  the  Action  Plan  on  Urban  Mobility 
and the Intelligent Transport System Action Plan.  

It  will  in  particular  co-operate  with  the  planned  European  initiatives  on  smart  cities  and 
communities,  encompassing  energy  efficiency,  ICT  and  urban  transport.  A  KIC  would  in 
particular create complementarity in educating key actors, but also in providing a structured 
network  of  practitioners  well  placed  to  identify  framework  conditions  and  best  practise  on 
policy and regulatory issues having an impact on the sector.  

Coordination  is  also  needed  with  the  Joint  Programming  Initiative  "Urban  Europe",  which 
will  pool  national  research  efforts  to  transform  urban  areas  to  centres  of  innovation  and 
technology,  realise  eco-friendly  and  intelligent  intra-interurban  transport  logistic  systems, 
reduce the ecological footprint and enhance climate neutrality. A KIC in this area will speed 
up and foster the exploitation of excellent public research pooled together by these JPIs, and 
thereby address fragmentation in the innovation landscape. 

The  CIVITAS  initiative  which  supports  demonstration  and  research  projects  to  implement 
innovative measures in clean urban transport, and the European Industrial Initiative on Smart 
Cities  &  Communities  aiming  at  making  the  production  and  use  of  energy  in  cities  more 
sustainable  and  efficient  will  also  be  natural  cooperation  initiatives  of  a  KIC  on  urban 
mobility.  

A KIC in this area could also establish links with the transport and energy related European 
Technology Platforms (ETPs), the Public Private Partnership (PPP) on European Green Cars, 
and the numerous Framework Programme (FP) projects in this area. The KIC would take into 
account the research priorities and action plans defined in the framework of the ETPs and the 
research work carried out so far by the PPP and FP projects to enhance and accelerate the take 
up and exploitation of these research outcomes.  

Complementarities  will  be  also  sought  with  the  "European  Mobile  and  Mobility  Industries 
Alliance".  Co-funded  under  the  Competitiveness  and  Innovation  Programme,  the  European 
Mobile  and  Mobility  Industries  Alliance  aims  at  bringing  together  regional  and  national 
policy  makers  supporting  innovative  service  solutions  in  mobile  and  mobility  industries  in 
view to mobilise more and better support to innovative service SMEs in such industries. 

It  will  also  coordinate  with  the  Intelligent  Energy  Europe,  the  eco-innovation  market 
replication, and the ICT based services and pilot projects for smart urban mobility under the 
Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP).  

A  KIC  in  this  area  would  be  complementary  to  these  activities  since  it  would  focus  on 
transdisciplinary  activities  within  the  knowledge  triangle  with  a  strong  focus  on 
innovative products and services and entrepreneurial education. 

A  KIC  focusing  on  urban  mobility  would  also  be  complementary  to  some  of  the  specific 
activities already pursued by two existing KICs. Namely, Climate KIC activities under the 
theme  transitioning  to  low-carbon  resilient  cities,  and  EIT  ICT  Labs  work  under  the  focus 
areas of intelligent transportation systems and digital cities of the future. The KIC on urban 
mobility will take on board the work carried in the framework of these KICs and place it in 
the wider context of a greener, more inclusive, safer and smarter urban mobility system. 

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4. 

CONCLUSION 

A KIC focusing on urban mobility is most suited to address the challenges outlined above. It 
also meets the criteria put forward for the selection of KIC themes: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

It addresses a major economic and societal relevant challenge (to achieve a European 
transport  system  that  is  resource-efficient,  environmentally-friendly,  safe  and 
seamless for the benefit of the citizens, the economy and the society), and contributes 
to the delivery of the Europe 2020 agenda and its objectives on climate and energy, 
employment, innovation and education. 

This  KIC  focus 
in  Horizon  2020  and 
complementary  with other EU activities  in the  transport, environmental and energy 
areas.  

is  aligned  with  priorities  defined 

By  strengthening  entrepreneurial  thinking  it  integrates  emerging  technologies  with 
new value chains and supports the translation of academic research on into products 
and services.  

It will thus address the European paradox, since it will capitilise EU's strong research 
base and find new innovative approaches to ensure a greener, more inclusive, safer 
and smarter urban mobility system. 

It will blend a critical mass of excellent research, innovation, education and training 
stakeholders, which would otherwise not unite 

It  adopts  a  cross-sectoral  approach  and  therefore  connects  the  different  levels  of 
responsibility  from  private  entities  to  public  administration  –  in  particular  at  local 
level - to the individual citizen. 

It  requires  transdisciplinary  work  involving  different  areas  of  knowledge,  and  the 
development of new types of education across the boundaries of disciplines. 

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