Executive summary of the interim evaluation of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) : Commission staff working document.
Date: 2018-10-25
Institutions: Directorate-General for Research and Innovation
Subjects: EU initiative, foundation, higher education, innovation, intellectual property, research, research body, technological change

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 18.10.2017  SWD(2017) 352 final   COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY of the Interim Evaluation of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT)   {SWD(2017) 351 final}  
 
 
Executive summary 

This  Staff  Working  Document  (SWD)  presents  the  results  of  the  interim  evaluation  of  the 
European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT)1 for the period 2011-2015. It is based 
on an independent evaluation report prepared by external experts, as well as on other sources 
of evidence, inter alia the Commissioner Navracsics' HLG report2 and the ECA performance 
report3. The evaluation has taken into account the specific EIT objectives associated with the 
Horizon 2020 Regulation4.  

The  EIT  model,  comprising  the  EIT and  its  Knowledge  Innovation  Communities  (KICs),  is 
valid  and  working  well.  The  EIT  remains  strongly  relevant  through  its  focus  on  societal 
challenges  and  innovation  addressing  main  barriers  such  as  lack  of  entrepreneurial  culture, 
low  level  of  cooperation  between  academia  and  industry,  and  insufficient  development  of 
human capital. 

Regarding  effectiveness,  the  EIT  has  successfully  supported  innovation  in  Europe  via 
entrepreneurship, support to hundreds of start-ups, providing access to cross-border networks 
and to seed and growth funding. The first-wave5 KICs´ activities are leading towards visible 
results. 

The Knowledge Triangle, encompassing education, business and research, is a key feature of 
the  EIT  model.  Its  integration  at  strategic,  organisational  and  operational  levels  shows 
promising results in terms of flows of knowledge and information, new types of cooperation 
and less fragmentation within sectors.   

The impact of the EIT and KICs is to be seen through the open, pan-European networks of 
key  players  built  in  education,  business  and  research  sectors,  as  well  as  the  good  results 
achieved  in  terms  of  creating  new  or  improved  products,  services  and  processes.  However, 
KICs´ impact so far, is primarily limited to their ecosystems and this is an area where further 
improvements are needed. 

The overall knowledge and awareness about the EIT and its community are still insufficient 
and  need  to  be  expanded  in  the  future.  The  KPIs  that  measure  the  impact  of  the  KICs  and 
demonstrate  the  aggregate  effects  of  the  EIT  model  need  to  be  further  elaborated  and 
improved.  Despite  the  progress  achieved,  EIT's  education  activities  need  to  further  expand 
and have stronger impact at European level. 

In  terms  of  coherence,  the  EIT  fills  a  gap  and  fits  well  within  the  European  innovation 
landscape.  It operates in line with the EU innovation objectives. The EIT model complements 
national  and  subnational  innovation  initiatives  and  capacities.  The  increasing  coherence 
between the EIT and other EU innovation policy initiatives and instruments at implementation 
level is not yet matched at programming level. 

1 Regulation (EC) No 294/2008 as amended by the Regulation (EU) No 1292/2013. 
2 https://ec.europa.eu/education/sites/education/files/eit-hlg-final-report_en.pdf  
3 http://www.eca.europa.eu/Lists/ECADocuments/SR16_04/SR_EIT_EN.pdf  
4 Regulation (EU) No 1291/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 
5 First wave KICs comprises: EIT Digital, EIT Innoenergy, EIT Climate-KIC. 

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Despite  their  efforts  to  cooperate  with  national  and  regional  authorities,  KICs  still  need  to 
improve their integration into local innovation ecosystems. 

The EIT model is unique. It provides EU added value by combining cross-border operations 
of the KICs, local presence through its collocation centres and long term commitment of its 
partners in addressing societal challenges at European level. 

As  to  efficiency,  the  EIT  administrative  costs  are  low  and  in  line  with  those  of  the  H2020 
Executive Agencies. Over the last few years, considerable improvements have been made at 
EIT central management level as well as in the management of KIC operations. However, the 
administrative burden on the KICs in managing EU grants has to be further reduced. 

EIT  carefully  monitors  the  progress  of  KICs  in  implementing  their  financial  strategies. 
However,  it  is  still  too  early  to  draw  conclusions  on  KICs´  capacity  to  achieve  financial 
sustainability.  

Following  a  rather  difficult  start-up  phase,  the  EIT  is  now  beginning  to  deliver  concrete 
results  on  a  scale  which  has  the  potential  to  actively  contribute  to  Europe's  evolving 
innovation landscape and bring about lasting change in its various fields of action. 

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