Commissioner Gabriel visits EIT community

Today, the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel, visited the headquarters of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) to discuss the role of the EIT in strengthening European innovation capacity and boosting regional innovation. 

As part of her visit, Commissioner Gabriel had the chance to tour the newly opened EIT Community Hub in Budapest where she met innovators supported by the EIT Community and learned more about the Hub’s core programmes and acceleration services run in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe.

“The EIT steers Europe’s largest innovation ecosystem from Budapest. Today, I am pleased to discover how the EIT supports students, researchers and entrepreneurs at every phase of their journey towards the development of innovative solutions. They are the backbone of the EIT Community whose activities offer tangible progress for all Europeans. With an enhanced mandate for the EIT in 2021-2027, we are consolidating Europe’s capacity for innovation and creating a stronger European innovation area for the benefit of all.’ Said Commissioner Gabriel.

Through an interactive innovation tour, Gabriel learned more about the EIT Regional Innovation Scheme, which accelerates the innovation capacity of moderate and modest regions across Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, the EIT Community New European Bauhaus, which is supported by the EIT Jumpstarter programme, and the EIT Girls Go Circular programme, which teaches digital and entrepreneurial skills to girls in Europe aged 14-18.

The innovation tour also showcased impactful innovations coming from the EIT Community including, ENTREMO – accelerated by EIT Digital and EIT Health as part of the EIT Community Crisis Response Initiative to deploy remote health monitoring devices in Hungarian hospitals.

“The EIT Community Hub in Budapest is a creative space, where four EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities work hand in hand with world-leading partners: universities, industry and research institutes. We foster innovation cohesion to bring the most talented innovators to the pan-European innovation bloodstream” – said Balazs Furjes, EIT Health InnoStars Managing Director.

The EIT Community Hub in Budapest was officially opened in September 2021. Besides EIT Health, which coordinates the Hub, the space is co-created by EIT Climate, EIT Urban Mobility and EIT Raw Materials.