EIT Digital
The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) is an independent European body, which encompasses 8 different innovation communities on key sectoral areas - such as agriculture, climate and environment, technology, and other key sectors and industries. The hub, responsible for managing innovation in digital and technology, EIT Digital offers a variety of digital skills resources, which can be found on the community’s website, organised in themes according to EIT’s focus areas: 1) Digital Industry, 2) Digital Cities, 3) Digital Wellbeing, 4) Digital Tech and 5) Digital Finance.
About this initiative
Set up back in 2010, EIT Digital's aim is to achieve global impact through European-developed innovation and technology solutions, encourage the development of global digital talent and skills in emerging technologies, and create a sandbox for innovation and deliver ground-breaking solutions to the market, which have the potential of making a substantial contribution to the sector, which they target. EIT Digital also supports businesses, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs to fully benefit from the impact of digital transformation in services and processes - and put them at the 'forefront of digital innovation.
Together with many activities and events such as hackathons and awards, EIT Digital also organises the EIT Digital Academy - a programme with four different formal education structures (Master School, an Industrial Doctoral School, a Summer School and a Professional School). All education programmes, regardless of specialisation, combine the development of advanced digital skills with entrepreneurial knowledge. The EIT masters programme combines digital skills in eight different specialisations with a minor in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. PHD-level engagement is also underpinned by a focus on innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as geographical mobility and alignment with other EIT innovation areas. The summer schools are targeted at professionals, master students, PhD students and other students and focus on the EIT Digital focus areas.
With a pan-European network of more than 200 organisations, companies, SMEs, research institutes, universities, and start-ups, EIT Digital provides an environment for students, researchers and entrepreneurs to collaborate within an open innovation setting, and develop solutions with positive impact.
Why is this a good practice?
As a pan-European initiative launched by the European Union, EIT Digital's impact has been extensive, covering a broad range of sectors and societal groups. The upskilling programmes and trainings foster the simultaneous development of information technology (IT) and entrepreneurial skills EIT Digital's graduates are well-received by the European and global labour market and have been successful in securing employment. The initiative's success has grown: currently, spots in the EIT Digital Academy are subject to high competition between applicants; the organisation has also made available a variety of courses through Coursera, open to the general public and free of charge (to audit) thereby enhancing its outreach. The combination of online and face-to-face programmes further contributes to the programme's outreach.
Since the start of this EU-wide initiative in 2010, EIT Digital has succeeded to equip more than 3,500 students with the skills to innovate and become entrepreneurs; support close to 800 start-ups from all over Europe with scaling up so they can grow globally, created more than 250 joint ventures and collaborations, and launched over 540 products and services from scratch to commercialisation.
