Innovation: from vision to impact.

Definitely, “la rentrée” has been dedicated to #innovation in Europe: to innovation for Europe’s future.?After the release of our New European Innovation Agenda in July, following a genuine collaborative approach with our innovation leaders, September has been a defining moment to promote our vision for a European innovation powering the future of our #ecosystems, at every corner of the continent. ?

The New European Innovation Agenda in practice

On 6 September in Salamanca, Spain, I joined inspiring entrepreneurs at Startup Olé Accelerator annual conference, under the leadership of Emilio Corchado , to share with the innovation community our willingness to make Europe leading the new wave of innovation, in practice.?

The New European Innovation Agenda is the result of close cooperation with our stakeholders, innovators, who are willing and capable of leading this new wave of innovation, on the ground.

The agenda will deliver on five flagships through 25 concrete actions. What are these flagships?

First, our goal is to attract institutional and other private investors in Europe to bridge the current funding gap our start-ups are currently facing. This will help the scaling-up of innovative #companies. Second, we want to improve the framework conditions in which start-ups and scale-ups are evolving to make it innovation-friendly. Third, we will connect and empower the European Innovation Ecosystems. With a deep cohesive approach, we are aiming at creating 100 regional innovation valleys, without forgetting that innovation is also a real asset for our rural areas. And here, our Startup villages initiative will foster this need. Fourth, because they represent Europe’s future, we need to focus on #talents. Innovation is made by people and we must include students and skilled workers at the heart of our strategy.

Attracting and retaining global talents: this is our priority.

On the one hand, we will train 1 million deep tech talents and ensure their mobility through a series of initiatives including Women Leading Deep-Tech Innovation, Peer Learning and review, and our Erasmus+ Alliances for Innovation.

On the other hand, we will support the development of transversal entrepreneurial competences to increase inter-sectoral mobility, create a European innovative mindset and ease the market uptake of new technologies.?

To achieve this ambition, I am proud to already see the efforts of our new network of European Innovative Universities, which gathered in Salamanca to share their innovative thinking and concrete ideas leading to concrete implementation of our European vision, with and for talents.

Fifth, we want to improve policymaking in Member States and their regions. Public authorities must be at the service of those who create value and I want to assure you of the full support of the European Commission on this.

This was the spirit of my field visit to Galati, Romania, on 19 September, or during my participation at the Bulgarian Innovation Forum on last 26 September: explaining to academic, research, innovation and public leaders the opportunities offered by our policies through, for instance, our Horizon Europe research programme.

Let’s be clear: opportunities for local and national entrepreneurs mean opportunities for Europe!?

Deep-tech start-ups and innovative companies have a transformative power, they can help us transform the five flagships into transformative projects that build a truly pan-European Innovation Ecosystem for the benefit of all Europeans.

The 1st-ever European Innovation Campus: concrete synergies from education to innovation

As stated in a recent article, linking #education and innovation is a necessity. In line with this spirit of strengthening regional innovation ecosystems all over Europe, by joining forces between academic, research, public authorities and entrepreneurs, I was delighted to launch in Nice, France, on 15 September at IMREDD - Université C?te d'Azur with Mayor Christian Estrosi , the 1st European Innovation Campus.?

What is all about? To lead and avoid suffering from the great economic and social transitions, the European Innovation Agenda promotes concrete tools for growth and jobs. And this EU Innovation Campus goes one step further, with four main pillars:

• Innovation & Startups
• Culture & Creative sectors
• European regions
• Youth & #women entrepreneurship

During this first edition, we debated on European opportunities for innovation, cooperation, creation of business and available funding. And, in this European Year of Youth #EYY2022, just before next year’s European Year of Skills as announced by President Ursula von der Leyen , I was delighted to award “Youth Innovators”, commending their efforts to inspire, share ideas and make concrete change with their entrepreneurial projects.?

Making change is possible only if women participate actively in stimulating innovation trends.

From school to university and lifelong support, with our policy tools such as Girls Go Circular, WomenTechEU, European Innovation Council’s dedicated calls, the Women Founders Group, we put excellence and equality at the core of our ambitions. And therefore, I could not launch the 1st EU Innovation Campus without engaging with inspiring women entrepreneurs, for a stimulating panel demonstrating, once again, how concrete the European support can be to help them becoming genuine drivers of change.

The next edition of this EU Innovation Campus will take place in Sofia, Bulgaria, in September 2023. With this concrete initiative, we demonstrate that regions, local communities, education institutions, women and youth can play to boost the new wave of innovation in Europe – as well as the challenges we all face, from energy to agri-food crisis to climate transition.?

Powering the future of research & innovation with impact

Shaping together Europe’s vibrant R&I is only possible by regularly exchanging ideas, sharing experiences and setting ambitious objectives. This is how I was pleased to gather more than 200 speakers at the 2022 #RIDaysEU, with more than 15 000 participants attending online for our annual flagship event on research and innovation.?

With the participation of the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola , Members of the European Parliament , Ministers of several EU Member States and, most of all, leaders of our European innovation community, we engaged together towards targeting our actions for an #EUInnovationAgenda with concrete #impact.

From building this pan-European innovation ecosystem to foster innovation with and for our education, culture and creative sectors - thanks to our horizontal initiatives such as the New European Bauhaus - to evolving towards a new recognition system for our European researchers, putting values, knowledge creation and dissemination at its core, or by launching our Horizon Europe strategic planning 2025-2027, we clearly illustrated Europe’s targeted vision to deliver results.?

Innovation is not only a key word: it is an ambition. Today, more than ever, the thinking about “how to support innovative players” is evolving. And Europe is ready to play its role: creating the conditions for opportunities, developing useful tools, fostering change in our regions and rural areas, to become a global powerhouse mastering the next wave of innovation.?