(BRUSSELS) – The EU made EUR 122m available Wednesday under the ‘European Innovation Ecosystems’ initiative, whose aim is to strengthen European innovation ecosystems and respond to societal challenges.
The European Innovation ‘Ecosystems initiative’ of Horizon Europe, and the ‘Interregional Innovation Investment’ Instrument of the European Regional Development Fund also contribute to a key initiative of the New European Innovation Agenda, which aims to promote interconnected ‘regional innovation valleys’ across the EU.
“This opportunity enables European regions to join forces and propose interregional innovation projects in the framework of smart specialisation strategies, helping to bridge the innovation divide and bringing tangible benefits to all regions”.
The New European Innovation Agenda aims to position Europe at the forefront of the new wave of high-tech innovation and start-ups. It will help Europe develop new technologies to address the most pressing societal challenges and bring them to the market.
The Regional Innovation Valleys aim to harness the full innovation potential, including cutting-edge technology, in the different EU territories to address societal challenges and the innovation divide in the EU. Its objective is to identify up to 100 regions committed to strengthening the coordination of their research and innovation investments and policies. The Commission has recently launched a call for expression of interest inviting European regions to become regional innovation valleys.