EIT Awareness Day in Portugal

The Foundation for Science and Technology of the Portuguese Ministry of Science and Education is organising a European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) awareness day on the 9th of September 2013.

The event will take place in Leça da Palmeira (Porto) at AEP Associação Empresarial de Portugal (Portuguese Business Association) from 9am to 5pm (map of the venue). Speakers include Paulo Pereira, Vice-President of the Foundation For Science and Technology, Marisa Matias, Member of the European Parliament and Rapporteur of the Strategic Innovation Agenda of the EIT; Vasco Janeiro, EIT Headquarters as well as representatives from the existing three Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs).

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) has the mission of catalysing the innovation cycle in Europe through its KICs covering the knowledge triangle of research, higher education and innovation in a specific area. The EIT is no new funding instrument for individual projects, but supports the set-up and the activities of the KICs across Europe. In the KICs, the three sides of the knowledge triangle are interconnected allowing for new forms of cooperation and synergies. An emphasis is placed on generating growth by focusing on entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial education and nurturing start-ups.

There are already three KICs established in Europe, Climate-KIC (Climate Change Mitigation), EIT ICT Labs(Information and Communication Technologies) and KIC InnoEnergy (Sustainable Energy).

This event intends to promote experiences and good practices of the EIT and its KICs, and to raise awareness of this concept in the context of the next Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, Horizon 2020.

The conference languages will be Portuguese and English.

For more information and registration please contact Alexandre Marques