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Boosting Innovation in Serbia

The Republic of Serbia and the EIT jointly commit to establishing an EIT Community Hub in Serbia.

The Minister of Innovation and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia, Nenad Popović, and the Director of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), Martin Kern, signed a Letter of Intent on jointly establishing an EIT Community Hub in Serbia, under the Regional Innovation Scheme (RIS), in 2023.

As Europe’s largest innovation ecosystem, we are looking forward to strengthening our cooperation with the Republic of Serbia in support of its start-ups, entrepreneurs and students to accelerate their innovations. The EIT Community is already present in the Serbian innovation ecosystem, having, by the end of 2020, channelled over EUR 1.2 million of support to local ventures and innovation projects in the past years, which have resulted in over EUR 9 million of raised investment. We look forward to the establishment of this new EIT Community RIS Hub that will see this support increase, and provide Serbian innovators with improved access to European collaboration opportunities and funding.

Martin Kern, EIT Director

This EIT Community RIS Hub will promote the activities of the European Union and opportunities for cooperation in the field of innovation, entrepreneurship and technology, providing members of the Serbian innovation ecosystem with access to the whole EIT Community.  

By signing the Letter of Intent, we are intensifying the successful cooperation between Serbia and the European Union in the field of innovation and high technologies. The Letter of Intent was approved by the European Commission and the Government of the Republic of Serbia, which shows the readiness and support of both sides to increase Serbia’s involvement in the EIT RIS. The EIT Community RIS Hub in Serbia will be the umbrella network for the engagement of a large number of Serbian participants in the activities of the EIT Community in Europe. 

Nenad Popović, the Minister in the Government of the Republic of Serbia

EIT Regional Innovation Scheme

The EIT Regional Innovation Scheme (EIT RIS) was introduced in 2014 to advance the innovation performance of more countries and their regions across Europe, especially countries with moderate or modest innovation scores as defined by the European Innovation Scoreboard.  Since its establishment, the EIT RIS, which is steered by the EIT and implemented by its Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), has successfully lead to a significant expansion of EIT Community activities to more countries and regions across Europe, contributing to a pan-European spread of EIT Community engagement opportunities and networks.

Find out more about the EIT Regional Innovation Scheme