Knowledge and Innovation Communities - KICs
The EIT’s Knowledge and Innovation Communities are partnerships that bring together businesses, research centres and universities. They allow:
- innovative products and services to be developed in every area imaginable, including climate change, healthy living and active ageing
- new companies to be started
- a new generation of entrepreneurs to be trained.
Through our Knowledge and Innovation Communities, we strengthen cooperation among businesses (including SMEs), higher education institutions and research organisations, form dynamic pan-European partnerships, and create favourable environments for creative thought processes and innovations to flourish.
Real sustainable products, services, entrepreneurs, engineers, scientists, companies, revenue, profit and jobs are emerging from our Innovation Communities, right here in Europe - concrete results from Europe’s, if not the world’s, largest innovation network.
EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities are dynamic and creative partnerships that harness European innovation and entrepreneurship to find solutions to major societal challenges in areas with high innovation potential - and create quality jobs and growth. Since 2010, EIT has launched eight Innovation Communities.
There are currently eight Innovation Communities and each focuses on a different societal challenge:
- EIT Climate-KIC: drivers of climate innovation in Europe and beyond
- EIT Digital: for a strong, digital Europe
- EIT Food: EIT Food connects businesses, research centres, universities and consumers
- EIT Health: together for healthy lives in Europe
- EIT InnoEnergy: pioneering change in sustainable energy
- EIT Manufacturing: strengthening and increasing the competiveness of Europe's manufacturing
- EIT Raw Materials: developing raw materials into a major strength for Europe
- EIT Urban Mobility: smart, green and integrated transport